Convoy MKS 26 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
CONVOY MKS 26
Left Gibraltar on Oct. 4-1943, joined up with Convoy SL 137 from Freetown the next day and arrived Liverpool on Oct. 17.
Arnold Hague gives 21 ships in the Gibraltar-U.K. convoy, adding that MKS 26 had started out in Alexandria on Sept. 24-1943, w/arrival Gibraltar on Oct. 4, having lost 2 ships (see second table on this page).
| Transcribed from documents (Advance Sailing Telegram) received from Tony Cooper - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. The ships in the combined Convoy SL 137 / MKS 26 are named at this external website. This first table shows the Gibraltar-U.K. convoy. Note that some of these ships had previously arrived with the Alexandria convoy - see next table on this page. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Cargo | Destination | Remarks |
| Boltonhall | British | iron ore | Barrow-in-Furness | – |
| Eastern Prince | " | personnel - general | Greenock | – |
| Adviser | " | general | Liverpool | – |
| Algorab | Dutch | general | Middlesbrough | – |
| Empire Archer | British | none given | Cardiff | – |
| Narwik | Polish | general | Manchester | – |
| Empire Snow | British | iron ore | Middlesbrough | From MKS 25 |
| Rossum | Dutch | iron ore | Birkenhead | From MKS 25 Returned to Gibraltar Listed in MKS 27 |
| Lieutenant St. Loubert Bié | British (Ex. French - MOWT 5/1941) | general | Liverpool | – |
| Fort Poplar | British | none given | Barry Dock | – |
| Delane | " | none given | Liverpool | – |
| Van Ostade | Dutch | iron ore | Middlesbrough | – |
| Ocean Pride | British | iron ore | Middlesbrough | From MKS 25 |
| Lancashire | " | personnel | Liverpool | – |
| San Francisco | Swedish | general | Liverpool | From MKS 25 See also * below |
| Empire Nerissa | British | ballast - passengers | Liverpool | – |
| Drammensfjord | Norwegian | none given | Middlesbrough | – |
| Dalemoor | British | none given | Port Talbot | – |
| " | ballast | Not for U.K. | From MKS 25 To MKS 27 - returned to port Listed in MKS 28 | |
| Harpagus | " | none given | Tyne | – |
| Ocean Valley | " | none given | Cardiff | – |
| Lucijana | Yugoslavian | none given | Manchester | – |
| * The nationality for San Francisco is given as French in the Advance Sailing Telegram for this convoy. There's a San Francisco listed as cancelled from Convoy MKS 25, but with a different tonnage and listed as Swedish. I believe the ship in MKS 26 is also the Swedish one.Escorts (received from Don Kindell, whose own work, covering "Royal & other Navies Day-by-Day in World War 2" can be viewed at this website): Oct. 4-Oct. 5: Active, Antelope, Godavari, Whimbrel. |
| From Algiers, Oct. 1-1943 As mentioned, A. Hague says in his "The Allied Convoy System" that MKS 26 had left Alexandria on Sept. 24-1943, arriving Gibraltar on Oct. 4 Transcribed from a list of ships in MKS 26 received from Don Kindell - Source: A. Hague's own research. Additional details have been added with the help of: "Loyds War Losses", Vol I "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rowher As can be seen in the first table on this page, some of these ships subsequently proceeded to the U.K. with the Gibraltar-U.K. convoy. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Voyage |
| Abangarez | American | Algiers to Oran |
| African Prince | British | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Badarpur | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Benreoch | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Brønnøy | Norwegian | Tripoli to Bizerta (Listed in MKS 27 to U.K.) |
| Charles Goodyear | American | Bizerta to Oran |
| Clan Murdoch | British | Alexandria to Malta |
| Coxwold | " | Malta to Algiers |
| Crista | " | Bizerta to Philippeville |
| Dalemoor | " | Oran to Gibraltar |
| Delane | " | Alexandria to U.K. |
| Derwenthall | " | Malta to Philippeville |
| Diplodon | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Drammensfjord | Norwegian | Alexandria to U.K. |
| Duke of Athens | British | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Empire Capulet | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Empire Commerce | " | 'Forepart only towed P'ville, aircraft" (A. Hague's own note - see also Notes below) |
| Empire Nerissa | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Empire Perdita | " | Bizerta to Philippeville |
| Empire Rosalind | " | Malta to Bizerta |
| Empire Spey | " | (Listed in MKS 27 to U.K.) |
| Fanad Head | " | Tunis to Gibraltar |
| Fort Augustus | " | Malta to Gibraltar (See also MKS 28) |
| Fort Cadotte | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Fort Charnisay | " | Malta to Philippeville |
| Fort Frederick | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Fort George | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Fort Glenlyon | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Fort Howe | " | Ex Malta - sunk, see Notes below |
| Fort Lawrence | " | Alexandria to Malta |
| Fort Poplar | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Fort St. James | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Fort Stager | " | Malta to Algiers |
| Fort Walsh | " | Malta to Bizerta |
| Franka | Yugoslavian | Algiers to Gibraltar for Casablanca |
| George Gipp | American | Alexandria to Oran for U.S.A. |
| Glenogle | British | Alexandria to Malta |
| Gudrun Mærsk | " | Malta to Bizerta |
| Harpagus | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| Henry Wynkoop | American | Philippeville to Oran |
| Highland Prince | British | Alexandria to Malta |
| MMS 118 | " | Algiers to Gibraltar |
| MMS 13 | " | Algiers to Gibraltar |
| HMS Blackbird | " | Philippeville to unknown port |
| John Howland | American | Bizerta to Oran |
| Kingsborough | British | Oran to Gibraltar (See also MKS 28) |
| Marigot | French | Bizerta to Algiers |
| Miriam | British | Bizerta to Algiers |
| Ocean Valley | " | Malta to Gibraltar |
| R. C. Brennan | American | Alexandria to Oran for U.S.A. |
| Richard Henry Lee | " | Bizerta to Oran |
| San Rafael | Panamanian | Alexandria to U.K. (Listed in MKS 27 to U.K.) |
| Stanhill | British | Malta to Gibraltar (Listed in MKS 27 to U.K.) |
| Talma | " | Alexandria to Augusta |
| Thistlemuir | " | Alexandria to Tripoli |
| Toronto | Norwegian | Tripoli to Bizerta (Listed in MKS 27 to U.K.) |
| Ulla | British | Malta to Bizerta |
| Van Ostade | Dutch | Oran to Gibraltar |
| Vittorino Zanibon | Italian | Malta to Algiers |
| Waipawa | British | Algiers to Gibraltar for Buenos Aires |
| Notes: Empire Commerce, on a voyage from Bone for Algiers in ballast, was torpedoed on Oct. 1 (German time) by U-410. She had a crew of 40, 7 gunners and 4 service personnel passengers - there were no casualties.Fort Howe, on a voyage from Salerno for the U.K. in ballast, was sunk in the same attack. She had a crew of 51 and 20 gunners - 2 gunners were killed. Escorts: Sept. 24-Oct. 4: Coltsfoot, Honeysuckle, Hyderabad, Oxlip, Spiraea. Sept. 28-Sept. 30: Jonquil, Vetch. Sept. 29-Oct. 1: Alisma. Sept. 29-Oct. 4: Uganda. |
| Aa–Al | An–Ar | As–Av | Ba | Be | Bi–Bl | Bo | Br–Bu | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | F | G | Ha | He | Hi–Hy | Hø | I | J | K |
| L | M | N | O | PQ | R | Sa–Sc | Se–Sj | Sk–Sn | So |
| Sp–St | Su–Sø | Ta–Te | Th–Ti | To | Tr–Tø | U | V | W | Ø |
