Convoy MKS 6 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

Convoy MKS 6 Cruising Order
Departed Philippeville on Jan. 19-1943, Algiers Jan. 20, and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 1.
(Arnold Hague gives 36 ships in his "The Allied Convoy System").

The A 1 form was received from Robert Martin, England - His source: Public Records Office, Kew.
The details have been compared to (and supplemented with info from) a list received from Don Kindell - His source: A. Hague's own research. (Don's work, which covers "Royal & other Navies Day-by-Day in World War 2" can be viewed at this website).

For info, there was also a faster convoy, MKF 6, which had left Philippeville on Jan. 5-1943 and arrived Clyde on the the 14th.

See also KMS 5 and KMS 6.

Note that some of these ships are also listed in the next convoy, so it looks like they did not follow MKS 6 all the way to the U.K. (for instance, William Wirt).

Br=British, Am=American, Du=Dutch, Fr=French.

Ports East of Algiers

Oran

Algiers

11
Dunkerque
Algiers- Gibr.
(Fr)

21
Havildar
(Br)

31
Empire Confidence
Oran-Swansea
(Br)

41
Edward Rutledge
(Am)

51
William Wirt
(Am)

61
Alphard
(Du)

71
Manchester Port
(Br)

81
Fort Senneville
(Br)

91
Fort Battle River
(Br)

~~Agen~~

Algiers-Gibr.
(Fr)

~~illegible-crossed out~~

possibly Nanceen?
(Fr)

32
Marigot
(Fr)

42
British Chivalry
(Br)

52
Empire Chivalry
(Br)

62
Empire Wordsworth
(Br)

72
Hopecrown
(Br)

92
Pacific Exporter
(Br)

13
Capitaine Armand
Algiers-Gibr.
(Fr)

23
Eridan
(Fr)

33
~~Mers El Kebir~~
(Fr)

43
Clan Murray
(Br)

53
City of Worcester
(Br)

63
Pacific Grove
(Br)

73
Manchester Merchant
(Br)

83
Thomas B. Robertson
(Am)

93
Thomas Hooker
(Am)

14
Gallium
Algiers-Gibr.
(Fr)

24
Charles H. Cramp
(Am)

34
Macharda
(Br)

44
Exilona
(Am)

54
Delilian
(Br)

64
Salacia
(Br)

74
Chattanooga City
(Am)

84
Lochmonar
(Br)

94
Harpalyce
Bone-Gibr.
(Br)

15
Josephine Le Borgne
Algiers-Gibr.
(Fr)

25
William Floyd
(Am)

35
Kaipaki
(Br)

45
Mark Twain
(Am)

55
Fort Stikine
(Br)

65
Baltonia
Algiers-Gibr.
(Br)

75
Duke of Athens
(Br)

85
Empire Darwin
Algiers-Gibr.
(Br)

95
Clan Macbrayne
Bone-Gibr.
(Br)

16
Marie-Louise Le Borgne
Algiers-Gibr.
(Fr)

56
Samuel Chase
(Am)

A. Hague's list agrees with the A 1 form, except he does not mention the ship crossed out in station 22, and in addition to the above ships he has included the following, which do not appear on the A 1 form:
The British Antonio (with a note saying "probably this convoy"), Baron Kinnaird and Hampton Lodge (sunk - see Notes below) and the American Daniel Huger (Gibraltar to Oran). For Walt Whitman he has a note saying "after damage by air attack" - I'm not sure whether this means she left the convoy after having been attacked. There's another note saying "sheltered off Ramsey" with the date Febr. 1, but it's difficult to tell which ship this note refers to. As for the other ships that are crossed out on the A 1 form, he has no indication in his list that these ships did not sail, so the fact that they're crossed out could simply mean they left the convoy for their destination.

For info, Chattanooga City subsequently joined Convoy ON 166, and was sunk - follow link for details. As will be seen, several other ships from MKS 6 also joined that convoy.