Convoy SC 13 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)

CONVOY SC 13 Departed Sydney, C.B. on Nov. 22-1940 and arrived Liverpool on Dec. 7.
Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" gives 32 ships in this convoy.

Transcribed from original documents (Advance Sailing Telegram) received from Tony Cooper - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. The station numbers and names of escorts have been extracted from documents recived from Don Kindell, based on Arnold Hague's database - see ships in all SC convoys. There's a note on one of the original documents saying: "No escort No Naval Commodore ?No diversions". Further details have been added with the help of: "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan. "Lloyd's War Losses", Vol II. "Nortraships flåte", J. R. Hegland. Crossed out ships did not sail, underlined ships returned to port (except those that are linked, which will automatically be underlined. The Norwegian Atle Jarl and Bernhard, however, did return). MoWT = Ministry of War Transport Note that by checking Mike Holdoway's website about the OB Convoys from the same time period (external link), it's possible to determine whether some of these ship sailed in any of these convoys. (For instance, many of the ships in SC 13 show up in OB 232 in Oct.-1940).
Ship Nationality Cargo Station Destination Remarks
Spind Norwegian lumber – Hull From SC 12 To SC 14 - did not sail To SC 15 - did not sail Listed in SC 16
Lisieux British (Ex French?) lumber - paper pulp 73 Liverpool Foundered - See Notes
Eugena Cambanis Greek lumber 94 Belfast d.g. / Sharpness From SC 12 Foundered - See Notes
Granli Norwegian pulp 74 Preston From SC 12
Dimitrios Chandris* Greek steel 54 Glasgow From SC 12
*According to A. Hague, the above ship returned - this is not noted on the Advance Sailing Telegram. He has included her in SC 15, but says she returned with weather damage (she's not mentioned in the Advance Sailing Telegram for that convoy). See also SC 19.
Marcrest British steel - lumber 22 Hull From SC 12
Bjerka Norwegian pit props 53 Tyne From SC 12
Aarø Danish / MoWT 1940 pulp wood 12 Ridham Dock –
Keilehaven Dutch lumber 52 London From SC 11
Holmside British sulphur 71 Manchester From HX 86
Lifland Danish / MoWT 1940 pulp wood 13 Ridham Dock Returned to port (St. John's) Listed in SC 17
Mariston British steel 81 Cardiff From SC 12
Agios Georgios Greek phosphates 84 Belfast From SC 12
Gulhaug Norwegian lumber – Preston From SC 11 To SC 14 - did not sail To SC 15 - may or may not have sailed? Follow link to Gulhaug
Bur Swedish phospahtes – Londonderry From SC 11 Listed in SC 17
Bernhard Norwegian scrap iron 65 Ardrossan From SC 12 Put into to St. John's w/Lisieux survivors To SC 15 - did not sail To SC 20 - returned Joined SC 24 - returned To SC 26 - did not sail Joined SC 28 - returned to port To SC 29 - not listed Follow link to Bernhard
Frances Dawson British grain 51 Manchester From SC 12
Adamas Greek iron ore 34 Birkenhead From SC 12
Nikoklis " iron ore 44 Glasgow –
Filleigh British maize 91 Belfast From HX 88 (see ships in all HX convoys)
Ioannis M. Embiricos Greek lumber 64 Manchester Returned to Sydney(Shows up again in SC 20 - sunk)
Baron Newlands British pit props 32 West Hartlepool From HX 88
Zypenberg Dutch steel - scrap 42 Hull From HX 86Returned to port See also HX 99 Listed as returned to port from SC 18
Kolchis Greek grain 93 Belfast d. g. / Cardiff Foundered - See Notes
Inger Lise Norwegian lumber 43 King's Lynn From HX 87
Taygetos Greek maize 35 Avonmouth –
Atle Jarl Norwegian lumber 92 Dublin Returned to port Listed in SC 15
Senta " iron ore 83 Port Talbot –
Rimfakse " pit props 23 Sunderland –
Aurillac French / MoWT 1940 iron ore 82 Newport From HX 89
Henri Mory " iron ore – Birkenhead From SC 11 Listed in SC 14
Errington Court British grain - trucks - special 61 Manchester –
Gullpool " grain 31 Swansea –
Leeds City " steel - trucks 62 London –
Siak Norwegian lumber 24 Wisbech –
Loriga British sugar - nitrates 41 Liverpool –
Gemma " trawler 85 Belfast From HX 87 Returned to Sydney
Heien Norwegian pit props 14 Immingham –
Fort Medine French / MoWT 1940 iron ore 33 Cardiff Returned to Sydney Shows up again as cancelled from SC 19 & SC 20 Listed in SC 21
Kathariotisa Greek pulp wood - paper pulp 75 Garston Returned to port (St. John's) To SC 17 - did not sail Listed in SC 18
Albert le Borgne French / MoWT 1940 general 63 Liverpool –
Seringa British grain - special 21 Belfast –
Leka Norwegian pit props – Immingham Listed in SC 14
Tore Jarl " lumber – King's Lynn –
Ashcrest British steel 55 Middlesbrough Sunk - See Notes
Bestum Norwegian lumber – London Listed in SC 14
Måkefjell " pit props – Sunderland Listed in SC 14
Anastassia Greek lumber – Belfast d. g. / Portishead To SC 14 - did not sail Listed in SC 15 (sunk)
Athenic British lumber – Tyne Listed in SC 14
Sheaf Don " lumber 11 Grimsby –
Lysaker IV Norwegian pit props 15 Hull –
Zurichmoor British wheat - special 25 Hull –
Stolwijk Dutch steel - newsprint 72 Glasgow Wrecked - See Notes
A. Hague says that the Greek Taygetos had her rudder damaged on Dec. 6. Again, see his listing for SC 13 at ships in all SC convoys.

Notes:
Commodore was in Loriga.
Mersey Commodore in Errington Court
Barry Commodore in Mariston.

The Greek Kolchis, on a voyage from Sorel (Nov. 12) for Belfast and Cardiff with a cargo of grain, foundered in a storm on Nov. 23 - She had a crew of 23, there were no survivors.

Lisieux, cargo of plywood, spelter and lead, foundered on Nov. 27. "Nortraships flåte" says she lost 10 men (adding she was French), while Arnold Hague says she was British and that there were no casualties. The Norwegian Bernhard is said to have picked up 16 survivors who were landed in St. John's - follow the link for details.

The Greek Eugena Cambanis also foundered in this storm, Nov. 28. According to R. W. Jordan's "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" there were no survivors (the ship's name is spelt Evgena Cambani in this source), while Arnold Hague says there were no casualties. The wreck was later (Dec. 19) shelled and sunk by the Norwegian Hilda Knudsen.

The British Ashcrest, on a voyage from Philadelphia (Nov. 16) for Middlesbrough with a cargo of steel, became a straggler and was sunk on Dec. 8 by U-140. She had a crew of 37, all of whom perished.

A. Hague says the Dutch Stolwijk became a straggler and was wrecked on the west Ireland coast. R. W. Jordan adds that this happened between Inishdovey and Inishborin, County Donegal on Dec. 7, and that 10 died, 18 survived.

The convoy arrived rendezvous on Dec. 4.

Escorts (extracted from this list of SC convoy escorts, based on Arnold Hague's database, received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Clarkia - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40
Heliotrope - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40
Sabre - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40
Scimitar - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40
Shikari - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40
Wellington - From 05/12/40 to 07/12/40

Related external links:
Eastbound North Atlantic Convoys 1939/1940 - Listed according to date sailed.

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