Convoy SC 48 Page 2 (original) (raw)

Convoy SC48 Cruising Order
Departed Sydney, C.B. on Oct. 5-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 22nd (Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" gives 52 ships).

Transcribed from original documents received from Roger Griffiths (A 1 form and misc.) - His source: Public Records Office, Kew.

Further details have been added with the help of:
"The Allied Convoy System" Arnold Hague
"Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer
"The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan.

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Sw=Swedish, Du=Dutch, Gr=Greek, Pa=Panamanian,
s=sunk, † = dead, surv.=survived

11
Frances Dawson
maize
Loch Ewe
(Br)

21
Grodno
general
London
(Br)

31
Empire Gull
steel - scrap
Loch Ewe
(Br)

41
Empire Moonbeam
sugar
Clyde
(Br)

51
Seapool
general
Clyde
(Br)

61
Castalia
general
Mersey
(Br)

71
Welsh Trader
general - general ev.
Liverpool
(Br)

81
Manchester Spinner
general - general ev.
Manchester
(Br)

91
Defender
general
Mersey
(Br)

101
Philip T. Dodge
iron - newsprint
Manchester
(Br)

111
Saltersgate
phosphate
Belfast
(Br)

12
Knud
lumber
Loch Ewe
(Da / MoWT)

22
Lornaston
sulphur
Loch Ewe
(Br)

32
Capsa
Adm. fuel
Scapa
(Br)

42
Kingsborough
steel - food stuffs
Glasgow
(Br)

52
Peterton
sugar
Clyde
(Br)

62
Scottish Heather
Adm. fuel
Clyde
(Br)

72
San Gaspar
fuel oil
Mersey
(Br)

82
Clan Ranald
general
Liverpool
(Br)

92
Empire Heron
sulphur
Manchester
s - 42 (43?)† - 0 surv.
(Br)

102
Evita
gas - kerosene
Milford Haven
(Norw)

112
Borgholm
steel - canned goods
Barry Roads
(Norw)

13
Rosenborg
phosphate - general
Loch Ewe
(Br)

23
Mount Taurus
wheat
Loch Ewe
(Gr)

33
Peder Bogen
fuel oil
Loch Ewe
(Br)

43
Fairwater
sugar
Clyde
(Br)

53
Barfonn
gas - oil
Clyde
s - 14† - 26 surv.
(Norw)

63
Star
flour
Glasgow
(Norw)

73
Silvercedar
general - general ev.
Liverpool
s - 20 (22?)† - 26 surv.
(Br)

83
Silverelm
general - general ev.
Manchester
(Br)

93
Dalcroy
steel - cotton
Mersey
(Br)

103
W. C. Teagle
fuel oil
Belfast
s - 40?† - 1 surv. *
(Br)

113
Danae II
lumber
Sharpness
(Br)

14
Spar
sulphur
Loch Ewe
(Du)

24
Euthalia
wheat - general ev.
Loch Ewe
(Gr)

34
Facto
general
Loch Ewe
(Norw)

44
Empire Antelope
steel - general ev.
Hull
(Br)

54
Gudmundrå
sugar
Clyde
(Sw)

64
Evros
iron ore
Glasgow
s - 30† - 2 surv.
(Gr)

74
Ila
steel - general
Glasgow
s - 14† - 7 surv.
(Norw)

84
Mathilda
general
Mersey
(Norw)

94
Bold Venture
iron - cotton
Liverpool
s - 17† - 17 surv.
(Pa)

104
Erviken
phosphate
Mersey
s - 24† - 14 surv.
(Norw)

114

15
Anna
wheat
(Gr)
(from Wabana)

25
Inger Lise
lumber
Boston
(Norw)

35
Maurits
lumber
London
(Sw)

45
Marietta E.
general
Loch Ewe
(Br)

75
Rossum
phosphate
Clyde
(Du)

85
Rym
lumber
Londonderry
s - 0† - 21 surv.
(Norw)

95
Empire Moon
wheat
Mersey
(Br)

105

115

The Advance Sailing Telegram also lists the Greek Vassilios A. Polemis, the British Manaquí and the Norwegian Granfoss as sailing in this convoy - these 3 ships are not included on the A 1 form. Some of the ships also carried passengers and/or mail. Note also that the Swedish Gudmundrå returned to port; see Notes below. When comparing the above information with Arnold Hague's listing for Convoy SC 48 at ships in all SC convoys, we find that he has Granfoss in station 55, cargo of steel and pulp, Manaquí (cargo of rum and sugar) in station 65, and Vassilios A. Polemis in station 114 (general cargo).

Notes:
Commodore J. Elliott R.N.R. was in Castalia, Vice Commodore W. Hewison was in Empire Moonbeam. With regard to his ship, the Commodore says: "S.S. Castalia, Captain R. W. Smart and his officers, also the Chief Engineer, Mr. Ross and his staff displayed the utmost ability and ?(word missing) in handling the ship and in dealing with the breakdown and damage to their ship on the nights of the 12th/13th and 19th/20th. Castalia is 35 years old, built for Indian trade".

The convoy had 52 ships upon deprature. The Greek Anna joined from Wabana at 12:15 on Oct. 7.

Gudmundrå left in Belle Isle Str. at 23:00 on Oct. 17 with engine trouble.
Castalia left at 00:25 on the 13th with steering gear trouble, broken steam pipe. Rejoined at 18:00 on Oct. 18, left again on Oct. 20 (see Commodore's notes).

The convoy proceeded at an average speed of 5.6 knots for the first week. Convoy as a whole appeared unable to steam average required.

The Commodore says:
Station keeping - Good, considering weather conditions. But for first week it seemed that 6 or 6.5 knots was too high an average to expect.
Signalling - 04:00 Oct. 8, called by a corvette? In Naval Code. No reply made.
Gudmundrå broke W/T silence to report trouble in Belle Isle Str.

Welsh Trader was "consistently good in convoy as to station keeping and signalling and afforded helpful Compass comparisons using his Gyro Compass. For this reason I had early moved this ship abreast of me to position 71 in Convoy. Welsh Trader was told to take over Commodore when I left convoy 00:25/13 - 18:00/18".

Fine weather till clear of Belle Isle 11:34 Oct. 8. All ships present(? guessing, as the word is missing here).
Oct. 12 - Weather deteriorated. After nightfall several ships in difficulty with steering and station keeping. Wind S.S.W. 8. Four ships missing.
Castalia compelled to leave convoy due to damage to steering gear 00:25/13. Later unable to rejoin as ship would not make course required on account of wind and (? word missing).
Read: Message 20:38 Oct. 13 from Convoy (Escort) ON 23, which led to Castalia with Camrose and Lornaston taking divergent course to Convoy SC 48 at 09:00 Oct. 14. Rejoined Convoy at 18:00 Oct. 18.
Hove to at 16:00 Oct. 19. Wind S.W., force 10-11 at times (38 ships present).
22:00, Oct. 19 - Castalia disabled, damaged steam pipes to steering gear and other damage.
Convoy did not reform. Castalia proceeded Liverpool independently 12:00 Oct. 20.

The following merchant ships were sunk (the dates are according to German time - Uboat.net has more details on each attack, ref. external link at the end of this page. Please note also that there's some more info on this battle in the text for the various Norwegian ships that were sunk - follow the links to my pages about them):
The British Silvercedar by U-553 on Oct. 15.
The Norwegian D/S Ila - by U-553 on Oct. 15.
The British Empire Heron by U-568 on Oct. 16 (A. Hague gives U-468, but this might be a simple misprint; U-468 was not commissioned until Aug.-1942).
* The British W. C. Teagle by U-558 on Oct. 17. R. W. Jordan says: 40 died, 1 survived - 9 survivors died when HMS Broadwater was sunk.
The Norwegian D/S Rym by U-558 on Oct. 17.
The Norwegian D/S Erviken by U-558 on Oct. 17 (having stopped to rescue survivors from W. C. Teagle). A. Hague gives U-553 as the culprit.
The Norwegian M/T Barfonn by U-432 on Oct. 17.
The Greek Evros by U-432 on Oct. 17.
The Panamanian Bold Venture by U-553 on Oct. 17.

Commodore's Suggestions for Improvements of Convoy System:
Commodore's ship to receive OPNAV and other route alterations direct.
Ship with most modern navigational equipment to be used for Commodore's ship.
Important weather developments to be sent to Commodore. (Decision to heave to at 16:00 Oct. 19 made entirely from local observation and inference).
Passengers not to be taken in ships of slow convoy. Particularly women and other non-service passengers. (Twelve women, one about to deliver a child having been aboard Castalia 100 days, in ship).

According to A. Hague, Castalia had 28 passengers, again see his listing for SC 48 at ships in all SC convoys.

The Commodore lists the following Escort Vessels: HMCS Baddeck, HMCS Shediac (Sydney), HMCS Wetaskiwin, HMCS Rosthern, HMCS Camrose, HMS Gladiolus, French corvette Mimosa (St. John's, N.F.), HMS Amazon, HMS Highlander and adds "4 others (Local Escort)".
But note that, due to the U-boat attacks, several other warships were redirected (from other convoys) to this convoy - they are named in Uboat.net's account of the battle - see the external links below. (As can be seen, the Rescue Vessel Zaafaran is also mentioned).

Air Escort: Canadian 10:00 Oct. 5 – 17:00 Oct. 5. Unidentified aircraft sighted at 08:35 on Oct. 10.

Arrival at local rendezvous: Oct. 16.

A. Hague names the following 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):
Abelia - From 16/10/41 to 20/10/41
Amazon - From 17/10/41 to 21/10/41
Angle - From 17/10/41 to 22/10/41
Baddeck - From 05/10/41 to 17/10/41
Broadwater - From 16/10/41 to 18/10/41 (sunk by U-101, Oct. 18 - ref. external link below)
Bulldog - From 17/10/41 to 21/10/41
Camrose - From 09/10/41 to 17/10/41
Cape Warwick - From 17/10/41 to 22/10/41
Columbia - From 10/10/41 to 17/10/41
FS Mimosa - From 09/10/41 to 17/10/41
Georgetown - From 17/10/41 to 21/10/41
Gladiolus - From 08/10/41 to 16/10/41 (sunk by U-558 or U-432?, Oct. 17 - see link below)
Heartsease - From 17/10/42 to 21/10/41
Highlander - From 16/10/41 to 20/10/41
Pictou - From 16/10/41 to 16/10/41
Richmond - From 16/10/41 to 20/10/41
Rosthern - From 09/10/41 to 21/10/41
Shediac - From 05/10/41 to 17/10/41
St. Apollo - From 16/10/41 to 22/10/41
USS Decatur - From 16/10/41 to 17/10/41
USS Greer - From 16/10/41 to 17/10/41
USS Kearny - From 16/10/41 to 17/10/41 (damaged by U-568, Oct. 17 - see links below)
USS Livermore - From 16/10/41 to 17/10/41
USS Plunkett - From 16/10/41 to 17/10/41
Veronica - From 16/10/41 to 19/10/41
Wetaskiwin - From 09/10/41 to 17/10/41

Misc. reports are available on page 3

Related external links:
Convoy SC 48- 15 - 17 Oct 1941 - Uboat.net's description of the battle with information on the attack on each ship. (Their warships section has more details on the escorts mentioned above).
The attack on Gladiolus
The attack on Kearny
The attack on Broadwater

HMS Broadwater - Unfortunately, this link no longer works, but I'm leaving it here, in case I can find it again. It was a thoroughly researched website about the history and fate of this ship. The link went directly to the first page of the section describing the battle of SC 48. The subsequent pages went on to list the ships lost, their destination and cargoes, as well as the names of all the escort vessels and the attacking U-boats. It also had a description of the events surrounding the loss of the ship, which confirmed that 2 survivors from Erviken died (though the Norwegian ship was referred to as Ericson). The website included a report on the rescue of survivors, along with several other interesting reports, and a list of names of those who died.

Hyperwar - Robert Cressmans book "The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navyin World War II", linked directly to 1941. Entries for the dates Oct. 14 through 18 have details on SC 48. It'll be noticed that this website gives different U-boats for some of the sinkings than what is given above.

U.S.S. Kearny - Interesting account of the attack on the Kearny, torpedoed by U-568 when on escort duties in Convoy SC 48, Oct. 17-1941.

The Kearney and Convoy SC 48 - The ships involved on all sides (from Encyclopedia of WW II Naval Battles).

Details on SC 48 can also be found towards the end of
Chapter 3 of "Joining the War at Sea". Other convoys are also discussed.

Back to Advance Sailing Telegrams

Back to Convoy Index

Will be added: SC 49 through SC 50 To the next available SC convoy in my list SC 51