Convoy SC 63 - warsailors.com (original) (raw)
CONVOY SC 63
Departed Sydney, C.B. on Jan. 3-1942, dispersed on the 13th.
Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" gives 27 ships in this convoy.
| Transcribed from several original documents received from Tony Cooper (Avance Sailing Telegram) - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. The station numbers, cargoes for the tankers and names of escorts have been extracted from documents recived from Don Kindell, based on the late Arnold Hague's database - see his listing for SC 63 at ships in all SC convoys. Further details have been added with the help of: "Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945", Arnold Hague "Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer"The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan "Lloyd's War Losses", Vol. I & Vol. II. |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Nationality | Cargo | Station | Destination | Remarks |
| Radport | British | steel - scrap | 54 | Hull | From SC 62 Returned to port (St. John's) Does not show up again until SC 85 |
| Sydland | Swedish | general - special | 43 | Hull | From SC 62Returned to port (St. John's). Does not show up again until SC 77 |
| Dago II | Latvian / MoWT 1940 | lumber | 24 | London | From SC 62 Returned to port (St. John's) A. Hague says "severe weather damage". Does not show up again until SC 98 |
| Inger Toft | British | lumber | 22 | Belfast | From SC 62 |
| " | Tanker B | – | London | To SC 64 - did not sail To SC 65 - did not sail To SC 66 - did not sail To SC 68 - did not sail Listed in SC 69 | |
| Induna | " | general - special | 12 | Archangel | From SC 62 (See PQ 13) |
| Sandar | Norwegian | Adm. tanker B (FFO) | 62 | Clyde | From SC 62 |
| " | sugar | – | Clyde | From SC 62 Listed in SC 64 | |
| Manchester Spinner | British | general - special | 51 | Manchester | From SC 62 |
| Empire Franklin | " | wheat | 81 | Liverpool | CAM ship From SC 61Returned (in trouble w/weather) Does not show up again until SC 77 |
| Chr. Knudsen | Norwegian | manganese ore | 53 | Middlesbrough | From SC 62 |
| Empire Liberty | British | grain - cereal | 11 | London | CAM ship From SC 62 Returned to Sydney Listed in SC 69 |
| Stamos | Greek | grain - cereal | 34 | Glasgow | From SC 62 |
| Koll | Norwegian | Tanker B (dieso) | 63 | Clyde | – |
| Shaftesbury | British | general - special | 42 | Tyne | From SC 62 Returned to port (St. John's) Does not show up again until SC 84 |
| Empire Mariott | " | general - special | 72 | Liverpool | From SC 62 |
| Friedrich Engels | Russian | general | 13 | Murmansk | From SC 60 (later joined PQ 9, returning with QP 8) |
| Grado | Norwegian | steel - wood pulp | 64 | Glasgow | From SC 62 |
| Dimitrios G. Thermiotis | Greek | general | 44 | London | From SC 62 Sunk - See Notes |
| Empire Cloud | British | general | 33 | Manchester | From HX 167 |
| Belgian | sulphur | – | Garston | From SC 62 Listed in SC 64 | |
| Marie Bakke | Norwegian | general - special | 73 | Liverpool | Returned to port (Halifax - see Marie Bakke) Later joined HX 179 |
| Nikolina Matkovic | Yugoslavian | general - special | 74 | Cardiff | From SC 62 Lost rudder - not w/convoy Jan. 11 (listed in SC 75) |
| Allerton | British | grain - cereal | 21 | London | – |
| Gloxinia | " | Tanker B (lub. oil) | 31 | Grangemouth | – |
| " | general | – | Glasgow | From SC 62 Listed in SC 64 | |
| Empire Cranmer | " | grain | 41 | Tyne | – |
| Ramø | Norwegian | pulp wood | 23 | Medway | – |
| Defender | British | general - special | 71 | Holyhead / Manchester | – |
| " | wheat - 2 passengers | – | Hull | From SC 62 Listed in SC 64 | |
| Panamanian | general | – | Archangel | From HX 167 Listed in SC 64 (sunk) | |
| Gullpool | British | grain | 32 | Glasgow | – |
| Almenara | " | sugar - general (A. Hague adds rum & 113 mails) | 61 | Clyde | (See also SC 57) |
| Caledonian Monarch | " | wheat | 52 | London | Sunk - See Notes |
| Empire Grebe | " | general | 82 | Manchester | – |
| Korsholm | Swedish | phosphates - wood pulp | 55 | Aberdeen | – |
| British | grain | – | Newcastle | To SC 65 - did not sail Listed in SC 66 | |
| Stanwell | " | general - special | 84 | Glasgow | – |
| " | Adm. tanker B | – | Loch Ewe f. o. | To SC 64 - did not sail See also SC 75 (does not show up again until SC 98) | |
| " | general | – | Londonderry | Listed in SC 64 | |
| " | general | – | Loch Ewe f. o. | Listed in SC 65 | |
| " | wheat | – | London | Listed in SC 65 | |
| Norluna | American | general - gasoline (A. Hague adds 1600 mails) | 14 | Reykjavik | – |
| Prins Willem van Oranje | Dutch | sugar | 65 | Liverpool | – |
| Ostende | Belgian | sulphur | 83 | Manchester | Returned to port (St. John's) Does not show up again until SC 89 |
| Wabana Portion (WSC 63) | |||||
| British | iron ore | – | Belfast f. o. | To SC 66 - returned Listed in SC 68 | |
| " | phosphates - general | – | Hull | From SC 57 To SC 64 - did not sail To SC 65 - returned To SC 66 - returned Sailed in SC 68 | |
| Polish | zinc concentrates | – | Rochester | Listed in SC 64 | |
| French | iron ore | – | Belfast f. o. | Listed in SC 65 |
Notes:
Commodore was in Manchester Spinner.
The Rescue Vessel Dewsbury was also with this convoy for a while. She was on her 2nd voyage as such, having started this voyage from Clyde on Jan. 6-1942 with the westbound Convoy ON 54, detached Jan. 12, then joined SC 63, remaining until dispersed the next day, returning independently to Clyde with arrival there on Jan. 17.
Dimitrios G. Thermiotis, on a voyage from Demerara and Sydney (C.B.) for London with 6146 tons of general cargo, was torpedoed and sunk on Jan. 18-1942 by U-86. She had a crew of 33 - there were no survivors.
Caledonian Monarch, on a voyage from Rosario (Nov. 24-1941) for Loch Ewe and London with 8075 tons of wheat, and last reported on Jan. 7-1942, is believed to have been torpedoed and sunk on Jan. 22 by U-588. She had a crew of 48 - there were no survivors.
See also the external links provided below.
The convoy arrived rendezvous on Jan. 14.
A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of SC convoy escorts, received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Amherst - From 05/01/42 to 13/01/42
Celandine - From 05/01/42 to 13/01/42
Georgian - From 03/01/42 to 05/01/42
Kamsack - From 03/01/42 to 05/01/42
Louisburg - From 03/01/42 to 05/01/42
Malpeque - From 03/01/42 to 05/01/42
Polyanthus - From 05/01/42 to 14/01/42
Prescott - From 05/01/42 to 10/01/42
Primrose - From 05/01/42 to 13/01/42
Shawnigan - From 03/01/42 to 05/01/42
Skeena - From 05/01/42 to 10/01/42
Related external links:
The attack on Dimitrios G. Thermiotis
The attack on Caledonian Monarch (41 are said to have died here).
The Empire Ships - Provides more information on the Empire Ships mentioned for this convoy
To the next SC convoy in my list SC 64
| 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 |
