| Convoy ON 92 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theBattle of the Atlantic ofWorld War II | |||||||
_underway_on_18_June_1941_(513043).jpg) USSGleaves, 18 June 1941 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany |  United Kingdom United States Canada | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
BdU: Karl Dönitz | Comm: R GillSOE:  J Heffernan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 9 submarines | 1 destroyer 4 corvettes 1 cutter 46 merchant ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | 9 killed 7 merchant ships sunk 1 merchant ship damaged | ||||||
Convoy ON 92 was a tradeconvoy ofmerchant ships during theSecond World War. It was the 92nd of the numbered series ofON convoysOutbound from the British Isles toNorth America. The ships departed fromLiverpool on 6 May 1942[1] and were joined on 7 May[2] byMid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3.
The convoy was discovered byWolfpack Hecht on 11 May; seven ships were sunk before theU-boats lost contact with the convoy on 13 May.[3] Surviving ships reachedHalifax, Nova Scotia on 21 May.[1]
ON 92 was a west-bound convoy of 42 ships, eitherin ballast or carrying trade goods, and sailed fromLiverpool on 6 May 1942 bound for ports in North America. The convoy commodore was Capt. R Gill inSouthern Princess.
It was escorted bymid-ocean escort group A-3, comprising theUnited States NavydestroyerGleaves (Capt. J Heffernan as Senior Officer Escort), theUnited States Coast GuardcutterSpencer, and fourRoyal Canadian NavycorvettesAlgoma,Arvida,Bittersweet andShediac. The convoy was supported by a rescue ship, theNorth SeapacketBury.[4] Two of the merchant ships were equipped asCAM ships, with a catapult-launchedHurricane fighter as temporary air cover. Heffernan had a background in destroyers andanti-submarine warfare but was inexperienced in convoy protection, as was his group. OnlyBittersweet had the new 10 cm radar, and only the rescue shipBury hadHF/DF.[5][6]
ON 92's passage was barred by the patrol group "Hecht", comprising sixType VII U-boats. Of these two commanders were experiencedKnight's Cross holders, while the others were on their first Atlantic patrol.[5]
After making rendezvous with its ocean escort ON 92 proceeded west, following along the great circle route to reduce distance. However German intelligence (B-Dienst) was aware of its passage, andU-boat Command (BdU) was able to send group "Hecht" in pursuit.On the morning of 11 MayU-569 made contact and began to shadow. Its transmissions were detected byBury, which was confirmed by theAdmiralty that afternoon but Heffernan made no response until 1700, when he ledGleaves andSpencer in a wide sweep around the convoy. At 1749Gleaves sighted aU-boat 17 miles (27 km) ahead and both proceeded to attack, continuing until after midnight.[7] Meanwhile, two more U-boats were in contact,U-94 andU-124, both commanded by Knights Cross holders. After sunset the commodore ordered evasive maneuvers, but without success, and at 2300U-124 attacked, sinkingEmpire Dell and damagingLlanover.[8] A second attack byU-124 hitMount Parnes andCristales, whileU-94 hitCocles.Algoma sighted one and counter-attacked but with no success. At this pointGleaves andSpencer rejoined the convoy and no more attacks developed.Arvida andShediac were able to pick up survivors, withBury.[9]
On 12 May the three U-boats in contact were joined by three more "Hecht" boats,U-96,U-406 andU-590, and all six continued to shadow. At 1300 Heffernan again detachedGleaves andSpencer in a sweep around the convoy; at 1943Spencer sighted two U-boats 27 miles (43 km) northwest of the convoy, and engaged with gunfire, while at the same timeGleaves made asonar contact 18 miles (29 km) southeast and again began an anti-submarine hunt.
At 2253 the U-boats around the convoy attacked again,U-94 hittingBatna. She was counter-attacked byBittersweet, but escaped. Both ships firedstar shell, which broughtGleaves andSpencer back to the convoy. At 0310 on 13 MayU-94 had a final success, hittingTolken, but was driven off by defensive gunfire from the merchant. At this point foul weather closed in and the pack lost contact.
No further attacks developed and on 13 MayBury, with 178 survivors on board, was detached toSt Johns, escorted byArvida.[10] The convoy was joined by units of Western Local Escort Force on 17 May and made port atHalifax on 21 May.[5]
ON 92 lost seven ships of a total of 42 that set out. The Admiralty andWestern Approaches Command (WAC) were unimpressed with Heffernan's performance, particularly as he described it in his report as a success, commenting "all escorts are entitled to credit for a highly satisfactory performance." WAC disagreed, feeling the group had "failed lamentably" in its defence of ON 92. The commodores report sums up the episode by commenting "Gleaves was never there when ON 92 was attacked."[10] After this Heffernan was moved to other duties, with leadership of A-3 being passed to USCG commander P Heineman of the cutterCampbell.[5]
BdU had reason to be pleased with the sinking of seven merchant ships from the convoy, although this was the only successful attack on any North Atlantic convoy in the month of May. It was also noticeable that the only success fell to the two experienced commanders; the other four "Hecht" skippers achieved nothing.[11]
| Name[12] | Flag | Tonnage(GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Achilles (1906) |  Netherlands | 1,815 | Bound forSt John's, Newfoundland |
| Alex (1914) |  United Kingdom | 3,932 | Bound forHalifax |
| Batna (1928) | United Kingdom | 4,399 | Sunk ByU-94[13] SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland On 13 May. 1 dead. Survivors picked up byBury |
| Belinda (1939) |  Norway | 8,325 | Bound forCorpus Christi, Texas |
| British Power (1936) | United Kingdom | 8,451 | Bound forHouston |
| Bury (1911) | United Kingdom | 1,686 | Convoy rescue ship bound forHalifax. Carrying equipment forHigh-frequency direction finding |
| Carras (1918) |  Greece | 5,234 | Bound forFather Point, Quebec |
| Chagres (1919) |  Panama | 5,545 | Bound forBoston |
| Clearpool (1935) | United Kingdom | 5,404 | Bound forFather Point, Quebec |
| Cocle (1920) | Panama | 5,630 | Sunk ByU-94[14] on 12 May 740 nautical miles (1,370 km) SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland. 5 dead. Survivors picked up byBury and landed at St. John's, Newfoundland. |
| Cristales (1926) | United Kingdom | 5,389 | Sunk byU-124[15] on 12 May SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland. 0 dead. Abandoned and sunk by gunfire from HMCSShediac. Survivors picked up byShediac and USCGCSpencer and landed at Boston. |
| Dean Emery (1919) | Panama | 6,664 | Bound forBeaumont, Texas |
| Dimitrios Chandris (1910) | Greece | 4,643 | Returned |
| Dorcasia (1938) | United Kingdom | 8,053 | Bound forHouston |
| Dorington Court (1939) | United Kingdom | 5,281 | Bound forNew York City |
| Elisabeth Lensen (1910) | United Kingdom | 4,212 | Bound forFather Point, Quebec |
| Empire Antelope (1919) | United Kingdom | 4,945 | Bound forHalifax. Ship's Master is Vice-Commodore |
| Empire Chamois (1918) | United Kingdom | 5,684 | Bound forBaltimore |
| Empire Clive (1941) | United Kingdom | 7,069 | CAM Ship. Bound forHalifax |
| Empire Dell (1941) | United Kingdom | 7,065 | CAM ship. Sunk byU-124[16] on 12 May. 2 dead. Survivors picked up by HMCSShediac andBury, and landed at St. John's, Newfoundland |
| Empire Wolfe (1941) | United Kingdom | 2,888 | Bound forHalifax |
| Errington Court (1925) | United Kingdom | 4,913 | Bound forRiver Clyde |
| Evanger (1920) | Norway | 3,869 | |
| Fort Binger (1919) | United Kingdom | 5,671 | With torpedo damage (uxb), in the port bow, fromU-588[17] on 18 May. 1 dead. Fog closed in, so U-boat lost contact and the Fort Binger docked for repairs inYarmouth before making it toHalifax[18] |
| Gazcon (1932) | United Kingdom | 4,224 | |
| Grey Lag (1910) | Panama | 3,312 | Bound forHalifax |
| Ivan Topic (1920) |  Yugoslavia | 4,943 | Bound forNew York City |
| Juno (1908) | Netherlands | 1,763 | Bound forNew York City |
| Langleebrook (1930) | United Kingdom | 4,246 | Bound forNew York City |
| Lisbeth (1922) | Norway | 2,732 | Bound forHalifax |
| Llanover (1928) | United Kingdom | 4,959 | Sunk byU-124[19] SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland on 12 May. 0 Dead. Scuttled by HMCSArvida. Survivors picked up byBury and landed at St. John's, Newfoundland |
| Mount Parnes (1917) | Greece | 4,371 | Sunk byU-124[20] on 12 May 650 nautical miles (1,200 km) SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland. 0 dead. |
| Mount Rhodope (1919) | Greece | 5,182 | Bound forMontreal |
| Mount Taurus (1920) | Greece | 6,696 | Bound forMontreal |
| Portsea (1938) | United Kingdom | 1,583 | Bound forPictou |
| Ragnhild (1941) | Norway | 2,866 | Bound forFather Point, Quebec |
| San Ambrosio (1935) | United Kingdom | 7,410 | |
| Selvik (1920) | Norway | 1,557 | |
| Selvistan (1924) | United Kingdom | 5,136 | Bound forHalifax |
| Solarium (1936) | United Kingdom | 6,239 | Bound forBaton Rouge |
| Southern Princess (1915) | United Kingdom | 2,156 | Bound forBoston. Capt R Gill CBE Rd RNR (Commodore) |
| Spokane (1929) | Panama | 2,882 | Bound forCharleston, South Carolina |
| Suecia (1912) |  Sweden | 4,966 | Returned |
| Titanian (1924) | Norway | 4,880 | Bound forFather Point, Quebec |
| Tolken (1922) | Sweden | 4,471 | Sunk byU-94[21] 675 nautical miles (1,250 km) SE ofCape Farewell, Greenland On 13 May. 0 dead. Survivors picked up byBury and landed at St. John's, Newfoundland |
| Zypenberg (1920) | Netherlands | 4,973 | Bound forNew York City |
| Name | Flag | Type | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USS Gleaves | United States Navy | Gleaves-classdestroyer | 7 May 1942 | 18 May 1942 |
| USCGC Spencer[4] | United States Coast Guard | Treasury-classcutter | 7 May 1942 | 18 May 1942 |
| HMCS Algoma | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower-classcorvette | 7 May 1942 | 18 May 1942 |
| HMCS Arvida | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower-classcorvette | 7 May 1942 | 14 May 1942 |
| HMCSBittersweet | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower-classcorvette | 7 May 1942 | 18 May 1942 |
| HMCS Shediac | Royal Canadian Navy | Flower-classcorvette | 7 May 1942 | 16 May 1942 |
The convoy was attacked byWolfpack Hecht, which consisted of eight U-boats, namely:
The convoy battle is the setting for the Sabaton songWolfpack off their debut albumPrimo Victoria.