Convoy HX 231
Appearance
Convoy HX.231 | |||||
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Part of the Second World War | |||||
![]() North Atlantic Ocean map | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
Karl Dönitz | Charles Ramsay (Commodore) | ||||
Strength | |||||
11 U-boats |
67 merchant ships 19 escorts | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
2 U-boats sunk | 6 ships sunk |
Convoy HX 231 was the 231st of the numbered series of Second World War HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool. The ships departed New York City on 25 March 1943 and were met on 31 March by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-7. The convoy was found on 4 April and attacked by eleven U-boats of the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 10th U-boat flotillas, from Brest, La Rochelle, St Nazaire and Lorient, respectively. These U-boats formed wolfpack Löwenherz' (Lionheart). The U-boats sank six ships before losing contact on 7 April. Two U-boats, U-632 and U-635, were sunk. The convoy reached Liverpool on 10 April.
Ships in the convoy
[edit]Name[1] | Flag | (GRT) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Alisma | ![]() |
Escort 31 March – 9 April Corvette | |
Amastra (1935) | ![]() |
8,031 | |
Ancylus (1935) | ![]() |
8,017 | |
Aruba (1929) | ![]() |
3,979 | Arrived with rudder damage |
Asbjorn (1935) | ![]() |
4,387 | |
Athelregent (1930) | ![]() |
8,881 | |
Athos (1937) | ![]() |
8,267 | |
Atlantida (1924) | ![]() |
4,191 | |
Beaverhill (1928) | ![]() |
10,041 | |
Blitar (1923) | ![]() |
7,065 | Romped and sunk by U-632 on 6 April after attack the previous day by U-229, 26 dead[2] |
British Ardour (1928) | ![]() |
7,124 | Escort Oiler. Sunk by U-706 on 5 April, no casualties[3] |
British Confidence (1936) | ![]() |
8,494 | |
HMS Buxton (H96) | ![]() |
Escort 27–31 March, Destroyer | |
HMCS Chicoutimi | ![]() |
Escort 27–31 March, Corvette | |
City of Lyons (1926) | ![]() |
7,063 | |
Clan Cameron (1937) | ![]() |
7,243 | |
HMS Eclipse | ![]() |
Escort 6–8 April Destroyer | |
Eli Whitney (1942) | ![]() |
7,181 | |
Empire Chief (1897) | ![]() |
8,040 | Tanker carrying fuel oil |
Empire Coleridge (1942) | ![]() |
9,798 | Tanker carrying petrol. Fitted with AND |
Empire Dickens (1942) | ![]() |
9,819 | Tanker carrying petrol |
Empire Marvell (1941) | ![]() |
9,812 | Tanker carrying petrol & paraffin |
Erin (1932) | ![]() |
5,841 | |
Esso Dover (1921) | ![]() |
8,880 | |
F J Wolfe (1932) | ![]() |
12,190 | Escort Oiler. Returned |
Fort Finlay (1942) | ![]() |
7,134 | |
Fort Jemseg (1943) | ![]() |
7,134 | |
Fort Thompson (1942) | ![]() |
7,134 | |
HMS Fury | ![]() |
Escort 6–8 April, Destroyer | |
Geo W McKnight (1933) | ![]() |
12,502 | |
Georgian (1920) | ![]() |
5,825 | |
HMS Icarus | ![]() |
Escort 6–8 April Destroyer | |
HMS Inglefield | ![]() |
Escort 6–8 April Destroyer | |
Jamaica Planter (1936) | ![]() |
4,098 | Vice-Commodore |
Joel R Poinsett (1943) | ![]() |
7,176 | |
Katy (1931) | ![]() |
6,825 | |
HMCS Kenora | ![]() |
Escort 25–28 March Minesweeper | |
Kent (1918) | ![]() |
8,697 | |
Lady Rodney (1929) | ![]() |
8,194 | Halifax to St John's, Newfoundland |
Laurelwood (1929) | ![]() |
7,347 | |
Lochmonar (1924) | ![]() |
9,412 | Returned |
HMS Loosestrife | ![]() |
Escort 31 March – 9 April Corvette; landed 72 Survivors from Waroonga at Londonderry Port on 9 April 1943 | |
Manchester Port (1935) | ![]() |
7,071 | |
HMCS Milltown | ![]() |
Escort 27–31 March, Minesweeper | |
Mobilgas (1937) | ![]() |
9,925 | |
Mosdale (1939) | ![]() |
3,022 | |
Narvik | Escort 9–10 April | ||
Nassa (1942) | ![]() |
8,134 | Fitted with AND |
Noah Webster (1943) | ![]() |
7,176 | Returned |
Norheim (1941) | ![]() |
9,816 | |
Norvinn (1930) | ![]() |
6,322 | |
Ocean Volunteer (1942) | ![]() |
7,174 | |
Ornefjell (1937) | ![]() |
1,334 | Bound for Halifax |
Pandorian (1941) | ![]() |
4,159 | |
Pierre Soule (1943) | ![]() |
7,191 | |
HMS Pink | ![]() |
Escort 29 March – 9 April, Corvette | |
Pleiades (1939) | ![]() |
3,600 | |
Port Sydney (1914) | ![]() |
9,129 | |
HMCS Quesnel | ![]() |
Escort 25–31 March, Corvette | |
Raphael Semmes (1942) | ![]() |
6,165 | |
Reinholt (1939) | ![]() |
4,799 | |
Salland (1920) | ![]() |
6,447 | |
Saluta (1906) | ![]() |
6,261 | Returned |
San Adolfo (1935) | ![]() |
7,365 | |
San Ambrosio (1935) | ![]() |
7,410 | |
Santa Maria (1942) | ![]() |
6,507 | |
HMCS Saskatoon | ![]() |
Escort 25–28 March, Corvette | |
Scebeli (1937) | ![]() |
3,025 | Detached and independent 1 April |
Shillong (1939) | ![]() |
5,529 | Sunk by U-630 on 5 April, after being damaged by U-635 in an earlier attack, 71 dead[4] |
Slemmestad (1928) | ![]() |
4,258 | |
HMS Snowflake | ![]() |
Escort 31 March – 9 April, corvette, landed 54 Survivors from British Ardour at Londonderry Port | |
Sovac (1938) | ![]() |
6,724 | |
Stephen C Foster (1943) | ![]() |
7,106 | |
Sunoil (1927) | ![]() |
9,005 | Straggler zig-zagging on 4 April due to engine trouble. Sunk by U-530 on 5 April, after being damaged by U-563 in an earlier attack; lost with all 69 hands[5] |
HMS Tay | ![]() |
Escort 31 March – 9 April, Frigate | |
Thomas Sumter (1942) | ![]() |
7,177 | Romped |
Tjibadak (1929) | ![]() |
7,083 | |
Torr Head (1937) | ![]() |
5,021 | |
Tulsa (1919) | ![]() |
5,083 | |
Tyndareus (1916) | ![]() |
11,361 | Admiral Sir Charles Ramsey (Commodore) |
USS Merak | ![]() |
6,982 | Stores and passenger ship. 138 passengers |
Vaalaren (1936) | ![]() |
3,406 | Romped 4 April, sunk by U-229 on 5 April, lost with all 38 hands[6] |
HMS Vidette | ![]() |
Escort 31 March – 9 April, Destroyer | |
Waroonga (1914) | ![]() |
9,365 | Sunk by U-630 on 5 April, after being damaged by U-635 in an earlier attack. 19 dead[7] |
William Mulholland (1942) | ![]() |
7,176 | |
William Whipple (1942) | ![]() |
7,181 |
References
[edit]- ^ "Convoy HX.231". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Blitar – Dutch Steam Merchant". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "British Ardour – British Steam Tanker". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Shillong – British Motor Merchant". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Sunoil – American Motor Tanker". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Vaalaren – Swedish Motor Merchant". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- ^ "Waroonga – British Steam Merchant". uboat.net. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
Bibliography
[edit]- Gretton, Peter (1974). Crisis Convoy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-925-1.
Further reading
[edit]- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-257-3.
External links
[edit]- Hague, Arnold. "Convoy HX.231". HX Convoy Series. Don Kindell, Convoyweb.