Convoy ON 154

Convoy ON 154
Part ofBattle of the Atlantic
HMCSSt. Laurent
Date 26–30 December 1942 Location North Atlantic Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
VAdm.Wion de Malpas Egerton† Lt.Cdr. Guy Windeyer RCN	AdmiralKarl Dönitz
Strength
50 freighters 1destroyer 5corvettes 1 Special Service Vessel	20 submarines
Casualties and losses
13 freighters sunk (66,922GRT) 177 killed/drowned 1 Special Service Vessel sunk 369 killed/drowned	1 submarine sunk 46 killed/drowned

Convoy ON 154- alsoON(S) 154orONS 154- was aNorth Atlanticconvoyof theON serieswhich ran during thebattle of the AtlanticinWorld War II.It was the 154th of the numbered series of merchant shipconvoysOutbound from the British Isles toNorth America. It came under attack in December 1942 and lost 13 of its 50 freighters. One of the attacking U-boats was destroyed.

Background

As western Atlantic coastalconvoysbrought an end to thesecond happy time,AdmiralKarl Dönitz,theBefehlshaber der U-Boote(BdU) or commander in chief ofU-boats,shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained throughB-Dienstdecryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3.However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.

Forces involved

The ships departedLiverpoolon 18 December 1942 and comprised 50 merchant ships, in ballast or carrying trade goods.It was led byconvoy commodoreVAdm.W de M Egerton inEmpire Shackleton. The convoy sailed in twelve columns of three or four ships each. The convoy formation was five miles (8 km) wide and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. ON 154 was a slow convoy, made up of ships that could manage 8knotsat best. Slow convoys were particularly vulnerable, as their top speed was matched by the submerged speed of the U-boats, and was just half their surface speed, thus making it easier for awolfpackto form.

ON 154’s ocean escort was theRoyal Canadian NavyMid-Ocean Escort ForceGroup C-1, led byLt. Cdr.Guy Windeyer in theRiver-classdestroyerHMCSSt. Laurent.The group also comprised theFlower-classcorvettesHMCSBattleford,Chilliwack,Kenogami,Napanee,andShediac.C-1 was missing theTown-class destroyerBurwell,which had mechanical problems and was not replaced. RCN ships generally suffered from overwork compared to their Royal Navy equivalents, and were more likely to be un-modernized. ON 154 included theconvoy rescue shipToward,theoilerScottish Heatherand the French-crewed 2,456-tonspecial service vesselHMSFidelity.Fidelitywas armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) guns, fourtorpedotubes and a defensive torpedo net. She carried twolanding craft(LCV-752andLCV-754), twoOS2U Kingfisherfloatplanesand theMotor Torpedo BoatMTB 105.

Opposing ON 154 in the North Atlantic were the U-boat groupsUngestum(13 boats) andSpitz(11 boats) on patrol in the notoriousAir Gap,where Allied air cover was unable to reach. A third group,Falke,acted as back-stop, but became involved with convoy HX 219and had no effect on the fight for ON 154.

Action

Discovery on 26/27 December

ON 154 was routed south to avoid storms and remained distant from escort support groups and out of range ofAlliedpatrolbombersfor longer than most convoys.U-662reported the convoy on 26 December.That nightU-356torpedoed the leading ships from two of the starboard columns.Empire Unionwas hit at 01:40,Melrose Abbeywas hit ten minutes later. Both British freighters sank at about 02:30.Towardrescued 63 survivors from the first ship and 47 from the second.

In a second attack,U-356torpedoed the Dutch freighterSoekaboemiat 04:10, and the British freighterKing Edwardat 04:15.King Edwardsank within three minutes.U-356was detected by the escorts and was sunk with no survivors followingdepth chargeattacks bySt. Laurent,Chilliwack,BattlefordandNapanee.At dawn,Towardrescued 25 men from theKing Edwardand assistedNapanee,recovering all but one ofSoekaboemi's crew.Soekaboemiremained afloat when abandoned at 07:30.

Second attack on 27/28 December

U-225began stalkingScottish Heatheras she refuelled some of the escorts fifteen miles astern of the convoy on the afternoon of 27 December.U-225was twice driven off byChilliwackbefore hitting the oiler with a single torpedo in a third approach at 20:40. The ship was temporarily abandoned, but the second mate re-boarded her with ten men and sailed the ship out of the danger zone. At dawn he returned and pattern-searched for lifeboats. The oiler returned to England independently after recovering all of her crew.

Main attack on 28/29 December

U-260began shadowing the convoy on the morning of 28 December and directed 18 U-boats to the convoy.Fidelityattempted to launch a Kingfisher, but the plane capsized and sank at 19:15. WhileSt. Laurentrescued the Kingfisher crew, a coordinated night attack began with U-boats entering the starboard side of the convoy at 19:58.U-591torpedoed the Norwegian freighterNorse Kingat 20:00.U-225torpedoed the British freightersMelmore Headat 20:03 andVille de Rouenat 20:05.U-260torpedoed the British freighterEmpire Wagtailat 20:45. AsEmpire Wagtaildisintegrated in an explosion that claimed all of her crew,Fidelityreported a main engine failure;Shediacwas sent to assist her two miles (3.2 km) astern of the convoy.

U-boats then entered the port side of the convoy.U-406torpedoed the British freightersLynton Grangeat 21:20,Zarianat 21:23, andBaron Cochraneat 21:24.U-662hit the damagedVille de Rouenagain at 22:10 andU-225torpedoed the convoy commodore's freighterEmpire Shackletonat 22:15 and the Belgian freighterPresident Francouiat 22:30.

Disabled ships were also being attacked astern of the convoy.Baron Cochranewas sunk at 21:50 byU-123andU-628sankLynton Grangea few minutes later. The crews had abandoned both ships when they were hit earlier.U-123andU-435sankEmpire Shackletonat 22:55.U-591sank the abandonedZarianjust before midnight.

Shediacwas ordered to leaveFidelity30 miles (48 km) astern and rejoin the convoy while searching for survivors.Shediacrescued 35 survivors fromMelmore Headand 71 fromVille de Rouenbetween 03:10 and 03:30 and 24 fromEmpire Shackletonat 05:30.Shediacrejoined the convoy at 13:00 short of fuel and with inadequate provisions for the number of survivors aboard.

Twolifeboatsabandoned the damagedPresident Francoui,but the remainder of the crew attempted to sail independently to theAzores.U-225torpedoed the ship again at 06:30 and it was sunk at 09:30 byU-336.The damagedNorse Kingwas similarly attempting to reach the Azores when she was sunk byU-435at 15:07.There were no survivors.

The convoy escort was reinforced by theM-classdestroyersHMSMilneandMeteorat 14:00 on 29 Decemberafter the arriving destroyers rescued 42 survivors fromBaron Cochraneat 07:00, 52 survivors fromLynton Grangeat 07:20 and 49 survivors fromZarianat 08:15.

HMSFidelity29/30 December

Fidelityrestarted main engines at 05:00 and declined the offer to dispatch a tug from Gibraltar. Speed was limited to two knots while streaming anti-torpedo nets when observed byMeteorandMilneat 05:30.U-615foundFidelitywhile her main engines were again stopped for repairs between 10:15 and 11:00.U-615identifiedFidelityas aQ-shipand shadowed her cautiously. A reconnaissance flight byFidelity's remaining Kingfisher observed two shadowing submarines and two ofEmpire Shackleton's lifeboats.FidelitylaunchedLCV-752andLCV-754to tow-in the lifeboats.Fidelityrecovered the Kingfisher and the two landing craft withEmpire Shackleton's survivors that afternoon and launched MTB-105 to conduct anti-submarine patrols through the night.U-615launched four torpedoes atFidelityat about 20:00, but the anti-torpedo net protected the ship from damage.MTB-105experienced engine problems and lost contact withFidelityat about 23:00.MTB-105heard radio calls fromFidelityshortly after dawn, but had inadequate battery power to respond.U-435torpedoedFidelityat 16:30 and was surprised by the size of the resulting explosion and by the large number of men subsequently seen floating in the water where the ship had sunk.MTB-105rigged a makeshift sail to try and reach land.Fidelityhad on board 369 people (274 crew, 51 Marines and 44 survivors fromEmpire Shackleton), all were lost at sea, including the convoy commodore of ON 154 Vice AdmiralWion de Malpas Egerton.

Survivors 30 December

On 30 December British destroyerFamearrived, her skipperCdr.R Heathcote (who was SOE ofB-6 Escort Group) taking over as Senior Officer; at this point Windeyer,St. Laurent's captain, collapsed from stress and exhaustion. Battleford,Shediac,MilneandMeteorwere released on 30 December to refuel in the Azores.leaving only four escorts remaining and as many as twelve U-boats in contact with the convoy. Following the loss of the convoy commodore, the two fast ships with large passenger complements (CalgaryandAdvastun), were invited to escape if they found an opportunity.WhenHMCSSt. Francisand theV-classdestroyer HMSViceroyreinforced the convoy escort before nightfall on 30 December, the U-boats were ordered to disengage.

ShediacandMeteorran out of fuel before reaching the Azores.BattlefordtowedShediacthe last 40 miles (64 km) andMeteorwas towed the last five miles (8 km). All four refuelled and joined the search for survivors. HMCSPrescottfound and rescued the eight men aboardMTB-105on 1 January; but, aside from the two-man Kingfisher crew rescued earlier bySt. Laurent,there were no other survivors fromFidelity's crew of 325 and the men rescued fromEmpire Shackleton.Prescottalso saved 26 crewmen fromPresident Francoui,but the recovery effort found no other convoy survivors.The remainder of the convoy reachedNew York Cityon 12 January 1943.

Analysis

ON 154 lost 14 ships of 69,378GRTand 486 men killed. It ranked as one of the half-dozen worst North Atlantic convoy disasters of the war.The Admiralty was critical of the Canadians for the outcome of this voyage, comparing it unfavourably with the transit of ON 155 escorted by B-6 escort group without loss. However both Blair and Milner point out that the Admiralty also bore responsibility for routing the convoy so far south, through the widest part of the Air Gap, with a five day transit without air cover. C-1 was also expected to operate with a destroyer short, with inadequate provision for re-fueling and with without modern equipment, against a pack that outnumbered it by four to one.Milner also points out that B-6 had been given a more northerly course, and a faster convoy, and that the RCN groups had generally been assigned to the more vulnerable slow convoys of the SC and ON(S) series, while the RN groups had the faster HX and ON convoys. Analysis of the convoy’s losses also shows that of the fourteen ships sunk, nine were lost outside the convoy, having been damaged or disabled in a previous attack and forced to drop out. After the first attack byU-356just five U-boats (U-225,U-406,U-591,U-260andU-123) had succeeded in penetrating the escort screen, while the rest of the pack had been driven off, and had picked off the stragglers. Blair also points out that the German success against ON 154 was an exception; in December the Allies ran 16 trans-Atlantic convoys, containing some 650 ships; only three of them were attacked, and sank only 20 ships (ie. apart from the fourteen in ON 154, only two from HX 217 and four from ON 153), plus seven other ships sailing independently.

Conclusion

The attack on ON 154 was undoubtedly a success for the Germans, but the safe arrival of over two-thirds of the convoy’s ships, coupled with the destruction of one of the attackers, whilst being outnumbered by nearly four to one, was not a complete failure by the escort forces. However the Admiralty took the drastic decision to withdraw the RCN escort groups from the Atlantic, sending them for intensive training at the RN facilities at Liverpool and Tobermory. However they also set about refitting of Canadian escort ships with modern equipment, a tacit acceptance of the RCN's complaints. Meanwhile the burden of escorting slow convoys on the Atlantic route fell to the RN, leading to experiences not dissimilar to those suffered by the RCN up to then during the campaign.

Ships in the convoy

Name	Flag	Dead	Tonnage(GRT)	Cargo	Notes
Aldrastus(1923)	United Kingdom		7,905
Algorab(1921)	Netherlands		4,938		DestinationCape Town
Baron Cochrane(1927)	United Kingdom	2	3,385	4,376 tons coal	Sunk byU-406andU-123
Baron Elgin(1933)	United Kingdom		3,942		Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;destination Halifax; survived this convoy,convoy SC 122&convoy ONS 5
Baron Inchcape(1917)	United Kingdom		7,005
Belle Isle(1932)	United States		1,960
Berkel(1930)	Netherlands		2,130		Veteran ofconvoy SC 107;survived this convoy andconvoy ONS 5
Bonita(1918)	Panama		4,929		Survived this convoy andconvoy SC 122
Bornholm(1930)	United Kingdom		3,177		Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;survived this convoy andconvoy ONS 5
Calgary(1921)	United Kingdom		7,206		Veteran ofconvoy SL 125
Dundrum Castle(1919)	United Kingdom		5,259		Veteran ofconvoy SC 42andconvoy SL 125
E G Seubert(1918)	United States		9,181		Survived this convoy andconvoy SC 130
Empire Cougar(1919)	United Kingdom		5,758		Veteran ofconvoy SL 125
Empire Geraint(1942)	United Kingdom		6,991
Empire Shackleton(1941)	United Kingdom	37	7,068	2,000 tons ammunition, aircraft & general cargo	Veteran ofconvoy SC 107,carried convoy commodore VADM W de M Egerton DSO; sunk byU-225,U-123&U-435
Empire Simba(1919)	United Kingdom		5,691		Veteran ofconvoy SL 125
Empire Union(1921)	United Kingdom	6	5,952	940 tons general cargo	Veteran ofconvoy SC 107;sunk byU-356
Empire Wagtail(1919)	United Kingdom	43	4,893		Sunk byU-260
Esturia(1914)	United Kingdom		6,968
Euthalia(1918)	Greece		3,553
Fana(1939)	Norway		1,375		Survived this convoy andconvoy ONS 5
Fort Lamy(1919)	United Kingdom		5,242		Ship's Master was convoy vice-commodore; survived to be sunk 2 months later inconvoy SC 121
Henry R Mallory(1916)	United States		6,063		Survived to be sunk a month later inconvoy SC 118
James Hawson(1930)	Norway		6,074
Janeta(1929)	United Kingdom		4,312		Veteran ofconvoy SC 107
Jasper Park(1942)	United Kingdom		7,129		Survived to be sunk later on 6 July 1943.
King Edward(1919)	United Kingdom	23	5,224	In Ballast	Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;sunk byU-356
Kiruna(1921)	Sweden		5,484		Veteran ofconvoy HX 79;survived this convoy andconvoy SC 118
Lynton Grange(1937)	United Kingdom	0	5,029	5,997 tons general cargo	Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;sunk byU-628andU-406
Melmore Head(1918)	United Kingdom	14	5,273	In Ballast	Veteran ofconvoy SC 7andconvoy SC 94;sunk byU-225
Melrose Abbey II(1936)	United Kingdom	7	2,473	3,403 tons coal	Sunk byU-356
Norhauk(1919)	Norway		6,086
Norse King(1920)	Norway	35	5,701	5,453 tons coal	Sunk byU-435andU-591
Northmoor(1928)	United Kingdom		4,392		DestinationCape Town,detached c. 25 December to Azores,arriving 30 December
Olney(1920)	United States		7,294		Veteran ofconvoy SC 107
President Francqui(1928)	Belgium	5	4,919	In Ballast	Sunk byU-225andU-336
Ramo(1921)	Norway		2,334
Ravnefjell(1938)	Norway		1,339		Veteran ofconvoy HX 79;survived this convoy,convoy SC 121andconvoy SC 130
Runswick(1930)	United Kingdom		3,970		Returned to England
Scottish Heather(1928)	United Kingdom		7,087		Escort oiler, damaged byU-225and returned to England
Soekaboemi(1923)	Netherlands	1	7,051	5,000 tons general cargo	Sunk byU-441as a coup de grace, after having sustained damage from an earlier attack byU-356
Toward(1923)	United Kingdom		1,571		convoy rescue ship
Tynemouth(1940)	United Kingdom		3,168		Veteran ofconvoy SC 94andconvoy SL 125
Umgeni(1938)	United Kingdom		8,149		Detached 1 January
Veni(1901)	Norway		2,982		Veteran ofconvoy SC 94
Vest(1920)	Norway		5,074		Veteran ofconvoy SC 107
Ville de Rouen(1919)	United Kingdom	0	5,083	5,500 tons general cargo	Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;sunk byU-591andU-662
Vistula(1920)	United States		8,537		Survived this convoy andconvoy SC 122
Wisla(1928)	Poland		3,106		Veteran ofconvoy SC 42
Zarian(1938)	United Kingdom	4	4,871	7,500 tons general cargo	Veteran ofconvoy SL 125;sunk byU-406andU-591

See also

• Convoy Battles of World War II

Bibliography

• Blair, Clay(1998)Hitler's U-Boat War [Volume 2]: The Hunted 1942–1945CassellISBN0-304-35261-6(2000 UK paperback ed.)
• Hague, Arnold (2000).The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945.Naval Institute Press.ISBN1-55750-019-3.
• Lenton, H.T.; Colledge, J.J. (1968).British and Dominion Warships of World War Two.Doubleday and Company.
• Milner, Marc (1985).North Atlantic Run.Naval Institute Press.ISBN0-87021-450-0.
• Milner, Marc(2003)Battle of the AtlanticHistory PressISBN978-0-7524-6187-8
• Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975).History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I The Battle of the Atlantic 1939–1943.Little, Brown and Company.
• Rohwer, J.; Hummelchen, G. (1992).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945.Naval Institute Press.ISBN1-55750-105-X.
• Tarrant, V.E. (1989).The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945.Arms and Armour.ISBN1-85409-520-X.
• Gordon Mumford's account of Convoy ONS 154