Convoys HX 229/SC 122 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Convoy HX 229 (plus delayed 229A) /SC 122
Part of World War II
Date 16–19 March 1943 Location North Atlantic Result German Victory
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom  United States  Canada
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz	B4 Group: GJ Luther; later EC Day B5 Group: RC Boyle
Strength
Raubgraf 10 U-boats Stürmer 18 U-boats Dränger 11 U-boats Total: 39	HX229: 50 ships, 5 escorts SC122: 60 ships, 8 escorts plus reinforcements
Casualties and losses
1 U-Boat destroyed 7 damaged	HX229: 13 ships (93,502 GRT) SC122: 9 ships (53,694 GRT)

During World War II, ships carrying important supplies across the Atlantic Ocean faced great danger. German submarines, called U-boats, hunted these ships. To protect them, merchant ships traveled together in groups called convoys. This was part of the long and tough Battle of the Atlantic.

In March 1943, two convoys, HX 229 and SC 122, became part of the biggest convoy battle of the entire war. The German navy, known as the Kriegsmarine, used a special tactic. They gathered many U-boats into groups called wolfpacks. These wolfpacks would attack convoys at night, often all at once.

During the day, planes flying over the ocean made it harder for U-boats to find convoys. But the long, dark nights of the North Atlantic winter helped the U-boats hide. In the winter of 1942-1943, Germany sent more U-boats to the middle of the Atlantic than ever before. This was before Allied planes could patrol that far out.

March 1943 was a very difficult time for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic. About 100 merchant ships in convoys HX 229 and SC 122 ran into 38 U-boats. The Germans called it "the greatest convoy battle of all time." A report from the Royal Navy later said that Germany "never came so near to disrupting communications between the New World and the Old" as they did in March 1943.

Convoy SC 122: The Slow Journey

Convoy SC 122 was a group of 60 slower ships. They were traveling east from New York to Liverpool, England. This was a change from their usual starting point in Canada.

The convoy set sail on March 5, 1943. At first, it had a small escort of one destroyer and five corvettes. Bad weather forced two ships to return to New York on March 6. Then, on March 8, six more ships left the convoy and went to Halifax.

The remaining ships continued their journey. On March 13, they met a new escort group near Cape Race. This group, called B5 Escort Group, came from St John's. It had eight warships, including the destroyer HMS Havelock and several corvettes.

Convoy HX 229: The Faster Convoy

Convoy HX 229 also sailed east from New York, starting on March 8. It had 40 ships. Another 34 ships were supposed to join but were delayed. They sailed the next day as Convoy HX 229A.

The first few days for HX 229 were calm. On March 14, it met its ocean escort, B4 Escort Group, from St John's. This group had four destroyers and one corvette. Lieutenant Commander Gordon John Luther led the group on HMS Volunteer. He was new to the group and this was only his second trip across the Atlantic.

One of the destroyers, Witherington, had to leave on March 15. It was replaced by the corvette Pennywort.

Convoy HX 229A sailed on March 9. It met its escort, 40 Escort Group, on March 15. This group had six sloops (a type of warship). HX 229A took a more northern route. Because of this, German U-boats never found it, and it arrived safely on March 26.

Wolfpacks: The German Hunters

The German U-boats were organized into three large patrol lines, or "rakes," ready to attack:

• Raubgraf ("Robber Baron"): This group of eight U-boats was already in position. They were sent to patrol east of Newfoundland, at the edge of the "Air Gap." This was an area in the middle of the Atlantic where planes couldn't reach.
• Stürmer ("Daredevil"): This was a new group of 18 U-boats. They were ordered to form up in the middle of the Air Gap.
• Dränger ("Harrier"): This group of eleven U-boats formed to the east of Stürmer.

The Big Battle Begins

The German intelligence group, B-Dienst, was very good at listening to Allied radio messages. By the evening of March 13, they knew where Convoy SC 122 was. Admiral Karl Dönitz, who commanded the U-boat fleet, ordered the Raubgraf wolfpack to find it.

However, a strong westerly storm helped SC 122. The convoy passed through Raubgraf's patrol area on the morning of March 15, just a day before the U-boats formed their line.

The Allies had their own secret weapon: Ultra intelligence. This allowed them to read German messages, including those from the Enigma machine. Ultra usually helped the British navy steer convoys away from U-boat wolfpacks. But on March 10, 1943, the Germans changed their weather reports. This made it much harder for the British code breakers to understand the U-boat messages. So, the British couldn't always tell where the U-boat packs were.

A U-boat's radio message did give away its position. This allowed Convoy SC 122 to be steered around the danger area.

Unfortunately, the Germans had also broken the Allied code used by the convoy escorts. This helped them position their wolfpacks to intercept HX 229, which was following a similar path. HX 229 passed through Raubgraf's line on the night of March 15-16 without being seen, thanks to bad weather.

On the morning of March 16, U-653, a U-boat that had left Raubgraf due to mechanical problems, spotted HX 229. It sent a report. Dönitz immediately ordered Raubgraf to chase HX 229. He also told Stürmer and Dränger to move west and form a line ahead of the convoy. He saw this as a perfect chance to attack a convoy full of war supplies.

Raubgraf caught up with HX 229 on the evening of March 16. They attacked that night, sinking three ships. By the morning of March 17, five more ships were sunk. That's eight ships lost in just eight hours! The escort was weak because two ships had to leave to rescue survivors. The escorts chased three U-boats but couldn't hit them.

During the day, U-boats from Stürmer started to arrive. One was attacked by a destroyer but escaped.

The cargo steamship King Gruffyd, a ship from Convoy SC 122. It was sunk by U-338 on March 17, 1943.

At the northern end of Stürmer's line, German submarine U-338 spotted SC 122, about 120 miles from HX 229. After reporting its sighting, it attacked. It quickly sank four ships. A fifth ship, Fort Cedar Lake, was damaged and sank later that day. Two more ships from HX 229 were also lost.

Two U-boats from Stürmer managed to get past the escorts around midday on March 17. But the escorts fought them off. They also got some help from long-range aircraft that flew in for short visits. SC 122 also managed to stop further attacks until evening.

The Battle Continues

On the night of March 17-18, the attacks on both convoys continued. They were now only 70 miles apart. U-338 sank the freighter Granville from SC 122 that evening. It survived a strong counter-attack by the escorts. After midnight, U-305 sank two more ships, Port Auckland and Zouave.

HX 229's escort suffered a setback when HMS Mansfield had to leave during the night. But help was on the way! The destroyer HMS Highlander, led by Commander ECL Day, arrived on March 18. Day, being a more experienced officer, took command of the B4 Group. More destroyers, HMS Vimy and USS Babbitt, were also on their way for HX 229. The US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Ingham was sent to help SC 122. These ships were sent on the morning of March 18 and arrived the next day.

On the afternoon of March 18, U-221 managed to sink two ships from HX 229. But no more ships were lost that day. HMS Highlander joined the convoy that afternoon, which was a welcome addition as B4 Group was down to only five ships.

On the night of March 18-19, the two convoys were sailing side-by-side but independently. All U-boat attacks on both convoys were stopped that night. The escorts attacked six U-boats, but didn't cause much damage. One ship from HX 229 was lost. This ship, Matthew Luckenbach, had left the convoy to sail alone. It ran into the battle around SC 122 and was torpedoed, sinking later on March 19. Another ship that had fallen behind from SC 122, Clarissa Radcliffe, was also sunk by U-663, with everyone on board lost.

On March 19, the escorts got more help. Vimy and Babitt joined HX 229, and Ingham joined SC 122. HX 229 also got the corvette HMS Abelia from another convoy. Also on March 19, U-384 was attacked by a patrol plane north of SC 122 and sunk. There were no more losses to the convoys that day. The German commander, Dönitz, saw that the Allies were getting stronger. He realized that continuing the attack would mean too many losses for his U-boats, so he called off the assault.

The convoys continued east. More escort changes happened on March 20. The corvette HMCS Sherbrooke arrived, while Upshur and Ingham left. The local escort groups met on March 23. HX 229, with 27 ships left, arrived in Liverpool on March 23. SC 122, with 42 ships remaining, arrived later the same day.

What Happened Next

This huge double battle involved 90 merchant ships and 16 escort ships. In total, 22 merchant ships were sunk (13 from HX 229 and 9 from SC 122). This was a loss of about 146,000 tons of supplies. More than 300 merchant sailors died.

About 38 U-boats took part in the battle. One U-boat was sunk with all its crew, and several others were damaged.

The battle was a clear victory for the Germans. However, they did not manage to completely stop the flow of supplies across the North Atlantic. 68 ships (two-thirds of those involved) made it safely and on time. Also, the 38 ships of HX 229A, which had sailed separately, arrived without any damage.

This was the biggest convoy battle of the entire Atlantic campaign. A Royal Navy report later said it seemed possible that convoys might no longer be an effective way to defend ships.

March 1943 was the toughest time for the Allies in the Atlantic. Four convoys heading home were attacked, and 39 ships were sunk. But out of those four convoys, over 200 ships arrived safely. Four other convoys heading east were not attacked at all. Also, during March, nine U-boats were destroyed in the Atlantic, and more were damaged. This led to a quiet period for U-boat operations in April. When the U-boats attacked again in May, it was a major defeat for them, known as Black May. This was the turning point of the entire campaign.

Ships Lost

Here are the ships that were sunk during this battle:

Allied merchant ships

From Convoy HX 229

Date	Name	Flag	Casualties	Tonnage (GRT)	Sunk by
16 March 1943	Elin K	Norway	0	5,214	U-603
16/17 March 1943	Zaanland	Netherlands	0	6,513	U-758
16/17 March 1943	Southern Princess	United Kingdom	4	12,156	U-600
16/17 March 1943	Harry Luckenbach	United States	80	6,366	U-91
16/17 March 1943	Coracero	United Kingdom	5	7,252	U-384
16/17 March 1943	Terkoeli	Netherlands	36	5,158	U-631, U-384?
17 March 1943	James Oglethorpe	United States	44	7,176	U-758, U-91
17 March 1943	William Eustis	United States	0	7,196	U-435, U-91
17 March 1943	Nariva	United Kingdom	0	8,714	U-600, U-91
17 March 1943	Irenee du Pont	United States	24	6,125	U-600, U-91
18 March 1943	William Q Gresham	United States	27	7,191	U-221
18 March 1943	Canadian Star	United Kingdom	29	8,293	U-221
19 March 1943	Matthew Luckenbach	United States	?	5,848	U-523, U-527

From Convoy SC 122

Date	Name	Flag	Casualties	Tonnage (GRT)	Sunk by
16/17 March 1943	Kingsbury	United Kingdom	4	4,898	U-338
16/17 March 1943	King Gruffydd	United Kingdom	22	5,072	U-338
16/17 March 1943	Alderamin	Netherlands	0	7,886	U-338
17 March 1943	Fort Cedar Lake	United Kingdom	0	7,134	U-338, U-665
17 March 1943	Port Auckland	United Kingdom	8	8,789	U-305
18 March 1943	Zouave	United Kingdom	13	4,256	U-305
18 March 1943	Granville	Panama	12	4,071	U-338
18/19 March 1943	Carras	Greece	0	5,234	U-333, U-666
19 March 1943	Clarissa Radcliffe	United Kingdom	53	5,754	U-663

U-boats

See also

• Convoy Battles of World War II