Convoy SC-7

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Convoy SC-7
partof=World War II
date=16 October – 19 October 1940
place=Western Approaches
result=German Victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Karl Dönitz
commander2=L. D. I. Mackinnon
strength1=7 U-boats
strength2=35 ships
5 escorts
casualties1=None
casualties2=20 merchant ships sunk
total GRT|79,592|first=yes

SC-7 was an Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was attacked by a German U-boat wolf pack. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed, demonstrating the potential of the wolf pack tactics and the inadequacy of British anti-submarine tactics at the time.

hips of the convoy

The slow convoy SC-7 left Sydney, Nova Scotia on 5 October 1940 bound for Liverpool and other British ports. The convoy was supposed to make 8 knots, but a number of its 35 merchant ships were much slower than this. The convoy consisted of older, smaller ships, mostly with essential cargoes of bulk goods. Much of the freight on these ships originated on Canada's east coast, especially from points to the north and east of Sydney. Typical cargoes included pit props from eastern New Brunswick for the British coal mines, lumber, pulpwood, grain from the Great Lakes ports, steel and steel ingots from the Sydney plant, and iron ore from Newfoundland bound for the huge steel plants of Wales. The largest ship in the convoy was the 9,512-ton oil tanker MV "Languedoc", belonging to the British Admiralty, which was bound for the Clyde with fuel for the Royal Navy. Another ship, the British SS "Empire Brigade", carried a valuable cargo of trucks.

Many of the ships were British, but the convoy also included Greek, Swedish, Norwegian and Dutch vessels. The convoy commodore, Vice Admiral Lachlan Donald Ian Mackinnon, a retired naval officer who volunteered for this civilian duty, sailed in the SS "Assyrian", a British ship of 2,962 tons. As convoy commodore, Mackinnon was in charge of the good order of the merchant ships, but did not command the escort.

The sloop HMS "Scarborough" was sole naval escort for the first three quarters of the journey. There was no aircraft protection in 1940 for Allied ships in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving coastal regions. "Scarborough" would have had little chance against a surface attack by a German raider.

Many of the merchant ship captains were resentful at having to sail in convoy, and would have preferred to take their chances on their own rather than risk such a slow crossing with a weak escort. They were often uncooperative; at one point early in the voyage "Scarborough's" captain was shocked to find a Greek merchant ship in the convoy travelling at night with her lights on.

The first attacks

The convoy sailed on Saturday 5 October 1940.On the first day, one ship, the SS "Winona" dropped out with mechanical trouble, and had to return.

As bad weather set in on the 11th, several ships became separated, and were forced to sail independently.One of these, the SS "Trevisa", was a small Canadian Laker of 1,813 tons with a cargo of lumber destined for Scotland. She was sighted by "U-124" on the 16th and sunk.Another, the Greek freighter SS "Aenos" was seen by "U-38", and sunk on 17th; but SS "Eaglescliff Hall", another Laker, avoided this fate, and was able to rescue survivors from "Aenos", before arriving safely at Rothesay on the 19th. A fourth straggler regained the convoy on the 15th.

On the 17th as the convoy entered the Western Approaches "Scarborough" was joined by the sloop "Fowey" and the new corvette "Bluebell". Later that day they were sighted by "U-48", which attacked, sinking two ships including the tanker "Languedoc"."Scarborough" counter-attacked, driving "U-48" deep so she was unable to shadow or report. However the attack was prolonged unwisely, and the convoy moved so far ahead "Scarborough" was unable to rejoin.

On the 18th SC 7 was joined by the sloop "Leith", and the corvette "Heartsease", and "Leith" assumed command.Later that day "U-38", sighted the convoy and attacked, damaging SS "Carsbreck"."Leith" and "Heartsease" attacked without success, though "U-38" was driven off, and "Heartsease" was detailed to escort "Carsbreck" home, weakening the escort further.

The night of the U-boats

On the night of 18th/19th five boats made a concerted attack.They were "U-46", " ""U-99", "U-100", "U-101" and "U-123". "U-99" was captained by the famous ace "Korvettenkapitän" Otto Kretschmer. The attack was coordinated from Lorient by Admiral Karl Dönitz and his staff.

An early casualty was the iron ore ship, SS "Creekirk", bound for Cardiff, Wales. With her heavy cargo, she sank like a stone, taking all 36 crew members with her. Later that night, SC 7 lost many of its members, including the SS "Empire Brigade" with her cargo of trucks and six of her crew and the SS "Fiscus" with her cargo of steel ingots from Sydney. She sank like a stone as well, taking with her 38 of her 39 man crew. Also among the casualties was the commodore's ship, SS "Assyrian", down with 17 crew (though Admiral Mackinnon was rescued). In all, 16 ships were lost in this six hour period.

The escorts were unable to prevent any of these losses; their responses were uncoordinated and ineffective. They never realised that the attacking submarines did not attack submerged or from outside the convoy, but were actually running surfaced between the ships inside the convoy. Therefore the escorts were unable to mount any serious attacks on the U-boats, and had to spend much of their time rescuing survivors.

Aftermath

During the daytime of the 19th the escorts, loaded with survivors, gathered together those ships that remained."Fowey" collected eight ships and made for the Clyde, arriving there a few days later. "Scarborough" passed through the scene of the battle later on the 19th; she found wreckage, but no survivors. Later that afternoon "Leith" met "Heartsease", still escorting the damaged "Carsbreck"; together they headed for the Gourock, collecting two more stragglers on the way. "Bluebell" with over 200 survivors on board, headed directly for the Clyde, arriving on the 20th.

SC 7 had lost 20 ships out of 35, of which seven fell to Kretschmer's "U-99". The total tonnage lost was GRT|79,592.

The blackest days

Meanwhile, the arrival of Convoy HX-79 in the vicinity had diverted the U-boats and they went on to sink 12 ships from HX-79 that night.No U-boats were lost in either engagement.

The loss of 28 ships in 48 hours made 18th and 19 October the worst two days for shipping losses in the entire Atlantic campaign.

Conclusion

SC-7 was just the second convoy to be attacked by a wolf pack. Convoy tactics were rudimentary at this early stage of the war. The escorts' responses were uncoordinated, as the ships were unused to working together with a common battle-plan. Command fell to the senior officer present, and could change as each new ship arrived.

The escorts were torn between staying with the convoy, abandoning survivors in the water, as Defensively Armed Merchant Ships regulations demanded, and picking them up, leaving the convoy unprotected and risking being torpedoed themselves.

Notes

References

* Paul Lund, Harry Ludlam : The Night of the U-Boats ( 1973) ISBN 0 572 00828 7
* Stephen Roskill : The War at Sea 1939-1945 Vol I (1954) ISBN (none)
* Dan van der Vat : The Atlantic Campaign (1988) ISBN 0 340 37751 8
* Arnold Hague : The Allied Convoy System 1939-1945 (2000) . ISBN 1 55125 033 0 (Canada). ISBN 1 86176 147 3 (UK)