Convoy battles
ONS-154
Outward, northbound, slow (North Atlantic)26 Dec 1942 - 30 Dec 1942
| The Convoy | 45 ships |
| First sighting | On 26 Dec 1942 by U-664 |
| Escorts | The Canadian escort group C1 consisting of the destroyer St-Laurent (Cdr Windeyer) and the 5 corvettes Battleford, Chilliwack, Kenogami, Napanee and Shediac. In the convoy is the rescue ship Toward, equipped with HF/DF. |
U-boats | The wolfpack Spitz of 10 boats U-123 (Oblt Von Schroeter) *, U-203 (KptLt Kottmann) *, U-225 (Oblt LeimKuhler) *, U-260 (KptLt Purkhold) *, U-356 (Cdr Ruppelt) *, U-406 (KptLt Dieterichs) *, U-440 (Oblt Geissler), U-659 (KptLt Stock), U-662 (Cdr Hermann) *, U-664 (Oblt Graef) * The wolfpack Ungestum of 9 boats: U-336 (Oblt Hunger) *, U-373 (KptLt Loeser), U-409 (Oblt Massmann), U-435 (KptLt Strelow) *, U-441 (KptLt Hartmann) *, U-455 (KptLt Scheibe), U-591 (KptLt Zetzsche) *, U-615 (KptLt Kapitzky) *, U-628 (Oblt Hasenschar) * * U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun |
The battle | After the first sighting, the groups Spitz and Ungestum are immediately deployed against the convoy. In the night U-356 makes 2 attacks and torpedoes 4 ships, of which 3 sink and the other one is finished off by U-441. U-441 misses the St-Laurent and the convoy. U-356 is sunk after her second attack by the St-Laurent, Napanee, Chilliwack and Battleford. Contact is lost but regained by U-225 in the afternoon of the 27th. The boat attacks during the night and damages one ship, Scottish Heather, that successfully made it back to Scotland. U-260 makes contact with the convoy in the morning of the 28th and brings up 12 boats : U-123, U-203, U-225, U-406, U-440, U-662 and U-664 from the Sptitz group and U-336, U-435, U-591, U-615 and U-628 from the Ungestum group. As soon as darkness falls, the boats attack, sometimes more than once. In 3 hrs time they sink 9 ships: First U-435 and U-203 miss, then U-591 torpedoes one ship that is finished of later in the day by U-435. U-225 sinks one and damages one, which U-662 finishes off. U-260 sinks one and U-203 misses again. U-406 torpedoes 3 ships of which none sinks immediately, but they are sunk by by U-123, U-628 and U-591. At midnight U-225 torpedoes two ships, one is later again torpedoed by U-336 but needs a third torpedo from U-225 again. U-225 takes the captain prisoner. The other ship (the ship of the convoy commodore) is also torpedoed twice, by U-123 first and then U-435, before finally sinking. Further attacks by U-203, U-435, U-628, U-664 and again U-628 against the escort and convoy fail. On daylight of the 30th the escort is reinforced by the 2 British destroyers Milne and Meteor. U-260, U-591 and U-435 are driven off. Only U-435 manages to sink ship previously damaged by U-591 in a daylight submerged attack. The auxiliary vessel Fidelity was attacked several times by U-225 and U-615 but the ships escapes thanks in part to her torpedo nets. U-435 finally sinks her in the afternoon of the 30th. U-455 keeps in touch with the convoy until night, but does not bring up any more boats to attack the convoy. |
Article compiled by Tom Linclau
Ships hit from convoy ONS-154
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | GRT | Nat. | |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-225 | Wolfgang Leimkühler | Scottish Heather (d.) | S | 7.087 |  br |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-356 | Günther Ruppelt | Empire Union | 5.952 | br | |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-356 | Günther Ruppelt | King Edward | 5.224 | br | |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-356 | Günther Ruppelt | Melrose Abbey | 2.473 | br | |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-356 | Günther Ruppelt | Soekaboemi (d.) | 7.051 |  nl | |
| 27 Dec 1942 | U-441 | Klaus Hartmann | Soekaboemi | S | 7.051 | nl |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-225 | Wolfgang Leimkühler | Empire Shackleton (d.) | 7.068 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-225 | Wolfgang Leimkühler | Melmore Head | 5.273 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-225 | Wolfgang Leimkühler | President Francqui (d.) | 4.919 |  be | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-225 | Wolfgang Leimkühler | Ville de Rouen (d.) | 5.598 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-260 | Hubertus Purkhold | Empire Wagtail | 4.893 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-406 | Horst Dieterichs | Baron Cochrane (d.) | 3.385 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-406 | Horst Dieterichs | Lynton Grange (d.) | 5.029 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-406 | Horst Dieterichs | Zarian (d.) | 4.871 | br | |
| 28 Dec 1942 | U-591 | Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche | Norse King (d.) | 5.701 |  nw | |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-123 | Horst von Schroeter | Baron Cochrane | S | 3.385 | br |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-123 | Horst von Schroeter | Empire Shackleton (d.) | S | 7.068 | br |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-336 | Hans Hunger | President Francqui | S | 4.919 | be |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-435 | Siegfried Strelow | Empire Shackleton | S | 7.068 | br |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-435 | Siegfried Strelow | Norse King | S | 5.701 | nw |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-591 | Hans-Jürgen Zetzsche | Zarian | S | 4.871 | br |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-628 | Heinrich Hasenschar | Lynton Grange | S | 5.029 | br |
| 29 Dec 1942 | U-662 | Wolfgang Hermann | Ville de Rouen | S | 5.598 | br |
| 30 Dec 1942 | U-435 | Siegfried Strelow | HMS Fidelity (D 57) | S | 2.456 | br |
| 30 Dec 1942 | U-435 | Siegfried Strelow | HMS LCV-752 [t] | 10 | br | |
| 30 Dec 1942 | U-435 | Siegfried Strelow | HMS LCV-754 [t] | 10 | br | |
(d.) = the ship was damaged in that attack. Convoy info: S = straggler, D = dispersed, R = Romper [t] Vessel being transferred on a larger ship. Their tonnage is counted. | ||||||
14 ships sunk for a total of 69.893 tons from convoy ONS-154