Convoy battles

HX-212

Homeward from Halifax (North Atlantic)

26 Oct 1942 - 29 Oct 1942

The Convoy	45 ships
First sighting	On 26 Oct 1942 by U-436
Escorts	The American escort group A3 (Cdr. Lewis) consisting of the destroyer Badger, the cutter Campbell, the British corvette Dianthus and the Canadian corvettes Rosthern, Trillium, Alberni, Summerside and Ville de Quebec.
U-boats	The wolfpack Puma of 13 boats U-224 (Oblt. Kosbadt), U-301 (Kptlt. Körner), U-383 (Kptlt. Kremser), U-436 (Kptlt. Seibicke), U-441 (Kptlt. Hartmann), U-443 (Oblt. von Puttkammer), U-563 (Kptlt. von Hartman), U-602 (Kptlt. Schüler), U-606 (Oblt. Döhler), U-621 (Kptlt. Schünemann), U-624 (Kptlt. Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen), U-753 (Korvkpt. von Mannstein), U-757 (Oblt. Deetz)
The battle	After the fruitless pursuit of convoy ON-139, the patrol line Puma is reinforced and searches further. On the 26th U-436 runs into HX-212. In the night this boat attacks and scores hits with all her five torpedoes. One ship is sunk and two are damaged. U-606 damages a large ship and finishes off one ship damaged by U-436. Then this large ship is again torpedoed by U-606 and U-624 also before it sinks. U-621 and U-563 have no success. During the next day the U-boats are kept at bay by Liberators coming from Iceland. Only in the night does U-224 manage to sink a straggler and U-624 sinks one ship from the convoy. On the 29th the air escort drives off all boats trying to close in and the operation is broken off.

Article compiled by Tom Linclau

Ships hit from convoy HX-212

Date	U-boat	Commander		Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Map
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Günther Seibicke		Frontenac (d.)	7,350		nw	A
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Günther Seibicke		Gurney E. Newlin (d.)	8,225		am	B
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Günther Seibicke		HMS LCT-2281 [Trans.]	291		br	C
27 Oct 1942	U-436	Günther Seibicke		Sourabaya	10,107		br	D
28 Oct 1942	U-606	Hans-Heinrich Döhler		Kosmos II (d.)	16,966		nw	E
28 Oct 1942	U-606	Hans-Heinrich Döhler		Gurney E. Newlin	8,225		am	F
29 Oct 1942	U-224	Hans-Karl Kosbadt		Bic Island	3,921		ca	G
29 Oct 1942	U-624	Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen		HMS LCT-2190 [Trans.]	291		br	H
29 Oct 1942	U-624	Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen		HMS LCT-2192 [Trans.]	291		br	I
29 Oct 1942	U-624	Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen		HMS LCT-2284 [Trans.]	291		br	J
29 Oct 1942	U-624	Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen		Kosmos II	16,966		nw	K
29 Oct 1942	U-624	Ulrich Graf von Soden-Fraunhofen		Pan-New York	7,701		am	L
29 Oct 1942	U-436	Günther Seibicke		Barrwhin	4,998		br	M
					85,623
10 ships sunk (53,082 tons) and 3 ships damaged (32,541 tons). Legend We have a picture of this vessel. (d.) means the ship was damaged. [Trans.] indicates the vessel was lost while being transported on another vessel.

77 convoys on route HX were hit by U-boats in the war. Read more about them.

Return to convoy information - convoy battles page.