Convoy HX 228

Convoy HX 228
Part of World War II
Date 10–11 March 1943 Location North Atlantic Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
Germany	Free France United Kingdom Poland
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz	Comm: JO Dunn B-3 Group: AA Tait   †
Strength
9 U-boats	60 ships 8 escorts
Casualties and losses
2 U-boats	4 ships (24,175 GRT) 1 warship

HX 228 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of a series of four convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of March 1943 and is notable for the loss of the Escort Group leader Commander AA "Harry" Tait.

Contents

• Prelude
• Action
• Conclusion
• In popular culture
• Tables
• Notes
• References
• External links

Prelude

HX 228 was an east-bound convoy of 60 ships, plus local contingents, which sailed from New York on 28 February 1943 bound for Liverpool and carrying war materials.

The Mid-Ocean Escort Force group B3 joined the convoy from St Johns. The escort group was led by Commander AA Tait of HMS Harvester; the other ships of this group were the destroyers HMS Escapade, ORP Burza and ORP Garland and the corvettes HMS Narcissus and FNFL ships Aconit , Renoncule and Roselys. The group was backed by the escort carrier USS Bogue and two destroyers which sailed from Argentia on 5 March.

Arrayed against them in the North Atlantic were three U-boat patrol lines, Wildfang, Burggraf and Neuland, although in the event, only a re-configured Neuland, comprising 13 U-boats, engaged HX 228.

In early March, the U-boat rakes came into contact with Convoy SC 121, which was several days ahead of HX 228, and engaged it. The Admiralty diverted HX 228 north-east to avoid the conflict and thus straight into the Neuland patrol area.

Action

On 10 March, the first contact was made by U-336 in heavy weather. During the rest of the day, eight others were directed to join. Ironically, at this point, the weather forced Bogue and her group to detach, as it was impossible to fly off aircraft in the storm. She sailed for Argentia and took no part in the action.

On the evening of 10/11 March, during a snow squall, the first attacks took place.

U-221 attacked three ships, sinking two ammunition ships, Tucurinca and Andrea F. Luckenbach, and damaging a third, SS Lawton B. Evans. U-221 was vigorously counterattacked and withdrew to repair the damage.

U-444 and U-757 both fired on William C Gorgas, which dropped back and sank later.

U-757 also fired on Brant County, which was also carrying ammunition. Brant County caught fire and exploded, and U-757 was damaged as a result. U-757 was forced to return to base and was later attacked in the company of two other U-boats in the Bay of Biscay by the RAF, but all survived.

U-86 and U-406 both claimed hits using the new pattern-running FAT torpedoes. Jamaica Provider was damaged during this stage.

During the morning of 11 March, Harvester sighted U-444 on the surface and ran in to attack. She opened with gunfire and then rammed U-444, suffering damage to her propellers in the process. It was originally thought that Harvester had sunk U-444, but she was found later on the surface and finished off by French corvette Aconit. While in the area, Harvester found and picked up 50 survivors from William Gorgas and 1 from U-444. While attempting to re-join the convoy, her engines failed, and she summoned Aconit for assistance. While Harvester lay helpless, she was sighted and torpedoed by U-432 ; she sank with 149 onboard, including Commander Tait.

Arriving on the scene, Aconit gained Asdic contact on U-432 which was lying motionless at periscope depth, her commander and crew celebrating their victory. Aconit attacked with depth charges, blowing her to the surface and sinking her later with gunfire.

Aconit picked up 20 survivors from U-432, 48 from Harvester, 12 from William C Gorgas, and one from U-444, to join the three previously picked up.

Despite further action that day and during the night of 11/12 March, there were no further losses to either side and on 12 March Admiral Karl Dönitz, the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (Commander in chief of U-boats), called off the attack.

HX 228 arrived safely at Liverpool on 15 March 1943.

Conclusion

HX 228 cannot be seen as a victory for either side. The convoy had lost four ships and a warship, with the loss also of Commander Tait, an effective and well-respected Escort Group commander. The Neuland wolf pack had lost two boats, a potentially ruinous rate of exchange.

In popular culture

An attack by U-boats of fictional Convoys "HX 229", "HX 229A" and "SC112" is a key plot element in the 1995 novel Enigma by Robert Harris, and the 2001 film of the same name adapted from the novel.

Tables

Allied merchant ships sunk

Date	Name	Nationality	Casualties	Tonnage	Sunk by...
10 March 1943	Tucurinca	United Kingdom	1	5,412	U-221
10 March 1943	Andrea F Luckenbach	United States	21	6,565	U-221
11 March 1943	Brant County	Norway	6	5,001	U-757
11 March 1943	William C Gorgas	United States	?55	7,197	U-444, U-757

Allied warships sunk

Date	Name	Nationality	Casualties	Type	Sunk by...
11 March 1943	HMS Harvester (H19)	Royal Navy	149	H-Class Destroyer	U-432

U-boats destroyed

Notes

Related Research Articles

This is a timeline for the Battle of the Atlantic (1939–1945) in World War II.

Aconit was one of the nine Flower-class corvettes lent by the Royal Navy to the Free French Naval Forces. During World War II, she escorted 116 convoys, spending 728 days at sea. She was awarded the Croix de la Libération and the Croix de Guerre 1939–1945, and was cited by the British Admiralty. Following the war she was used as whaling ship for three different companies from 1947 to 1964.

HMS Arbutus was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy, which was active during the Second World War. She was a successful escort vessel, and took part in the destruction of two U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. Arbutus was torpedoed by a U-boat and sunk in the North Atlantic in February 1942 while aiding a convoy that was under attack.

German submarine U-99 was a Type VIIB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She was laid down on 31 March 1939 at the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel as yard number 593. She was launched on 12 March 1940 under the command of Korvettenkapitän Otto Kretschmer and was assigned to the 7th U-boat Flotilla based in Kiel and later in St Nazaire.

Escort Group B2 was a convoy escort British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic. The group was under the command of Cdr Donald Macintyre, one of Britain's most successful anti-submarine warfare commanders.

During the Battle of the Atlantic, British merchant shipping was formed into convoys for protection against German submarine attack. In March 1943 convoys HX 229 and SC 122 were the focus of the largest convoy battle of the war. Kriegsmarine tactics against convoys employed multiple-submarine wolfpack tactics in nearly simultaneous surface attacks at night. Patrolling aircraft restricted the ability of submarines to converge on convoys during daylight. The North Atlantic winters offered the longest periods of darkness to conceal surfaced submarine operations. The winter of 1942–43 saw the largest number of submarines deployed to the mid-Atlantic before comprehensive anti-submarine aircraft patrols could be extended into that area.

OB 293 was a North Atlantic convoy which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was notable for seeing the loss to the Kriegsmarine (KM) of U-47, with her commander KL Günther Prien, the person responsible for the sinking of HMS Royal Oak two years previously.

HX 112 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. It saw the loss of U-boats commanded by two of the Kriegsmarine's most celebrated commanders and propaganda heroes: U-99 under Otto Kretschmer (POW), and U-100 under Joachim Schepke (KIA).

HMS Harvester was an H-class destroyer originally ordered by the Brazilian Navy with the name Jurua in the late 1930s, but bought by the Royal Navy after the beginning of World War II in September 1939. Almost immediately after being commissioned, in May 1940, the ship began evacuating Allied troops from Dunkirk and other locations in France. Afterwards she was assigned to the Western Approaches Command for convoy escort duties. Harvester and another destroyer sank a German submarine in October. She was briefly assigned to Force H in May 1941, but her anti-aircraft armament was deemed too weak and she was transferred to the Newfoundland Escort Force in June 1941 for escort duties in the North Atlantic. The ship was returned to the Western Approaches Command in October 1941 and was converted to an escort destroyer in early 1942. Harvester was torpedoed and sunk in March 1943 by a German submarine after having rammed and sunk another submarine the previous day while escorting Convoy HX 228.

Convoy SC 130 was a North Atlantic convoy which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 130th of the numbered series of Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. SC 130 was one of several convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of May 1943.

Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) referred to the organisation of anti-submarine escorts for World War II trade convoys between Canada and Newfoundland, and the British Isles. The allocation of United States, British and Canadian escorts to these convoys reflected preferences of the United States upon United States' declaration of war and the organisation persisted through the winter of 1942–43 despite withdrawal of United States ships from the escort groups. By the summer of 1943, United States Atlantic escorts were focused on the faster CU convoys and the UG convoys between Chesapeake Bay and the Mediterranean Sea; and only British and Canadian escorts remained on the HX, SC and ON convoys.

ONS 18 and ON 202 were North Atlantic convoys of the ONS/ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in September 1943, the first battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive, following the withdrawal from the North Atlantic route after Black May.

SC 143 was a North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the second battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive in the North Atlantic.

ONS 20 and ON 206 were North Atlantic convoys of the ONS/ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in October 1943, the third battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive.

Escort Group B7 was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War; principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.

5th Escort Group was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Escort Group B6 was a British convoy escort group of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War, principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.

SC 129 was a North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of several convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of May 1943.

HX 237 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was one of several convoy battles that occurred during the crisis month of May 1943.

German submarine U-432 was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II.

References

• Blair, Clay (1998). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942-1945. ISBN   0-304-35261-6.
• Arnold Hague : The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 (2000) ISBN   1-55125-033-0 (Canada). ISBN   1-86176-147-3 (UK)
• Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German submarine losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. ISBN   1-85409-515-3.
• Niestle, Axel (1998). German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Greenhill. ISBN   1-85367-352-8.
• Stephen Roskill  : The War at Sea 1939–1945 Vol II (1956) ISBN (none)
• Jak P M Showell U-Boat Warfare: The Evolution of the Wolf-Pack (2002) ISBN   0-7110-2887-7

External links

• HX 228 at convoyweb
• HX 228 at uboatnet