Convoy TS 37
Convoy TS.37 | |
---|---|
Part of South Atlantic |
4 escorts
TS 37 was a
Background
TS 37 was a convoy of the TS/ST series, organized to protect merchant traffic between
Ships involved
TS 37 comprised 19 merchant ships. The escort comprised HMS Bellwort, a Flower-class corvette, and three ASW trawlers, Arran, Birdlip and Fandango. The Senior Officer (Escort) was Lt. NFR Gill, the captain of Bellwort. TS 37 departed Takoradi on 26 April, but one ship, dropped out on and was forced to return, escorted by Fandango.[2]
U-boats involved
U Boat Command (
Action
TS 37 departed Takoradi on 26 April, and by 29 April was some 120 miles from Freetown where it was sighted by U-515.
Henke made his approach and just before 11pm (
Before dawn on the following morning U-515 was able to make a second attack, this time hitting three ships. Two, City of Singapore and Mokambo, were sunk, while the third, Clan Macpherson, was damaged. She was taken in tow and was handed over to salvage tugs during the day, but foundered before reaching port. On receiving notice that the convoy was under attack, three destroyers (Rapid, Malcolm and Wolverine) were dispatched as reinforcement, but were unable to make contact before Henke had retired from the scene. Later that day the twelve surviving ships of TS 37 were brought without further harm to harbour at Freetown.[2]
Aftermath
Henke's attack has been described as “one of the most remarkable convoy attacks of the war” [1] and is on a par with Schepke's attack on SC 11 and Kretschmer's on SC 7.[2] Returning to base on 24 June after an “arduous but productive” 124-day patrol (one of the longest undertaken by the
By contrast Churchill described the incident as “deplorable”[4] but the Admiralty countered, noting that losses were unavoidable when the enemy mounted operations in areas previously free from attack. In fact TS 37 had been the only TS convoy to be attacked since the start of the series in September 1942, and up to 29/30 April 743 ships had been conveyed safely on the route.[4] Just one other ship from a TS convoy (and two stragglers) were lost during the rest of the conflict.
Table
Merchant ships
Name | Flag | Tonnage (GRT)
|
Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Bandar Shahpour (1927) | United Kingdom | 5,236 | Sunk by U-515[6] |
Baron Ramsay (1929) | United Kingdom | 3,650 | |
Blairclova (1938) | United Kingdom | 5,083 | |
Buteshire (1912) | United Kingdom | 6,590 | |
City Of Derby (1921) | United Kingdom | 6,616 | |
City Of Singapore (1923) | United Kingdom | 6,555 | Sunk by U-515[7] |
Clan Macpherson (1929) | United Kingdom | 6,940 | Sunk by U-515[8] |
Corabella (1937) | United Kingdom | 5,682 | Sunk by U-515.[9] 9 dead |
Empire Voice (1940) | United Kingdom | 6,828 | |
Glenpark (1939) | United Kingdom | 5,136 | |
Glenwood (1940) | United Kingdom | 4,897 | |
Kota Tjandi (1930) | Netherlands | 7,295 | Sunk by U-515[10] 130 nautical miles (240 km) SW of Freetown. 6 dead |
Matadian (1936) | United Kingdom | 4,275 | |
Mokambo (1938) | Belgium | 4,996 | Sunk by U-515[11] |
Nagina (1921) | United Kingdom | 6,551 | Sunk by U-515[12] |
Norton (1941) | United Kingdom | 7,195 | |
Silverash (1926) | United Kingdom | 7,750 | |
Strategist (1937) | United Kingdom | 6,255 | |
Zarembo (1919) | United States | 4,957 |
Escorts
Name | Flag | Type | Duration |
---|---|---|---|
Arran | Royal Navy | ASW trawler
|
Escort 26 Apr – 1 May. |
Bellwort | Royal Navy | Corvette | Escort 26 Apr – 1 May. |
Birdlip | Royal Navy | ASW trawler
|
Escort 26 Apr – 1 May. |
Fandango | Royal Navy | ASW trawler
|
Escort 26 Apr – 1 May. |
Malcolm | Royal Navy | Destroyer | Reinforcement 1 May. |
Rapid | Royal Navy | Destroyer | Reinforcement 1 May. |
Wolverine | Royal Navy | Destroyer | Reinforcement 1 May. |
U-boat
Name | Flag | Type | Commander |
---|---|---|---|
U-515 | Kriegsmarine | IXC
|
Werner Henke |
References
- ^ a b Blair, p206
- ^ a b c d e f Gannon pp12-27
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Convoy TS 37". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ a b Roskill p372
- ^ a b "Convoy TS.37". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Bandar Shahpour – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "City of Singapore – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Clan Macpherson – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Corabella – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Kota Tjandi – Dutch Motor merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Mokambo – Belgian motor merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Nagina – British Steam merchant". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
- ^ U-515 at uboat.net
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-304-35261-6.
- Michael Gannon : Black May ( 1998). ISBN 1-85410-588-4
- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
- Stephen Roskill : The War at Sea 1939–1945 Vol II (1956). ISBN (none)