Background
As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, BdU anticipated the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search with the advantage of intelligence gained through B-Dienst decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3. Only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943, lost ships to U-boat attack.
Forty-seven ships departed New York City on 3 October 1942 and were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-6 consisting of the E and F class destroyer Fame and V and W class destroyer Viscount with Norwegian-manned Flower class corvettes Potentilla, Eglantine, Montbretia, and Acanthus and the Convoy rescue ship Goathland.
Opposing this force was the U-boat patrol group Wotan comprising 8 boats: U-221, U-258, U-356, U-607, U-618, U-661, U-353, and U-254.
Read more about this topic: Convoy SC 104
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