Action
On 19 September ONS 18 was sighted by U-270; after sending a sighting report she was authorized to attack. Closing in U-270 fired a T-5 acoustic torpedo at Lagan, damaging her stern, the first case of an Allied warship to be damaged by the new weapon. The escorts counter-attacked, but U-270 escaped, though Escapade was damaged by a misfire from her Hedgehog. Both Lagan and Escapade were forced to detach, returning to base under escort.
The Leuthen boats closed in during 19 September, but 2 were attacked by air patrols, which, since the introduction of a number of Very Long Range (VLR) Liberators during the summer, had been extended into the Air Gap. U-341 was attacked and sunk by a Liberator from 10 Squadron RCAF. U-338 was attacked by a Liberator of 120 Sqdn RAF which was credited with the kill; however post-war analysis showed that U-338 was only damaged by this, though was later engaged and sunk by the corvette Drumheller of C 2 group.
On the night of 19/20 several Leuthen boats were in contact; U-260 attacked, but gained no hits. U-238 fired on 2 ships, sinking one, Theodore Dwight Weld, and damaging another, Frederick Douglass. She fell out of the convoy, and was sunk later in the day by U-645.
On 20/21 a dozen boats were in contact, and 8 were able to attack. U-305 hit St Croix, which sank with the loss of 66 of her crew. U-952 hit Polyanthus, which exploded and sank, leaving 1 survivor. He, and 81 men from St Croix, were picked up by Itchen. U-386 was damaged by depth-charge attack and was forced to retire; U-603 was ordered to rendezvous, but was thwarted by air attacks.
Leuthen remained in contact, and on the night of 21/22 renewed the attack. U-377 attacked, claiming hits, but these were not confirmed; she was attacked and damaged by aircraft and retired. U-230 attacked, but again no hits were confirmed, she also was attacked by an unidentified escort and forced to retire. U-229 was attacked and destroyed, this being credited to Keppel, Evans’ flagship. U-422 was damaged by air attack, but was able to continue.
On 23 September the convoys reached the Grand Banks area, where fog hindered visibility both of the air patrols and the attacking Leuthen boats. U-238 was able to penetrate the escort screen and sank 3 ships; Skjelbred, Oregon Express, and Fort Jemseg. U-666 torpedoed Itchen; she sank, leaving just 3 survivors from her own crew and those of Polyanthus and St Croix she was carrying. U-952 sank Steel Voyager and damaged James Gordon Bennett. U-758 attacked, but had no hits confirmed and was herself damaged by a depth-charge attack.
Poor visibility, fuel shortages, and fatigue now beset both U-boats and escorts, but BdU, believing the attack to have been a great success, ordered Leuthen to break off the attack.
Claims by the various boat amounted to 12 escorts and 9 ships sunk, and a further 2 ships damaged
Actual losses were 3 escorts and 6 ships and 1 damaged and 1 damaged, while 3 U-boats were destroyed and a further 3 damaged, being forced to return to base.
Both convoys continued to their destinations, ONS 18 reaching Halifax on 29 September, while ON 202 arrived at New York on 1 October.
Read more about this topic: Convoys ONS 18/ON 202
Famous quotes containing the word action:
“Man must vanquish himself, must do himself violence, in order to perform the slightest action untainted by evil.”
—E.M. Cioran (b. 1911)
“A dramatist is one who believes that the pure event, an action involving human beings, is more arresting than any comment that can be made upon it.”
—Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)
“Not rarely, and this is especially true of wives and mothers, the motive behind assuming a disproportionate share of work and responsibility is completely unselfish. We want to protect, to spare those of whom we are fond. We forget that, regardless of the motive, the results of such action are almost always destructive and unproductive.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)