Convoy SC 7 was the seventh of the SC convoys, bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia across the North Atlantic to British ports, mainly Liverpool. They were called SC as their departure point was designated Sydney, Cape Breton to avoid confusion with Sydney in Australia. The convoys formed part of the battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Large numbers of merchant ships travelled with naval escorts to protect against U-boat attacks. The convoys were often slow, the merchantmen often only being capable of a speed of around and so were particularly vulnerable to attack. This problem was exacerbated by a shortage of suitable escorts from either the Royal Canadian Navy or the Royal Navy early in the war.Battle of the Atlantic

Convoy SC 7 left Sydney on 5 October 1940, consisting of 36 freighters initially escorted by the Canadian armed yacht and the British sloop .Convoy web Having seen the convoy out of Canadian waters, Elk turned back on 7 October, leaving the convoy to spend three-quarters of the crossing escorted by Scarborough. had developed engine problems and also turned back. The crossing was uneventful, the only casualty being , which straggled behind the convoy and was torpedoed and sunk near Rockall on 16 October by .Sinking of Trevisa

The main convoy was spotted the following day by , which sank .Sinking of Aenos Further sporadic attacks continued that day and the following, despite the arrival of the sloop and the corvette . The night of 18/19 October saw the use of the wolf pack tactic by the U-boats. Five U-boats; , , , and attacked together, overwhelming the escorts, despite being reinforced by and .Timeline of World War II They sank 16 ships in a six-hours, bringing the total to twenty freighters sunk and a total tonnage lost of 79,592 gross registered tons. The U-boats only broke off their attacks to intercept convoy HX 79, which had arrived in the area. They went on to sink a further 12 ships from this convoy, for a total of 28 ships sunk on 18/19 October, making this the deadliest two days of the battle of the Atlantic. The surviving merchant ships were gathered up by the remaining escorts and brought into port several days later.

Merchant ships

NameFlagCargoFateDateLivedDiedNotesWheatSunk, *17 October254StragglerGrainSunk, *19 October3417Convoy commodore's shipSteel, timber, aircraftSunk, *18 October370TimberDamaged, Damaged, 18 October19 October340Reached port, repairedBoekeloTimberDamaged, Sunk, *18 October19 October250StragglerBotuskTimberReached port420TimberDamaged, 18 October550Towed into portPulpwoodDamaged, Sunk, *19 October19 October351SS ConvallariaPulpwoodSunk, *18 October220Steel, scrap metalReached port210Iron oreSunk, *18 October036DioniGrainReached port820TimberReached port640Metals, oresSunk, *19 October356Pig iron, steelSunk, *19 October353Steel, timber, aircraftSunk, *18 October138StragglerPulpwoodReached port120SS GunborgPulpwoodSunk, *18 October230HavørnD/S Havørn, warsailors.comPit propsReached port530Inger ElisabethD/S Inger Elisabeth, warsailors.comPit propsReached port440KarlanderD/S Karlander, warsailors.comTimberReached port920Fuel oilSunk, *17 October390SS NiritosSulphurSunk, *18 October271Pit propsSunk, *17 October390SS SedgepoolWheatSunk, *19 October363SS ShekatikaPit props, steelDamaged, , Sunk, U-123*19 October360Joined from convoy SHX 76. 'Romper' (travelling ahead of the convoy)D/S Snefjeld, warsailors.comTimberSunk, *19 October210Sneland ID/S Sneland I, warsailors.comSulphurReached port940Pit propsSunk, *19 October196FlourReached port830SS ThaliaSteel, lead, zincSunk, *19 October422D/T Thorøy, warsailors.comFuel oilReached port630SS TrevisaTimberSunk, *16 October147Straggler. First sinking.TridentSteel, timberReached port430ValparaisoGeneral cargoReached port140TimberReturned to port340

Escorts NameNavyClassDatesNotes18–21 October18–21 OctoberDispatched with Carsbreck, 18 October18–21 October5–21 OctoberLost contact 17 October, unable to rejoin 18–21 OctoberArmed yacht5 –7 October

U-boats NameFlagCommanderSunkDamagedNotesHeinrich Liebe11Engelbert Endrass30Heinrich Bleichrodt20Otto Kretschmer61Joachim Schepke03Fritz Frauenheim31Karl-Heinz Moehle40Georg-Wilhelm Schulz10

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links A report on the convoy from public records Convoy SC-7 at Uboat.net SC-7 at Arnold Hague's convoy database