Convoy HX 212 was the 212th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from HalifaX to Liverpool.Hague p.127 The ships departed New York City on 18 October 1942Hague p.128 and were met on 23 October by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the United States Coast Guard , the destroyer and the s , , , , , and . The first five escorts had worked together previously, but the last three corvettes were attached to the convoy only for passage to the eastern Atlantic in preparation for assignments on Operation Torch. Summerside was the only escort equipped with modern Type 271 centimeter-wavelength radar.Milner pp.175-177

Background As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the second happy time, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) or commander in chief of U-Boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through B-Dienst decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3.Tarrant p.108 However, 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.Hague pp.132,137-138,161-162,164&181

26 October U-436 reported the convoy and shadowed it without being detected by the convoy escort.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp.169&170

27 October U-436 launched five torpedoes at 2110Z hitting Sourabaya, Gurney Newlin and Frontenac. Alberni and Summerside dropped back to rescue survivors from the torpedoed ships.

28 October U-606 torpedoed Kosmos II on the starboard side at 0345Z. Barrwhin dropped back to rescue survivors, and both ships were sunk while the convoy proceeded ahead. A patrolling Consolidated B-24 Liberator from No. 120 Squadron RAF in Iceland prevented five U-boats from reaching attack positions during daylight hours but Bic Island and Pan-New York were torpedoed after sunset.

29 October Northern routing enabled the convoy to pass through the narrowest portion of the air gap, and continuous daylight air patrols forced the U-boats to lose contact with the convoy. The Naval trawlers Bodo and Molde escorted the convoy through the Western Approaches on 1 November; and the convoy reached Liverpool on 2 November.

Ships in convoy Name Flag Dead Hague p.132Tonnage (GRT)Cargo Notes Abraham Lincoln (1929)5,740General CargoCarried convoy vice-commodore CAPT B B Grant RNR; survived this convoy and convoy HX 229Arc Light (1906)2,949 Barrwhin (1929)244,9988,200 tons grain & storesVeteran of convoy PQ 11; sunk 29 October by U-436 (1909)4,670ExplosivesBelgian Gulf (1929)8,237PetrolSurvived this convoy and convoy HX 229Bic Island (1917)4,000General CargoStraggled and sunk by U-224British Vigilance (1942)8,093Benzine & 130 passengersSurvived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy TM 1C.J.Barkdull (1917)6,773Diesel oilSurvived this convoy to be sunk 1/10/1943 American Merchant Marine at War, www.usmm.org, as the source by U 632Cairnesk (1926)5,007General CargoCape Breton (1940)6,044PhosphatesCity of Lille (1928)6,588WheatCoptic (1928)10,629Refrigerated & General CargoCymbula (1938)8,082PetrolDorchester (1926)5,649From Newfoundland to Greenland; survived this convoy to be sunk 3 months later in convoy SG 19Empire Bronze (1940)8,142Paraffin & Aviation GasolineEmpire Dickens (1942)9,819Petrol (1942)8,194PetrolEsso Bayway (1937)7,699Furnace Fuel OilExchester (1919)4,999StoresExilona (1919)4,971SteelSurvived this convoy, convoy ON 166 and convoy HX 300Fairfax (1926)5,649From Newfoundland to GreenlandFort a la Corne (1942)7,133General CargoFort Amherst (1936)3,489Francis Parkman (1942)7,176StoresLiberty shipFrontenac (1928)7,350Fuel OilDamaged 27 October by U-436, but survived to sail with convoy HX 300Gdynia (1934)1,636General CargoGulfgem (1920)6,917Furnace Fuel Oil for Scapa FlowGurney E Newlin (1942)608,22512,000 tons petrol & paraffinSunk 27 October by U-436 & U-606Helgoy (1920)5,614General CargoJamaica Planter (1936)4,098Refrigerated & General CargoCarried convoy commodore VADM W DE M EgertonKaty (1931)6,825PetrolKosmos II (1931)4016,96621,000 tons crude oilDamaged 27 October by U-436 and sunk on 28 October by U-606 & U-624Lancastrian Prince (1940)1,914General CargoVeteran of convoy ON 67Laurelwood (1929)7,347furnace fuel oilMahia (1917)10,014RefrigeratedMatthew Luckenbach (1918)5,848Steel & General CargoReturned to Canada; sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229Ocean Courier (1942)7,178General CargoLiberty shipPacific Shipper (1924)6,290General CargoPan-New York (1938)427,70112,500 tons petrolSunk 29 October by U-624Pan-Rhode Island (1941)7,742Aviation GasolineSurvived this convoy and convoy HX 229Paul H Harwood (1918)6,610Diesel OilR.G.Stewart (1917)9,229Saint Bertrand (1929)5,522General CargoSalinas (1920)5,422 Sarpedon (1923)11,321RefrigeratedSkaraas (1936)9,826OilSnar (1920)3,176Sourabaya (1915)7710,1077,800 tons furnace fuel oilSunk 27 October by U-436Southern Princess (1915)12,156Furnace Fuel OilSurvived this convoy to be sunk 5 months later in convoy HX 229Thomas B Robertson (1942)7,176storesLiberty ship; survived this convoy and convoy ON 166Topdalsfjord (1921)4,271Sugar & TimberTudor Prince (1940)1,914General CargoZacapa (1909)4,488Valuable cargoZoella Lykes (1940)6,829

See also Convoy Battles of World War II

Notes

References