Convoy ON 144 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the Second World War. It was the 144th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed Liverpool on 7 November 1942 and were joined on 8 November Hague pp.158&161 by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-6 consisting of the s , , , and and the convoy rescue ship Perth.Milner pp.180-181 Group B-6 had sailed without the destroyers and which had been damaged in the battle for eastbound convoy SC 104. The United States Coast Guard cutters Bibb, Duane, and Ingham accompanied the convoy from the Western Approaches with ships that detached for Iceland on 15 November.
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, of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943, only 20 percent lost ships to U-boat attack.
The Norwegian-manned corvettes of escort group B-6 fought three of these convoy battles in sequential voyages with convoys SC 104, ON 144, and HX 217.Hague pp.132, 137-138, 161-162, 164, 181
15 November After rendezvousing with convoys to and from Iceland, Convoy ON 144 was discovered and shadowed by .Blair pp.118-120
16 November When initial attempts to summon additional U-boats to the convoy were unsuccessful, U-521 was granted permission to attack, and missed with a salvo of six torpedoes. Rose unsuccessfully counterattacked with depth charges.
17 November , and found the convoy and launched a simultaneous attack after sunset. U-262 missed with three torpedoes. U-264 sank the 6,696-ton Greek freighter Mount Taurus, and U-184 sank the 3,192-ton British freighter Widestone.
18 November U-624, , U-521, , , and launched torpedoes in the pre-dawn hours. U-624 sank the 5,344-ton British tanker President Sergent and the 4,732-ton American freighter Parismina and damaged the 5,432-ton American freighter Yaka which was later sunk by U-522. The Type 271 centimeter-wavelength radar-equipped corvettes counterattacked, and U-184 was sunk by one of those attacks. Montbretia was torpedoed by U-262 and sank while still moving forward.
19 November The U-boats had broken off the engagement by the time the four surviving corvettes were reinforced by the destroyers and , and the Western Local Escort Force assumed responsibility for the convoy on 20 November.
Ships in convoy NameFlagDeadTonnage (GRT)CargoNotesAgia Marina (1912)4,151Destination HalifaxBaxtergate (1925)5,531Destination New York CityBestik (1920)2,684Destination New York CityBorgfred (1925)2,183CoalDestination HalifaxCetus (1920)2,614Destination New York CityDimitros Inglessis (1918)5,275Destination St John, New BrunswickEmpire Stour (1930)4,696Ferro manganeseDestination Sydney, Nova ScotiaFjallfoss (1919)1,451Joined from Iceland on 15 NovemberGodafoss (1921)1,542Joined from Iceland on 15 NovemberGovernor John Lind (1918)3,431Joined from Iceland on 15 November; Destination HalifaxGuido (1920)3,921General cargoDestination New York CityIngertre (1921)2,462Destination HalifaxLeonidas N. Condylis (1912)3,923Destination HalifaxMaycrest (1913)5,923Destination New York City; ship's master was convoy vice-commodoreMinister Wedel (1930)6,833Destination New York CityMonkleigh (1927)5,203Destination New York CityMoscha D. Kydoniefs (1915)3,874Destination HalifaxMount Taurus (1920)26,696In BallastSunk by U-624Nordeflinge (1942)2,873Destination New York CityNorlom (1919)6,412Destination HalifaxOrwell (1905)7,920Destination New York CityParismina (1908)224,732In BallastJoined from Iceland on 15 November; sunk by U-624 on 18 NovemberPerth (1915)2,259Convoy rescue shipPresident Sergent (1923)205,344In BallastCarried convoy commodore Capt J K Brook RNR. Sunk by U-624 on 18 NovemberReigh Count (1907)4,657Destination New York CityRobert E. Hopkins (1921)6,625Destination New York CitySelfoss (1914)775Joined from Iceland on 15 NovemberSuderøy (1913)7,562Destination New York CityTahchee (1914)6,508Destination New York CityTitanian (1924)4,880CoalDestination Saint John, New BrunswickVan de Velde (1919)6,389CoalDestination BostonWidestone (1920)423,1923,400 tons coalSunk by U-184Yaka (1920)05,432In BallastJoined from Iceland on 15 November; sunk by U-522Yemassee (1922)2,001Joined from Iceland on 15 November; Destination New York City
See also Convoy Battles of World War II
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