Convoy SC 26
Encyclopedia
SC 26 was a North Atlantic convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

 of the SC series
SC convoys
The SC convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys that ran during the battle of the Atlantic during World War II.They were east-bound slow convoys originating in Sydney, Cape Breton ; from there they sailed to ports in the UK, mainly Liverpool.For a time after the entry of the...

 which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Prelude

SC 26 was an east-bound convoy of 23 ships which sailed from Halifax
Halifax Harbour
Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality.-Harbour description:The harbour is called Jipugtug by the Mi'kmaq first nation, anglisized as Chebucto...

 on 20 March 1941 bound for Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. It carried war materials and was led by Commodore GTC Swabey in S.S.Magician.

SC 26 comprised 23 ships and was escorted only by the Armed Merchant Cruiser (AMC) Worcestershire (Cdr J Cresswell). At this stage of the campaign escorts against U-boat attack could only be provided in the Western Approaches
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...

; the Ocean escort, usually an AMC, was provided to give some protection against surface raiders.

SC 26 was opposed by a patrol line of 9 U-boats, positioned at the limit of endurance to intercept east-bound convoys before the Western Approaches escort had joined.
These were U-46, U-69, U-73, U-74, U-97, U-98 and U-101. Two other boats, U-94 and U-76, were moving west to join the line.
This patrol line was un-named; at this stage of the campaign patrol lines did not carry identifying names, as they did later, though if a wolfpack formed it was referred to by the name of the sighting captain.

On 1 April 1941 an outbound U-boat, U-76 (Hippel) on her way to join the newly formed patrol line south of Iceland sighted a west-bound convoy in the North-West Approaches. This was OB 305, of 51 ships. Hippel reported this, but U-boat Command (BdU
Befehlshaber der U-Boote
Befehlshaber der U-Boote was the title of the supreme commander of the Kriegsmarines U-boat Arm during World War II. The term also referred to the Command HQ of the U-boat arm itself....

) was reluctant to engage so close to Britain and within range of Coastal Command aircraft; he ordered Hippel to shadow OB 305 westwards and moved the patrol line to intercept. U-76 followed the convoy during the day, but lost contact when she was forced to dive by approaching trawlers. Hippel was ordered to follow west to try and regain contact.
As they did so , one of the boats on the patrol line, U-74 (Kentrat
Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat
Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat was a Korvettenkapitän with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross...

), made contact with an east-bound convoy, SC 26, which BdU determined to attack. After sending a sighting report, Kentrat commenced shadowing, and was joined throughout the day by 3 other U-boats that were nearby.

Action

After first sighting on 2 April 1941 U-74 commenced shadowing, while the other boats in the area were drawn in for the attack. By evening of 2 April BdU had gathered a pack of 4 U-boats, (U-46, U-69, U-74 and U-76) who commenced a devastating attack.

The first assault, during the night of 2/3 April, was made by U-46 (Endrass
Engelbert Endrass
Lieutenant Engelbert Endrass was a German U-boat commander in World War II. He commanded the Type VIIB U-boat and the Type VIIC , sinking twenty-two ships on ten patrols, for a total of 118,528 tons of Allied shipping, to become the 23rd highest scoring U-Boat ace of World War II...

) just after midnight; She fired on British Reliance, which sank; Alderpool, which was damaged, to be sunk later by the newly arrived U-73; and Thirlby, which had stopped to pick up survivors, but escaped harm.

Just after 4am the pack attacked again; Leonidas Z Cambanis was hit by U-74 and sank, followed a few minutes later by Westpool and Indier, both hit by U-73.

With the loss of 5 ships already, nearly a quarter of the convoy, Swabey determined the ships would be less vulnerable if they were dispersed, and at 4.21 am the decision was made to scatter the convoy.
As the convoy started to scatter, a 6th ship, the tanker British Viscount, was hit by U-73 and burst into flames, illuminating the scene. Shortly after, Worcestershire was hit by U-74; she was sustained severe damage, but remained afloat.

At dawn on 3 October saw ships and U boats scattered across a wide area; ships were heading east, pursued by U-boats seeking to regain contact, while the warships detailed to escort SC 26 hurried west.
During the morning Swabey in Magician met a number of ships which he gathered together, to reform the convoy; these eight ships were met later in the day by destroyers Wolverine
HMS Wolverine (D78)
HMS Wolverine was a Royal Navy destroyer, which saw service during the Second World War. She was the seventh ship to bear that name.-Construction:...

 (LtCdr J Rowlands, as Senior Officer Escort), and Veteran.
Worcestershire, moving under her own steam, was met by the destroyer Hurricane, which escorted her back to Liverpool.
Two other destroyers, Havelock and Hesperus, arrived at the battle site and searched for survivors.

Six other ships remained scattered; just before midday U-98, newly arrived, found Helle, which she stalked and sank. In midafternoon U-98 found and sank Welcombe, also travelling alone.

Also on 3rd U-76, still moving west, encountered Daphne, a Finnish freighter sailing independently, and sank her.

At dusk on the evening of 3/4 April U-94, also newly arrived, found the main body again. She attacked, sinking Harbledown, but all further attacks were driven off.

During 4 April there were no further attacks on Swabeys group, and SC 26 was joined by 3 more destroyers (Verity, Vivien and Chelsea) and a corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 (Convulvulus)

During the night of 4/5 April another ship from SC 26, Athenic, was travelling alone ahead of the main body. She was intercepted by U-76 and sunk. All of her crew were saved, including survivors from the Liguria, whom Athenic had rescued some days before.
Another SC 26 ship, Thirlby, also sailing alone, was found and fired on by U-69. She was damaged, but not sunk, and was able to reach port.
In the main body, Eelbeck was damaged, but there were no other casualties.

At dawn on 5 April U-76 was running on the surface when she was sighted by Wolverine. As Rowlands approached U-76 dived, and Wolverine attacked, assisted by Scarborough and Arbutus. Wolverine dropped 2 depth-charges, followed almost immediately by a full pattern of 8 from Scarborough. U-76 was forced to the surface, and the crew abandoned her. Arbutus rushed in to attempt to secure and capture the boat and its prized cypher
Cypher
Not to be confused with CipherCypher may refer to:* A royal cypher or monogram-like glyph-Art and entertainment:* Cypher , a Goa trance music group* Cypher , an Australian instrumental band* Cypher , a 2002 film...

 equipment, but the boat was filled with chlorine gas from the batteries, and she quickly sank. All U-76 crew but one were rescued.

The pack made no further attacks on the ships of SC 26, who made their way to port. Swabey’s group of 8 ships arrived in Liverpool on 8 April 1941; Worcester and Hurricane arrived in port the same day.
Thirlby, which was damaged, in company with Loch Ewe, docked three days later on the 11th.
Tennessee, carrying survivors from British Reliance, put into port in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, while Tenax and Ethel R docked in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Nearly half of SC 26 had been lost; 10 ships sunk, for 51,969 tons, with 2 ships and the ocean escort damaged.
Nearly 100 sailors lost their lives.
Against this one U-boat was destroyed; most of it’s crew were picked up./rescued.

Conclusion

The U boat arm had scored another victory, and by managing to shift its point of interception further west, beyond the range of the anti-submarine escorts, ensured a series of successes until Western Approaches Command could adjust.

Arbutus had been unable to capture U-76 and her prized Enigma machine
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...

, but this breakthrough was just 4 weeks away with the seizure of U-110 in May, with a profound effect on the course of the Atlantic campaign.

Tables

Allied ships sunk

Date Name Nationality Casualties Tonnage Sunk by…
2/3 April 1941 British Reliance Brit none 7000 GRT U-46
2/3 Alderpool Brit none 4313 GRT U-46, U-73
2/3 Leonidas Z Cambanis Grk 2 4274 GRT U-73
2/3 Westpool Brit 35 5724 GRT U-74
2/3 Indier Belg 42 5409 GRT U-73
2/3 British Viscount Brit ? 6895 GRT U-73
3 Apr Helle Nor none 2467 GRT U-98
3 Welcombe Brit 15 5122 GRT U-98
3/4 Apr Harbledown ? 3 5414 GRT U-94
4 Apr Athenic Brit none 5351 GRT U-76



Allied warships hit

Date Name Nationality Casualties Type Fate Hit by…
2/3 April 1941 Worcestershire British ? AMC damaged U-74



U-boats destroyed
Date Number Type Captain Casualties Fate Sunk by…
5 April 1941 U-76 VIIB O/L F v Hippel 1 destroyed Wolverine,
Scarborough,
Arbutus


External links

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