An historical convoy question vs. GWX

[_Seth_]

If any of you have read the excellent book "Dönitz and the wolfpacks" by Bernard (!) Edwards, you will notice the map at page 90, showing the route of convoy SC 94 from Sydney to the UK. What caught my attention, was that the convoys route went through the Bell Isle Strait, instead of going the "normal" way outside Cape Race / St. John's (as shown on the pic below):



My question is:

1: Why did the convoy select this route, and is this route a part of GWX?
If not; would the Bell Isle strait be to narrow to implement this route?

[Tigrone]

SC 94 took the northern route because in high summer the ice had pulled back allowing them to, and it would keep them under air cover longer. This was very a very dangerous time and large wolfpacks were working east of Cape Race.

As it was, this became one of the major convoy battles of war. 11 ships were lost in the end. This convoy is where HMCS Assiniboine rammed and sank U-210 in a pretty desperate engagement in thick fog. I think one of the Assiniboine's crew got the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for this action.

[_Seth_]

Thanx mate, that makes perfect sense! IIRC, Dönitz was aware of this convoys departure. Was he also aware of the route selected, or did he just assume that they would choose the northern route?
Edit: And was this route only used by eastbound convoys, from US to UK?

[_Seth_]

Bump..(sorry)

[bigboywooly]

Sorry for bumping eh
:rotfl:
Any info on how many convoys did that route Seth ?

[_Seth_]

Atleast two... :rotfl: I'll have to check the numbers. I think there was a large amount of the allied shipping going through that strait. I'll post the numbers ASAP.

Here is a quote from http://www.randomhouse.com/randomhou...5&view=excerpt:

German U-boats in so-called wolf packs infested the Strait of Belle Isle, aptly referred to as Torpedo Junction, between Labrador and Newfoundland Island. They had already sunk scores of Allied ships in these swirling waters.

Some other links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_St._Lawrence

http://uboat.net/articles/?article=29

[bigboywooly]

Thanx mate
Not so much the numbers as the frequency
If say it were done for 4 months of the year - every year - then the convoy routes could be altered to reflect that
If only one of 2 a year then probably better to script them individually

Will check out SC94 anyway

Interesting read

The convoy is sighted by U-593 when a group of 6 ships with 2 escorts has romped from the convoy due to the fog. U-593 attacks at once this small group and sinks one ship. U-593 is the driven off together with U-595.

The next day the boats cannot get close to the convoy : both U-454 and U-595 are severely damaged by the escorts and have return to port after the operation. U-210 is sunk by the Assiniboine.
From 7 Aug on, the outbound boats U-174, U-176, U-256, U-438, U-660 and U-705 reinforce the wolfpack. Until mid-day of the 8th all attacks from U-597, U-605, U-607, U-660 and U-704 fail or miss. Then U-176 and U-379 attack almost at the same time and sink three and two ships respectively. Confronted with the first serious attacks since nearly a year on the North Atlantic route, some complements on the merchant ships are panicking. Three ships are abandoned without reason and one of them is sunk by the U-176.
The escort is reinforced with the Polish destroyer Blyskawica and the British destroyer Broke and strikes back : the Dianthus sinks U-379. The destroyers are equipped with HF/DF and all night long the escorts make offensive sweeps towards contact and manage to keep the boats at bay. Only U-595 and U-607 fire at the escort and the convoy but both miss.
Towards morning all escorts except the Primrose are behind the convoy sitting on a U-boat contact but fortunately for the convoy it leaves now the black pit and air escort from Sqdn 120 is provided. During day of the 9th U-174, U-254, U-256 and U-704 and in the morning of the 10th U-597 manage to fire at the convoy but no hits are secured. On mid-day the air escort temporarily drops out and since most of the escort are still chasing contacts on the rear, U-438 and U-660 can move in quickly and sink three and one ship respectively.

[_Seth_]

BBW, you are the master! I think the time period was from early spring to late fall, as the coastguard used icebreakers to keep the lane open during icy times. At hard winter, i assume they used the south passage (SE of newfoundland) . My concern is the historical correctness in the scripting. This strait could turn out to be a new "english channel"..:hmm:

Edit: OT, but fun for the norwegians.. From: http://uboat.net/articles/index.html?article=29

Although no U-boats ever docked in Canadian coastal villages (legends to the contrary notwithstanding), they did manage to land a number of spies, including Lieutenant Langbein in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, on May 14, 1942.

(For those english people, "Langbein" in Norway is actually this fellow:

[johan_d]

wow, would be nice if thats in GWX!

[bigboywooly]

From what I gather the uboats hunted there in spring and summer 42 then were pulled back to the atlantic
Then they had another go in 44

So I suppose I could reroute the 42 convoys through there from say april to Oct in 42 then the same in 44

There are no documented attack at any other time so can leave the other years as they are

[_Seth_]

Originally Posted by bigboywooly

From what I gather the uboats hunted there in spring and summer 42 then were pulled back to the atlantic
Then they had another go in 44

So I suppose I could reroute the 42 convoys through there from say april to Oct in 42 then the same in 44

There are no documented attack at any other time so can leave the other years as they are

Sounds excellent, mate! Will the patrol grid be given from BdU also (in the orders)?

[bigboywooly]

Originally Posted by _Seth_

Sounds excellent, mate! Will the patrol grid be given from BdU also (in the orders)?

Will have to speak to Jaeson on that one as he knows that bit inside out
Should think its doable

May even script SC94 as a one off
Then can have a single and MP mission :hmm:

[stabiz]

Originally Posted by _Seth_

BBW, you are the master! I think the time period was from early spring to late fall, as the coastguard used icebreakers to keep the lane open during icy times. At hard winter, i assume they used the south passage (SE of newfoundland) . My concern is the historical correctness in the scripting. This strait could turn out to be a new "english channel"..:hmm:

Edit: OT, but fun for the norwegians.. From: http://uboat.net/articles/index.html?article=29

(For those english people, "Langbein" in Norway is actually this fellow:

:rotfl:

[_Seth_]

Maybe Bernards lost brother, this lieutenant..:rotfl:

[mr chris]

Great find Seth anything that adds to the game is great work in my eyes