Derek:

I don\'t think the idea would have been to have a U-boat sink the ship the
transmissions were coming from, but to supply location info so other
Merchant and warships could be sunk. While I agree that it sounds
far-fetched, the following is an exact quote from the Task Unit Commander of
4.1.3 which was responsible for convoy HX-156:

\"One ship, ANCYLUS, dropped astern of the convoy each night regaining
position at daybreak. This vessel\'s actions created suspicion and
possibility exists that she may have been transmitting radio bearings from
the convoy. Noteworth (sic) is the fact that on the night REUBEN JAMES was
sunk, ANCYLUS was further astern than usual.\"

In a later follow up report he added:

\"The suspicious actions of the ship ANCYLUS. are of interest. Discussion of
this matter with the task unit commander indicates that no suspicion was
held during the conduct of the escort operations but thought on this matter
since then has raised the suspicion in his mind. This ship was loaded with
high octane gasoline originally intended for Russian consumption but which
later was diverted to an English port. It is recommended that the Chief of
Naval Operations take such steps as may be practical to investigate the
ANCYLUS as a possible source of information to Axis submarines.\"

I will probably follow up on this lead using CNO files for the months of
November and December, 1941 out of curiosity, if nothing else. My primary
interest is in finding the USS Reuben James.

Regards,

C. Newport