Convoy battles

ONS-100

Outward, northbound, slow (North Atlantic)

8 Jun 1942 - 12 Jun 1942

The Convoy37 ships
First sightingOn 8 Jun 1942 by U-124
EscortsThe Canadian escort group C1 consisting of the destroyer Assiniboine ( Lt-Cdr Stubbs ), 2 British corvettes Dianthus and Nasturtium and 2 Free French corvettes Aconit and Mimose. In the convoy is the rescue vessel Gothland equipped with HF/DF.

U-boats

The wolfpack Hecht of 6 boats
U-94 (Oblt. Ites) *, U-96 (Oblt. Hellriegel), U-124 (Korvkpt. Mohr) *, U-406 (Kptlt. Dieterichs), U-569 (Kptlt. Hinsch) *, U-590 (Kptlt. Müller-Edzards),

* U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun


The battle

After the battle against ONS-92, the U-boats make contact with ONS-94 and ONS-96 but the contact is either lost or not useful because of the proximity to land. The boats refuel from U-116.

In the evening of June 8th U-124 makes contact with the convoy and attacks in the night. But all her approaches are frustrated by the escort and finally U-124 attacks the Mimose and sinks her.

Next day U-124 brings up all other boats of the pack but U-96, U-406 and U-590 have engine problems and remain behind. During the night U-94 sinks 2 ships but then contact is lost in the mist.

Contact is re-established on the 11th by U-96. In the meantime U-94 and U-569 sink together a straggler from the convoy, and the escort is reinforced by the 2 Canadian corvettes Chambly and Orillia. The following morning U-124 sinks one more ship.

On the 13th another 2 corvettes, the British Primrose and Bittersweet arrive, but the battle is over.

During the battle, the escorts make excellent use of the HF/DF bearings provided by the escort vessel, making offensive sweeps in the direction of the broadcasting U-boat. The boats are forced to submerge and loose contact, or anyway its attack will be delayed. Donitz , who closely follows tactical developments on the battlefield, interrogates his most experienced commander on the battlefield on this matter.

But Jochen Mohr, although he was at least seven times bounced by the escort, does not believe the escort has any device to detect U-boats on the surface. In his answer to the BdU he reports that the escorts were never coming straight on to him believing this to be just a matter of coincidence. He was very wrong.

Article compiled by Tom Linclau

Ships hit from convoy ONS-100


Date U-boat Commander Name of ship Tons Nat.Map
9 Jun 1942U-124Johann Mohr FFL Mimosa (K 11)925frA
10 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Empire Clough6,147brB
10 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Ramsay4,855brC
11 Jun 1942U-569Hans-Peter Hinsch Pontypridd (d.)4,458brD
11 Jun 1942U-94Otto Ites Pontypridd4,458brE
12 Jun 1942U-124Johann Mohr Dartford4,093brF
 24,936

5 ships sunk (20,478 tons) and 1 ship damaged (4,458 tons).

Legend
We have a picture of this vessel.
(d.) means the ship was damaged.


19 convoys on route ONS were hit by U-boats in the war. Read more about them.


Media links


North atlantic run

Milner. Marc

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