TO-5
8 Jun 1942 - 9 Jun 1942
| The Convoy | 3 ships |
| First sighting | On 8 Jun 1942 by U-502 |
| Escorts | British destroyer HMS Churchill (I 45) (Cdr. P.J. Fitzgerald, RN) and Dutch minelayer HNMS Jan van Brakel (M 80) (Lt.Cdr. T.K. van Asbeck, RNN) |
U-boats | U-502* (Kptlt. Jürgen von Rosenstiel) * U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun |
The battle | The convoy TO-5 left Port of Spain, Trinidad for Curaçao on 7 June 1942, consisting of five merchants with two escorts. After two of the merchants bound for Puerto La Cruz were detached the next day the westbound convoy was spotted by U-502, which chased it for several hours and eventually carried out a submerged attack on 9 June. First the tanker Franklin K. Lane was torpedoed, followed shortly afterwards by Bruxelles that sank within a few minutes. The third merchant was Cornish City which fled the scene at full speed while HMS Churchill attacked the U-boat with well placed depth charges. Jan van Brakel picked up most survivors from the tanker and then left to escort the last merchant to Curaçao. The destroyer picked up by the remaining survivors and followed the other ships after scuttling the drifting wreck of Franklin K. Lane. |
Article compiled by Rainer Kolbicz
Ships hit from convoy TO-5
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1942 | U-502 | Jürgen von Rosenstiel |  | Franklin K. Lane | 6,589 |  | am | A |
| 9 Jun 1942 | U-502 | Jürgen von Rosenstiel | | Bruxelles | 5,085 |  | be | B |
| 11,674 | ||||||||
2 ships sunk (11,674 tons). Legend | ||||||||
This was the only convoy on route TO hit by U-boats in the war.