UC-1
UK to Curaçao (Central Atlantic and North Atlantic)22 Feb 1943 - 25 Feb 1943
| The Convoy | 33 ships |
| First sighting | On 22 Feb 1943 by U-522 |
| Escorts | The British escort group 42 (Cdr Durnford-Slater) consisting of the sloops Weston, Folkestone, Gorleston and Totland and the frigates Exe and Ness An American support Group consisting of the 4 destroyers Charles F. Hughes, Hilary P. Jones, Madison and Landsdowne |
U-boats | The wolfpack Rochen of 8 boats U-43 (Oblt. Schwantke), U-66 (Kptlt. Markworth) *, U-87 (Kptlt. Berger), U-202 (Kptlt. Poser) *, U-218 (Kptlt. Becker), U-504 (Kptlt. Luis) *, U-521 (Kptlt. Bargsten) *, U-558 (Kptlt. Krech) * Also: U-382 (Kptlt. Juli) *, U-522 (Kptlt. Schneider) *, U-569 (Oblt. Johannsen) * * U-boats that fired torpedo or used the deck gun |
The battle | On the sighting report of U-522, The gruppe Rochen and U-382 and U-569 are deployed. U-522 attacks in the morning of the 23th and sinks one tanker. She is however sunk in the counterattack by the Totland. In the evening U-382 damages one ship and U-202 sinks one and damages two in the night. U-558 sinks one of the ships damaged by U-202. U-504 and U-569 attack without success. In the next night U-66 and U-521 attack, but also without success. U-66 and U-107 sink one independent ship each. In these attacks, the T-4 Falke acoustic torpedo is tried out for the first time. It proved to be effective, but only against slow and big targets. It was not the 'Zerstörerknacker' the U-boats were waiting for. The losses sustained in this convoy, made the Americans decide to take over the control and escort for these so-called 'Greyhound' convoys. These were special emergency tanker convoys straight from the Caribbean to England. |
Article compiled by Tom Linclau
Ships hit from convoy UC-1
| Date | U-boat | Commander | Name of ship | Tons | Nat. | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-522 | Herbert Schneider |  | Athelprincess | 8,882 |  | br | A |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-382 | Herbert Juli | Empire Norseman (d.) | 9,811 | | br | B | |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-202 | Günter Poser | | Murena (d.) | 8,252 |  | nl | C |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-202 | Günter Poser | British Fortitude (d.) | 8,482 | | br | D | |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-202 | Günter Poser | Empire Norseman (d.) | 9,811 | | br | E | |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-202 | Günter Poser | | Esso Baton Rouge | 7,989 |  | am | F |
| 23 Feb 1943 | U-558 | Günther Krech | Empire Norseman | 9,811 | | br | G | |
| 63,038 | ||||||||
3 ships sunk (26,682 tons) and 4 ships damaged (36,356 tons). Legend | ||||||||
This was the only convoy on route UC hit by U-boats in the war.