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HX 72 was a
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...
convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
of the HX series which ran during the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. The convoy comprised 43 ships, of which 11 were sunk and another damaged by German
U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
s , who suffered no losses.


Background

HX 72 was an east-bound convoy of 43 ships which sailed from Halifax on 9 September 1940, bound for
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
and carrying war materials. The convoy comprised contingents from Halifax,
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
and
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. Its Commodore was
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
HH Rogers, RNR in . At this stage of the campaign, escorts were generally limited; convoys were typically unescorted or had only an armed merchant cruiser (AMC) for protection against surface raiders until they reached the Western Approaches.72's ocean escort was the AMC , though at sunset on 20 September ''Jervis Bay'' detached to meet a west-bound convoy. HX 72 was not due to meet the Western Approaches escort until the afternoon of 21 September, so HX 72 was unprotected when it was sighted at last light by Günther Prien of . The U-boat Arm (UBW) was also sparse, able to maintain only a few boats at any one time in the North Atlantic, operating at the edge of the Western Approaches to intercept convoys before their escort had joined. ''U-47'' was on weather duty, her armament depleted after an attack on Convoy SC 2 earlier that month, and was able only to report contact. After reporting the convoy, Prien shadowed the convoy, while U-boat Control (BdU) summoned all available U-boats. During the night and following day a pack of 6 boats was gathered, and , which were nearby, and others en route from Germany.


Action

Otto Kretschmer, in ''U-99'' made contact around midnight of 20/21 September and attacked, hitting ''Invershannon''. Rogers ordered a turn to port to try and shake off the attack, but this failed;'' U-99'' attacked again, hitting ''Baron Blythswood'', which sank, and ''Elmbank'', which was disabled. ''U-99'' and ''U-47'' then attacked ''Elmbank'' with gunfire, but she did not sink until morning, at which point ''U-99'' left the scene to return to
Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...
. arrived before dawn, and sank ''Blairangus'', which was straggling. Rogers dropped smoke and turned again, to try and shake off his pursuers, but failed once more; ''U-47'' and ''U-48'' continued to shadow throughout the daylight on the 21st. On 21 September, Prien and Bleichrodt were joined by 4 other boats of the 2nd U-boat Flotilla, , , and , while arrived at nightfall. However, that afternoon, the Western Approaches escort also arrived, causing the U-boats to draw back. At this stage, escorts usually arrived piecemeal, but by evening 5 warships had arrived: the sloop ,
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
and three
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
s, , and . At nightfall on 21/22 September, ''U-100'' struck, entering the convoy to attack at close range. Attacking before moonrise Joachim Schepke hit three ships within minutes, confusing. , ''Torinia'' and ''Dalcairn'' were sunk, and the convoy began to scatter in confusion. The escort sought to retaliate, but searched outside the convoy perimeter, where the rest of the pack was gathered; they were unable to find Schepke, but were able to frustrate further attacks. ''U-48'' hit ''Broompark'', which was damaged, but no other boat was successful. Just after midnight ''U-100'' struck again, sinking 3 more ships: , ''Scholar'', and ''Frederick S Fales''. She also attacked ''Harlingen'', but was spotted; ''Harlingen'' avoided the torpedoes aimed at her, and returned fire with her stern gun, scoring several hits, but causing little damage. As the convoy broke up, two more ships were hit; ''U-100'' sank ''Simla'', while ''U-32'' damaged ''Collegian''. This was the end of the action; HX 72 was scattered, but the U-boats were unable to pursue, as the presence of the escorts had forced them to submerge. The remaining ships of HX 72 proceeded independently, while the escorts tried to gather the convoy back together, but no further attacks took place and all remaining ships reached port safely.


Conclusion

HX 72 had lost 11 ships of 72,727 gross register tons, of which Kretschmer sank three and Schepke seven ships. Whilst undoubtedly a victory, and a vindication of Donitz's wolfpack tactic, most of the UBW's successes were achieved by two of its aces using their high-risk tactic of penetrating the convoy to attack from within. The other boats following the more traditional approach from the flank, and at longer range, were far less successful.


Table

Allied ships sunk


References

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External links


HX 72 at convoywebHX 72 at uboat.net

HMS ''Jervis Bay''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Convoy HX 072 HX072 Naval battles of World War II involving Canada C