Convoy ON 166 was the 166th of the numbered
ON series of merchant ship convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. Sixty-three ships departed
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 ...
11 February 1943 and were met the following day by
Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group A-3 consisting of the s and and the s , , , and . The convoy suffered losses before arriving at New York City, US.
Background
As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the Germans' "
second happy time", Admiral
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
, the ''
Befehlshaber der U-Boote'' (''BdU'') or commander in chief of U-Boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through ''
B-Dienst'' decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3. However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.
[Hague pp.132, 137-138,161-162,164&181]
21 February
On 20 February sighted the convoy scattered by sailing eight days in a northwesterly gale. torpedoed the straggling Norwegian ''Stigstad'' on the morning of 21 February. was sunk by a
No. 120 Squadron RAF B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...
that afternoon, and ''Campbell'' sank a U-boat that evening. Postwar analysis concluded that ''Campbell'' sank , but later re-evaluation indicated that the attack may have destroyed .
torpedoed the British
''Empire Trader'' at 2032 and the Norwegian ''NT Nielsen Alonso'' at 0153 on the night of February 21–22. Both ships were hit by a single torpedo on the port side, flooding the forward hold, and boiler room, respectively.
from the following convoy ONS 167 was ordered to reinforce the convoy escort.
22 February
torpedoed the British
''Empire Redshank'' and American ''Chattanooga City'' and ''Expositor'' after sunset 22 February, but was damaged by
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s from the recently arrived ''Burza''. ''Campbell'' was disabled in a collision with ''U-606''. Twelve men were rescued from the crew of the sinking U-boat. ''Burza'' left the convoy to tow ''Campbell'' back to port. The
convoy rescue ship ''Stockport'' was sunk by ''U-604'' while returning to the convoy after rescuing men from the three ships torpedoed by ''U-606''.
23 February
torpedoed the Panamanian ''Winkler'' at 0420 and Norwegian ''Glittre'' at 0425. torpedoed the American ''Hastings'' about 0430 and British ''Eulima'' at 0458 on 23 February.
''Spencer'', ''Rosthern'' and ''Chilliwack'' remained with the convoy and ''Dianthus'' left to refuel.
[Hague 2000 pp.161-162]
24 February
torpedoed the Norwegian ''Ingria'' at 0520 before dawn on 24 February.
torpedoed the straggling American
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...
''Jonathan Sturges''.
25 February
''U-628'' hit the British ''Manchester Merchant'' with two torpedoes on the starboard side at 0527 before dawn 25 February.
Aftermath
The U-boats discontinued the attack on 26 February. The surviving ships in the convoy were joined by from
Halifax,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
on 28 February with escorts , and .
They reached
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on 3 March 1943.
[Hague 2000 p.159]
Ships in convoy
See also
*
Convoy Battles of World War II
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
* {{cite book, title=The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945 , author=Tarrant, V.E. , publisher=Arms and Armour , year=1989 , isbn=1-85409-520-X
ON166
Naval battles of World War II involving Canada
C