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SC 2 was an Allied
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
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 use ...
of the SC 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 Allied naval blocka ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. It was attacked by a wolfpack of
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s, losing five merchant ships.


Background

SC 2 was an east-bound convoy of 54 ships which sailed from Sydney, Cape Breton in
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...
on 25 August 1940 bound for
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. It carried war materials and was led by Commodore EK Boddam-Whitham in SS ''Harpoon''. For the Atlantic crossing SC 2 was escorted by HMS ''Scarborough'', a pre-war
sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...
that had seen previous service as a
survey vessel A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purp ...
. At this stage of the campaign escorts against
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
attack could only be provided in the
Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...
; the Ocean escort, in this case a sloop, but usually an
Armed Merchant Cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
, was provided to give some protection against surface raiders. SC 2 was opposed by a patrol line of three U-boats, positioned at the limit of endurance to intercept east-bound convoys before the Western Approaches escort had joined. U-boat Command ( BdU) had been informed of SC 2's passage by ''
B-Dienst The ''B-Dienst'' (german: Beobachtungsdienst, observation service), also called x''B-Dienst'', X-''B-Dienst'' and χ''B-Dienst'', was a Department of the German Naval Intelligence Service (german: Marinenachrichtendienst, MND III) of the OKM, t ...
'', the German signals intelligence branch, which had cracked the Royal Navy's codes. BdU had just five U-boats on station in the Atlantic, and ordered ''U-47'' to intercept and shadow while the other boats homed in on his directions. One of these, ''U-124'', was unavailable, being on weather reporting duty; while another, ''U-28'' was short of fuel and unable to head further west. The remaining two, ''U-65'' and ''U-101'', moved west to join the search. ''U-47'' headed west to find SC 2; on the way she met convoy OB 207, which she attacked on 3 September, sinking a freighter. On 4 September the three U-boats formed a patrol line at Longitude 20 West, on the fringe of the
Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...
.


Action

On 6 September 1940 ''U-65'' sighted the convoy and notified BdU and the others, but was unable to attack in heavy seas. ''U-101'' fell out of the chase with engine trouble, leaving only ''U-47'' to join the attack. In the early hours of 7 September ''U-47'' made a series of attacks, and succeeded in sinking three ships, the freighters ''Neptunian'', ''Jose de Larrinaga'' and the Norwegian, ''Gro''. On the same day SC 2 was joined by its Western Approaches escort, a mixed bag of 2 destroyers, a sloop, a corvette and 2
trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built tra ...
, which arrived from other duties at various times during the day. As was common at this point in the campaign this force was an ad hoc formation, with no background of having worked or exercised together; command was exercised by the senior officer present, and could change with each new arrival. All told the arrivals were: the destroyer ''Westcott''; the sloop ''Lowestoft'' and two trawlers; and the destroyer ''Skeena'' and corvette ''Periwinkle''. ''U-47'' continued to shadow but was unable to mount a further attack until the night of 8/9 September when she sank the Greek freighter ''Possidon'', at a point west of the
Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...
. Before dawn on 9 September ''U-28'' also made contact, and attacked, sinking ''Mardinian''. With this the assault on SC 2 ended; the pack had sunk five ships without suffering loss or damage. Later that day the convoy met its local escort, and, entering the
North Channel North Channel may refer to: *North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland) *North Channel (Ontario), body of water along the north shore of Lake Huron, Canada *North Channel, Hong Kong *Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the N ...
arrived without further loss in
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
on 10 September 1940.


Conclusion

This was one of the first occasions where the
U-boat Arm The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the ...
had carried out a successful wolf pack attack. Previous attempts to form wolf packs, with control exercised at sea by a senior U-boat commander, had met with failure. Following the
fall of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wo ...
and BdU's move to Kerneval on the French Atlantic coast, a new approach was being tried, with Donitz micro-managing operations from headquarters. This was a success, and set the pattern for wolf pack operations throughout the rest of the Atlantic campaign. For Britain, the loss of five ships was unpleasant, as was the failure of the escort to inflict any damage on the attackers. However the safe arrival of forty nine ships was an overall success.


Tables

Allied ships sunk


Notes


External links


SC 2 at convoywebSC 2 at uboatnet


References

*Clay Blair : ''Hitler's U-Boat War'' Vol I (1996) *Arnold Hague : ''The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945'' (2000) . (Canada) . (UK) * Stephen Roskill : ''The War at Sea 1939–1945'' Vol I (1954) ISBN (none) {{DEFAULTSORT:Convoy SC 002 SC002 Naval battles of World War II involving Canada