Western Local Escort Force
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Western Local Escort Force (WLEF) referred to the organization of
anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...
escorts for
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 ...
trade
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 ...
s from North American port cities to the Western Ocean Meeting Point (WOMP or WESTOMP) near
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
where ships of the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF) assumed responsibility for safely delivering the convoys to the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
.Morison (1975) p. 319


Background

On the basis of experience during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the Admiralty instituted trade convoys in United Kingdom coastal waters from September 1939. Convoys gradually extended westward until HX 129 left
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
on 27 May 1941 as the first convoy to receive escort for the entire trip from Canada. The American Neutrality Zone offered some protection in North American coastal waters until United States declaration of war in December 1941.


Organization

The
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
organized the Halifax-based Western Local Escort Force in February 1942 as 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 began patrolling North American coastal waters during the "
second happy time The Second Happy Time (; officially (), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping and Allied naval ve ...
".Milner (1985) p. 97 The
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
provided the WLEF with twelve old, short-range
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 ...
s well-equipped for anti-submarine warfare and manned by experienced personnel. Newly commissioned Canadian s and s were assigned to the WLEF.Milner (1985) p. 98 s , , and were assigned to the WLEF after their endurance proved inadequate for MOEF assignments. During the winter of 1942–43, some of these destroyers were organized into Western Support Force (WSF) groupings of three ships to augment protection of convoys coming under attack in the western Atlantic.


Operations

The WLEF was theoretically organized into eight escort groups able to provide an escort of four to six ships to each convoy. WLEF escort group assignments were more dynamic than the MOEF escort groups, and WLEF escorts seldom worked with the same team of ships through successive convoys. A WLEF escort group would typically meet a westbound ON convoy at WOMP and then individual WLEF ships would be detached with elements of the convoy proceeding separately to Halifax,
Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
ports on the
St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...
,
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...
,
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, or
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 ...
. Some WLEF escorts were assigned to coastal convoys reaching as far south as the
Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
. Eastbound HX convoys and
SC convoys The SC convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys that ran during the battle of the Atlantic during World War II. They were east-bound slow convoys originating in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (designated as Sydney, Cape Breton by the Allied ...
worked in reverse forming with a few WLEF escorts in New York City and picking up others as ships joined from
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ports or the
Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...
. Short range escorts or escorts experiencing mechanical problems might be similarly detached and replaced at intermediate points between WOMP and New York City. The most frequent location for escort exchanges was the Halifax Ocean Meeting Point (HOMP) off the WLEF home port of Halifax. The WLEF operated exclusively within range of anti-submarine patrol bombers; although weather often limited flight operations. U-boats were deployed cautiously in areas where air patrols were expected, so single U-boat encounters were more common than wolf pack engagements. The name was shortened to "Western Escort Force" (WEF) in the summer of 1943.


Major combat event chronology

* 12 May 1942 – sank two ships in the St. Lawrence River. * 6 July 1942 – sank three ships from convoy QS 15 escorted by Canadian ''Bangor''-class minesweepers and .Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992) p. 149 * 20 July 1942 – ''U-132'' sank one ship from convoy QS 19 escorted by Flower-class corvette , ''Bangor''-class minesweeper and anti-submarine motor launches ''Q059'', ''Q064'' and ''Q074''. * 29 July 1942 – ''U-132'' sank one ship from convoy ON 113 escorted by WLEF. * 27 August 1942 – Flower-class corvette sank while sank two ships from convoy TAW 15. * 3 September 1942 – sank one ship from convoy NL 6 escorted by Flower-class corvette HMCS ''Weyburn'' and ''Bangor''-class minesweeper .Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992) p. 158 * 6–7 September 1942 – sank one ship and the armed yacht and ''U-517'' sank three ships from convoy QS 33 escorted by Flower-class corvette , ''Bangor''-class minesweepers and , and motor launches ''Q065'' and ''Q083''. * 11 September 1942 – ''U-517'' sank the Flower-class corvette that had been traveling with the ''Bangor''-class minesweeper HMCS ''Clayoquot''. * 15–16 September 1942 – ''U-517'' sank two ships and ''U-165'' sank two ships from convoy SQ 36 escorted by Town-class destroyer , Flower-class corvette HMCS ''Arrowhead'', ''Bangor''-class minesweeper HMCS ''Vegreville'', and three motor launches. * 21 September 1942 – ''Bangor''-class minesweeper defended convoy SQ 38 from ''U-517''. * 13 October 1942 – sank the
ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
from convoy NL 9 escorted by Flower-class corvettes , HMCS ''Arrowhead'' and . * 7–8 September 1944 – Flower-class corvette attacked in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. * 14 October 1944 – torpedoed escorting convoy ONS 33G in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. * 23 October 1944 – Three torpedoes from missed troopship ''Lady Rodney'' off Halifax.Runyan & Copes (1994) p. 206 * 2 November 1944 – ''U-1223'' torpedoed freighter in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. * 14 January 1945 – torpedoed
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 ...
and tankers ''Athelviking'' and ''British Freedom'' off
Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural har ...
.


Convoy routes

* AH –
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to
Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural har ...
a brief tanker series from July to September 1942 * BS – Corner Brook, Newfoundland to
Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...
* BW – Sydney, Nova Scotia to St. John's, Newfoundland * BX
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
to Halifax Harbour * CL – St. John's, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia * FH –
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...
to Halifax Harbour * HA – Halifax Harbour to
Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...
(1942) * HF – Halifax Harbour to Saint John, New Brunswick * HHX – Halifax Harbour to meet HX convoys originating in New York City at the Halifax Ocean Meeting Point (HOMP) * HJ – Halifax Harbour to St. John's, Newfoundland * HON – Halifax Harbour to ON convoys at the Halifax Ocean Meeting Point (HOMP) * HS – Halifax Harbour to Sydney, Nova Scotia * HT – Halifax Harbour to
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
(replaced by HA convoys) * JH – St. John's, Newfoundland to Halifax Harbour * JN – St. John's, Newfoundland to
Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
* LC – Sydney, Nova Scotia to St. John's, Newfoundland * LN –
St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...
to Labrador * NJ –
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
coast to St. John's, Newfoundland * NL – Labrador to St. Lawrence River * QS –
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
to Sydney, Nova Scotia * SB – Sydney, Nova Scotia to Corner Brook, Newfoundland * SH – Sydney, Nova Scotia to Halifax Harbour * SHX – Sydney, Nova Scotia to HX convoys * SQ – Sydney, Nova Scotia to
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
* TH –
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
to Halifax Harbour * WS – Wabana, Newfoundland to Sydney, Nova Scotia * XB – Halifax Harbour to BostonHague (2000) pp. 109–114


See also

* Battle of the St. Lawrence


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{cite book , title=The Atlantic Campaign , author=van der Vat, Dan , publisher=Harper & Row , year=1988 , isbn=0-06-015967-7 , url=https://archive.org/details/atlanticcampaign00vand Escort Groups of the Royal Navy in World War II North American Coastal convoys of World War II North Atlantic convoys of World War II American Theater of World War II Battle of the Atlantic History of Halifax, Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Navy Military units and formations of Canada in World War II Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom