Convoy HX 90

Convoy
Part of The Battle of the Atlantic of the Second World War
Date 1–3 December 1940 Location Western Approaches Result Axis victory
Belligerents
Germany Italy	United Kingdom Canada
Commanders and leaders
Karl Dönitz	Escort: M. S. Townsend V. P. Alleyne
Strength
7 U-boats 3 Italian submarines	41 ships 5 escorts
Casualties and losses
none	11 ships sunk (73,495 GRT) 174 killed

Convoy HX 90 (1–3 December 1940) was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series in the Second World War which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in both world wars.

Background

HX 90 was an eastbound convoy of 41 ships which sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on 21 November 1940 bound for Liverpool, England, carrying war materials. The convoy, made up of contingents from Halifax, Sydney and Bermuda was led by convoy commodore V. P. Alleyne in Botavon.

The escort for the crossing had been sparse, as was common at this stage of the campaign and the Western Approaches escort did not generally meet incoming convoys until south of Iceland, reckoned to be the limit of U-boat endurance. For Convoy HX 90, the ocean escort was the Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser HMS Laconia and she was due to rendezvous with the Western Approaches escort on 2 December.

Also at sea were Convoy SC 13, to the north of Convoy HX 90, also heading east, while heading towards them was the westbound Convoy OB 251. To the south, heading to the United Kingdom from Gibraltar, was Convoy HG 47. Ranged against them was a wolfpack of seven U-boats and reinforced by three Italian submarines of BETASOM operating with them in the Atlantic Ocean. These were deployed in a patrol line at the fringe of the Western Approaches, hoping to intercept eastbound convoys before they met their escorts.

Action

On 1 December 1940, about 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) south of Iceland, Convoy HX 90 was sighted by U-101 (Kapitänleutnant]] E. Mengersen which reported its position. Mengersen was ordered to shadow and report. During the day, the first Western Approaches escort, the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Viscount (Lieutenant Commander M. S. Townsend) arrived from Convoy OB 251. That evening, Mengersen was no longer able to resist attacking. He fired all twelve of his torpedoes, claiming four ships sunk and two damaged but sank Apalachee, Kavak and Lady Glanely, damaging Loch Ranza.

Just after midnight on 2 December, U-47 (Gunther Prien) arrived and sank Ville D'Arlon, which had straggled from the convoy and damaged Conch. Prien attacked Dunsley, with his deck gun, but was driven off by an escort ship. Later U-95 joined, attacking the damaged Conch, which was again hit but remained afloat. U-99 (Otto Kretschmer) was en route to join the attack, but encountered the armed merchant cruiser HMS Forfar on her way to join Convoy OB 251 as ocean escort. Kretschmer hit Forfar five times with torpedoes; she sank with the loss of 172 of her crew, leaving 21 survivors. U-43 also missed the convoy, but fell in with Convoy OB 251, sinking two ships, while the Argo, having attacked Convoy HG 43, also missed Convoy HX 90, but found Convoy SC 13, attacking and sinking one ship.

On the morning of 2 December the pack was joined by U-52, which sank Tasso and Goodleigh. The convoy was joined the sloop HMS Folkestone and corvette HMS Gentian, also from Convoy OB 251. They were assisted by the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS St. Laurent, which had been travelling with Forfar but had detached to reinforce Convoy HX 90's escort. Viscount and St. Laurent attacked numerous asdic contacts, making thirteen depth-charge attacks over four hours. No U-boats were hit but all were kept submerged and silent, allowing Convoy HX 90 to escape.

Later that evening the convoy was sighted again, by U-94; she attacked during the night of 2/3 December and sank Stirlingshire and Wilhelmina. Also that night, U-99 found and sank a straggler, Victoria City, though other sources say she was sunk by U-140 and the damaged Conch, which she also sank. No further U-boat attacks developed for Convoy HX 90, though on 3 December W. Hendrik was bombed by German aircraft and sunk. The convoy met its local escort on 5 December and arrived in Liverpool later that day.

Conclusion

U-Boat Command (BdU Rear Admiral Karl Dönitz) was delighted with the attack, believing his U-boats had sunk eighteen ships of over 120,000 GRT. In fact the confirmed loss to Convoy HX 90 was eleven ships of 73,495 GRT; other sources give 73,958 GRT. During the same period the pack had also sunk Forfar, two ships from Convoy OB 251, and another from Convoy SC 13, and had damaged an escort from Convoy HG 47. None of the attacking U-boats had been sunk or damaged. Thirty ships of Convoy HX 90 arrived safely, as did 41 ships of Convoy SC 13, the 30 ships of Convoy HG 47, and 31 ships of Convoy OB 251. The attack on Convoy HX 90 was a setback for the Allies, and one of the more serious convoy losses of the Atlantic campaign.

Table

Convoy losses

Date	Name	Nationality	GRT	Notes
1 December 1940	Appalachee	United Kingdom	8,824	Sunk by U-101, 7 killed
2 December 1940	Kavak	United Kingdom	2,782	Sunk by U-101, 25 killed
2 December 1940	Lady Glanely	United Kingdom	5,497	Sunk by U-101, 32 killed
2 December 1940	Ville D'Arlon	Belgium	7,555	Sunk by U-47, 56 killed
2 December 1940	Tasso	United Kingdom	1,586	Sunk by U-52, 5 killed
2 December 1940	Goodleigh	United Kingdom	5,448	Sunk by U-52, on killed
2 December 1940	Stirlingshire	United Kingdom	6,022	Sunk by U-94
2 December 1940	Wilhelmina	United Kingdom	6,725	Sunk by U-94, 5 killed
3 December 1940	Conch	United Kingdom	8,376	Damaged by U-47, U-95 sunk by U-99
3 December 1940	Victoria City	United Kingdom	4,739	Sunk by U-140, 43 killed
3 December 1940	W Hendrik	United Kingdom	4,360	Sunk by Aircraft

References

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–1942. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945: Its Organisation, Defence and Operation. London: Chatham. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.

Further reading

• Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999]. The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships (2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal. ISBN 978-1-86176-293-1.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 1-86176-257-7.
• Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The War at Sea 1939–1945: The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 881709135.
• Terraine, John (1999) [1989]. Business in Great Waters (Pbk. repr Wordsworth Editions, Ware ed.). London: Leo Cooper. ISBN 1-84022-201-8.
• Woodman, Richard (2005) [2004]. The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1939–1943 (Pbk. ed.). London: John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-6599-5.

External links

• HX 90 at convoyweb
• HX 90 at uboatnet