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CONVOY GUS 44
Departed Port Said on June 24-1944 and arrived Hampton Roads on July 18.
Arnold Hague gives 34 ships in this convoy.

Transcribed from documents received from Roger Griffiths - His source: The Public Records Office, Kew,
supplemented with info received from Tony Cooper, England.


Because of the very nature of the GUS (and UGS) convoys my pages for them will inevitably seem rather messy. But by adding all the information available to me on these convoys, I'm hoping these pages can at least be used as a basis for further research.

The documents available to me only cover events up to July 1; other ships may have joined from (or left at) other ports later on. Please scroll down to the bottom of this page for possible, additional ships.

Commodore C. G. Brodie, R.N.R. was in John Fitch, Vice Commodore, Commander F. T. Stevenson U.S.N. was in Cistula.

Average speed of convoy: 8 1/2 knots.

Under "Narrative of Voyage", the Commodore has written simply "dull".

The following 17 ships were present from Port Said on June 24:

For the U.S.:
Fernbrook - voyage from Mersin, arrived Baltimore on July 19-1944.
Cardinal Gibbons - voyage from Bombay, arrived Baltimore on July 19-1944.
Lewis Emery Jr. - voyage from Bandar Shapur
John Fitch - voyage from Bandar Shapur, arrived Baltimore on July 19-1944.
William M. Meredith - arrived Baltimore on July 19-1944 (the document gives the name as William Meredith).
Sherman O. Houghton - voyage from Calcutta, arrived Hampton Roads on July 18-1944.
Wayne MacVeagh - voyage from Calcutta, arrived New York on July 18-1944.

For Augusta:
Oscar Underwood - voyage from Calcutta, for Augusta / Naples.
Sampford - voyage from Naples
Jan Lievens - voyage from Taranto
Luminetta - voyage from Haifa
Malvina - voyage from Haifa
Meline - voyage from Haifa
British Tradition - voyage from Bari / Haifa
George K. Fitch - voyage from Fremantle. This ship was late in sailing and did not join until the next day.

Baron Herries - voyage from Calcutta, parted company off Bizerta, see below.

British Governor - voyage from Haifa, bound for Algiers.
Meonia - voyage from Diego Suarez for Tunis

On June 25, the following 5 joined from Alexandria:

Nathaniel Macon - for the U.S.

For Augusta:
Fort Meductic - voyage from Brindisi
Empire Lionel - voyage from Brindisi
Samphire - voyage from Naples for Augusta / Taranto.

Fleet Tender 12 - left for Tobruk with engine trouble, June 26.

Total ships now in convoy: 22 (when adding George K. Fitch, which joined from Port Said later on June 25).

On June 29, 11 ships parted company for Augusta as follows:
Fort Meductic, Empire Lionel, Samphire, Luminetta, Malvina, Meline, British Tradition, Oscar Underwood, Sampford, George K. Fitch, and Jan Lievens.

11 ships now in convoy.

The following 25 ships joined from Augusta that same day:

For the U.S.:
Madras City
Empire Cobbett - arrived Baltimore (from Naples) on July 19-1944.
Empire Nugget
Cistula - voyage from Brindisi, arrived New York on July 18-1944.
Empire Wordsworth - voyage from Brindisi, arrived New York on July 18-1944.
Mactra - voyage from Taranto, arrived New York on July 18-1944.

For Oran:
Houston Volunteers - later arrived Hampton Roads (from Bari) on July 18-1944.
Charles A. Warfield
Edward Richardson
Thomas Hart Benton
Louis McLane
Walter E. Ranger
Joseph T. Robinson
Edwin L. Godkin

(For info, Tony also lists Edward N. Huntley as leaving Augusta for Oran on June 29 - however, this ship is not mentioned in the convoy document).

For Bone:
Pronto (See also GUS 48)
Beaconsfield
Kola

For Algiers:
Fort Clatsop
Beckenham
Zaanstroom

For Bizerta:
Empire Harbour
Furnifield M. Simmons

Empire Strength - for Gibraltar / River Plate
Moray Coast - for Gibraltar
Trondheim - for Casablanca / U.S. (later said to have arrived New York on July 29-1944, see GUS 45)

36 ships now in convoy.

and 6 "overtakers" joined from Augusta:
Regent Lion - voyage from Brindisi, arrived New York on July 18-1944.
Sun - arrived Delaware Capes on July 18-1944.
E. Smilay - for Oran
Thomas Sumter
- for Oran
Moses Rogers - for Oran
M. M. Guhin - for Oran, arrived Hampton Roads (from Naples) on July 18-1944. (Name is given as M. M. Guerrin in the convoy document).

Also, Robert Newell joined from Malta that day, bound for the U.S.

Total ships now in convoy: 43.

On June 30 the following joined from Bizerta:

Nerstinat - for Casablanca.
Haakon Hauan - for Casablanca (later said to have arrived New York on July 29-1944, see GUS 45).
Muranat - for the U.S.
Tarleton Brown - for Oran.

while these left for Bizerta:
Empire Harbour, Furnifield M. Simmons and Baron Herries.

Meonia left for Tunis.

43 ships now in convoy.

On July 1, these 3 ships parted company for Bone:
Beaconsfield, Pronto, Kola.

40 ships now in convoy.

Commodore, Commander F. T. Stevenson U.S.N. was in Cistula, Vice Commodore, Lt. Cmdr. Pierson in Madras City, Rear Commodore was the captain of William M. Meredith.

Convoy GUS 44 Cruising Order – July 1-1944
What follows shows the convoy formation as per July 1-1944.

The A 1 document is extremely blurry, but I've entered the names by comparing them to the ships in the lists above that had not parted company.
However, I'm unable to find a ship that matches the entry for station 66 (besides, 40 ships are already named).

Some ships were bound for the U.S., some for Oran, some for Casablanca, some for Algiers, and some for Gibraltar.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
11 (O)
Houston Volunteers
21 (O)
Louis Maclane
31 (US)
Fernbrook
41 (US)
William M. Meredith
51 (US)
Cistula
61 (US)
Madras City
71 (US)
Empire Wordsworth
81 (GIB)
Empire Strength
12 (O)
Charles A. Warfield
22 (O)
Walter E. Ranger
32 (US)
Nathaniel Macon
42 (US)
Robert Newell
52 (US)
John Fitch
62 (US)
Empire Cobbett
72 (US)
Mactra
82 (GIB)
Moray Coast
13 (O)
Edward Richardson
23 (O)
Joseph T. Robinson
33 (US)
Cardinal Gibbons
43 53 63 (US)
Empire Nugget
73 (CASA)
Trondheim
83
14 (O)
Thomas Hart Benton
24 (O)
Edwin L. Godkin
34 (US)
Lewis Emery Jr.
44 (ALG)
British Governor
54 (US)
Sherman O. Houghton
64 (US)
Wayne MacVeagh
74 (ALG)
Fort Clatsop
84
15 (O)
E. Smilay
25 (O)
Moses Rogers
35 (CASA)
Nerstinat
45 (O)
Tarleton Brown
55 (US)
Regent Lion
65 (US)
Sun
75 (ALG)
Zaanstroom
85
16 (O)
Thomas Sumter
26 (O)
M. M. Guhin(?)
36 (CASA)
Haakon Hauan
46 56 (US)
Muranat
66 (P)
?
(see note above)
76 (ALG)
Beckenham
86

The following ships also arrived the U.S. around the same time as this convoy and may have sailed in GUS 44?):
Gulfcoast arrived Delaware Capes from Oran on July 18-1944, while Empire Dickens (from Naples), Samhope (from Oran) and Empire Falcon (from Malta) arrived New York on that same date.
The next day, July 19, the following arrived Baltimore: Belgian Airman (from Oran), Hopecrest, Sambanka (both from Casablanca), and Murena (from Cagliari).

Escorts:
From Port Said, 12:40, June 24: HMS Sharpshooter and Shiel. HMS Primula joined at 21:30.

From Alexandria, 11:00, June 25: HMS Gloxinia.

From Bizerta, 15:30, June 30: Ingham (S.O.), USS Price, Strickland, Forster, Stockdale, Hissem, Stanton, Otter, Hubbard, Hayter, Varian, Scroggins and Jack W. Wilke, and HMS Caledon.
Sharpshooter, Shiel, Primula and Gloxinia left for Bizerta at 16:00 same day.

From Bone, 06:00, July 1: HMS Mindful (Rescue Tug).

Related external links:
Chronological list of GU convoys (with the returning UG convoys).

Liberty Ships - Alphabetical list.

List of Liberty Ships by Hull No. - Includes info on the men for whom the ships were named (from Wikipedia).

Empire Ships - Also has a listing of the "Sam"-ships, ex Liberty Ships that came under the British flag (and other Liberty ships).

Fort and Ocean Ships

Back to Convoy Index

To the next GUS convoy in my list GUS 45


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