Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Eg=Egyptian, Pa=Panamanian.

Buesten
Swansea
(Norw)

Dromus
Manchester
(Br)

Loanda
Portland
(Br?)

Southern Spray
Falmouth
(Br)

Crossed out ships did not sail.

The convoy had 44 ships, all of which were present at rendezvous.

Average speed: 6.69 knots.

The B portion parted company at 01:00 on May 15 in 48 44N 8 30W, consisting of the following (their destinations are given in the table above):
Kyleglen, Kavak, Auk, Star of Ramleh, Katy, Cydonia, Hartington, British Fusilier, Bellerock, Planter, British Resolution, British Motorist, Buesten, Wentworth, Finnanger, Fendris and Dromus.

The escorting HMS Sandwich proceeded with the B section on May 15, leaving the A section unescorted until HMS Clarkia joined at 18:50 on May 15 in 49 20N 5 23W (this meeting was not pre-arranged, and it was not known whether there would be any local escort until the vessel was asked).

These proceeded to Falmouth at 19:00 on May 15 in 49 20N 5 23W:
Southern Shore, Southern Spray, Southern Breeze, Southern Star, Southern Wave, Southern Foam, Southern Field, Southern Flower, Southern Chief, Terge I, II, III, IV and V.

The following proceeded to the destinations given in table above at 13:50 on May 16 in 50 2N 2 9W:
Benvannoch*, Ariosto, Baltrader, Thala, Antiope, Clan Mackinlay and Joseph Seep. (Joseph Seep, voyage from Haifa for Havre with crude oil, later struck a mine and sank in Havre Roads on May 25-1940, crew was saved - source: Lloyd's War Losses, Vol. I).

* The Commodore's ship, Malda, initially bound for London, was diverted to Portland en route (for degaussing), and the captain of Benvannoch, W. Milne, was given charge of the 7 ships proceeding up channel after parting company south of Portland.

From the Commodore's notes:
Station keeping was average except for 3 ships, which were below average.
Wentworth, Captain R. Phillips, was a very bad station keeper, but reported boiler trouble at 09:20 on May 12. (The other 2 bad station keepers are not named).

Visual signalling was above average.

There were no incidents of importance.

Escorts:
Ocean Escort (from Gibraltar): HMS Sandwich and HMS Bideford. As mentioned, Sandwich proceeded with B portion of convoy at 01:00 on May 15, while Bideford parted company at 14:30 on May 10 in 38 13N 12 26W.
Local: HMS Clarkia joined at 18:50 on May 15 in 49 20N 5 23W.

Air Escort:
Accompanied convoy from Gibraltar - until dusk.
French escort met at 09:10 on May 8 in 35 40N 7 16W - left at dusk.
From 11:30 on May 14 in 47 30N 9 52W (Western Approaches), then daily, parting company at dusk.

Related external link:
HG (& SL) Convoys - In chronological order.

Back to Convoy Index