Cargoes have been extracted from a document received from D. Kindell, based on the late Arnold Hague's database - see his listing for HX 171 at Ships in all HX convoys.

Please note that several more ships are named further down on this page, but the author of the diary did not know to which of the unnamed ships in this form they corresponded (however, compare w/A. Hague's information).

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Sw=Swedish, Bel=Belgian, Du=Dutch.

or

Jean Jadot?
general
(Bel)
See below

The diary gives station 63 to a Norwegian tanker as well as to the Belgian Jean Jadot, but see A. Hague's info below.

* It looks like Vinland instead sailed in the slow Convoy SC 66 on Jan. 23 - follow link for info.

Also, the Honduran Mana appears to have been scheduled for this convoy, but did not sail - see Convoy SC 67.

Comparing all this with what can be found in Arnold Hague's listing for HX 171 at Ships in all HX convoys, we learn that the above un-named ships were:
In station 81 - The Norwegian Sama, cargo of bacon
In station 82 - The British Anadara, cargo of gas oil
Instead of Glenstrae in station 33, he has Empire Silver, while Glenstrae has been given station 22.
In station 43 - The British Empire Druid, cargo of petrol (later became Norwegian Norholm)
In station 53 - The Norwegian Thorhild, cargo of whale oil
In station 63 - The Norwegian Belinda, cargo of petrol
Instead of a British freighter in station 73, he has the Norwegian Kristianiafjord, general cargo
In station 93 - The British Pacific Shipper, general cargo
In station 34 - The British Diloma, cargo of petrol (from HX 170)
In station 64 - The Norwegian Glittre, cargo of crude oil, straggled, joined SC 65
As far as I can see, he has no ship in station 74
In station 84 - The Norwegian Kollbjørg, cargo of petrol
No ship is listed in 35
In station 55 - The Swedish Axel Johnson, general cargo
No ship in station 75 (nor 85)
In station 95 - The Swedish Agra, general cargo
(All of the above, except Pacific Shipper, are also named in the diary, but station numbers were not known - ref. list further down on this page).

He has also listed the British Pacific Star, but station number is not given, nor is cargo (also mentioned in the diary). The ship in station 61 is listed as British Rapana, cargo of lub. oil.

Instead of Winnipeg in station 72 he has the British Bic Island, general cargo (also named in the diary), while Winnipeg is not mentioned at all by A. Hague (this ship may have been French? According to "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939" by R.W. Jordan there was a French Winnipeg that had been taken over by Vichy France in 1940 but was captured by the Royal Navy in June-1941. Sailed under the Ministry of War Transport as Winnipeg II from 1942 - sunk later that year in Convoy ON 139. This ship is listed in Convoy HX 177).

*However, A. Hague has included some ships in stations where none are listed in the diary (though they are named in the diary), as follows:
In station 21 - The British Empire Reindeer, cargo of nitrates
In station 71 - The British Ancylus, cargo of petrol
In station 12 - The British City of Canberra, general cargo
In station 32 - The British Mahana, refrig.
In station 52 - The Norwegian Nueva Andalucia, cargo of petrol and paraffin
In station 23 - The Belgian Jean Jadot
In station 14 - The British icebreaker Montcalm, in ballast, returned, listed in SC 69, returned, joined SC 72
In station 24 - The British Arabistan, general cargo
In station 44 - The British Saintonge, FFO
In station 94 - The Norwegian Rio Novo, general cargo
In station 15 - The Panamanian North King, general cargo
In station 25 - The Russian Ashkhabad, cargo not known (North King and Ashkhabad later joined Convoy PQ 11 to Murmansk - see this external site, as well as this external page - returned in Convoy QP 9).

He too mentions Ocean Vanguard and Ocean Vigil, saying they joined at sea, both with general cargoes; station numbers not given. Additionally, USS Melville is said to have joined at sea, detached for Iceland Jan. 30.

The first to leave was Tekoa at 09:36 and with a few minutes between each ship - Grey County (with a notation that says: "Goes north". No convoy station has been given to this Norwegian ship, and she shows up in the slow Convoy SC 68 on Febr. 4-1942, so appears to have returned to port in order to join the SC convoy later, or she may not even have been sceduled for HX 171, but went out that day for other reasons?), Manchester Division (Commodore vessel), Rafana (listed as British Rapana by A. Hague), Arabian Prince, Delphinula, a Norwegian tanker, a Swedish freighter, followed by 2 Norwegian freighters, City of Lille, Corbis, a Norwegian tanker, a British tanker, Fort Ville Marie, Skandinavia, a British freighter, a British tanker, Prins Willem III, Winnipeg (with crated aircraft on deck; as mentioned, this ship is not included by A. Hague), a British freighter, Fjordaas, Stuart Prince (red and white life rafts, brown crates on deck), a Norwegian tanker, a British ship with passenger accommodation, large flag, 2 liferafts on each side of bridge), British tanker, a Swedish freighter, then Vinland (with a notation: "She is signalling as she comes along and leaves the convoy and anchors in stream off the Federal Tower - as mentioned, she's listed as sailing in the slow Convoy SC 66 which departed Halifax on Jan. 23-1942 and arrived Liverpool on Febr. 9). Then a British tanker departed followed by a Norwegian tanker and another British tanker and Jean Jadot, then Empire Faith left at 13:14.

The following ships also went out that day, but they have no pendant numbers (these are provided by A. Hague - see table above):

The Norwegian Nueva Andalucia, Kristianiafjord, Glittre, Rio Novo, Belinda, Sama, Kollbjørg, Strinda* and Thorhild.

The British Pacific Exporter*, Pacific Star, Empire Druid, Montcalm (CGS), Ancylus, Arabistan, City of Canberra, Glenstrae, Empire Silver, Empire Reindeer, Anadara, Diloma, Mahana and the Canadian Bic Island. There's also a Saint Onge, but no nationality is given (probably a misspelling of the British Saintonge). Several of these ships were tankers; there are 5 unnamed British tankers in the sequence list above, but I don't know where each one belongs.

*The Dutch Maaskerk, Mirza, Curacao.

The Panamanian North King, El Estero*.

The Swedish Agra, Axel Johnson.

The Russian Ashkhabad.

*As can be seen there are 16 unnamed ships in the departure list but there are 32 named ships that left that day. Of the above, El Estero, Pacific Exporter, Strinda, Maaskerk, Mirza and Curacao are not included in A. Hague's listing for this convoy (again, see HX 171 at Ships in all HX convoys). It's possible they left port that day for other reasons than to join HX 171. Checking further, we find that Strinda, Maaskerk, Mirza and Curacao are listed in the next convoy, HX 172. Pacific Exporter had sailed in Convoy HX 165 to the U.K. in Dec.-1941, returning with Convoy ON 59, which departed Liverpool on Jan. 23-1942 (see ships in all ON convoys), so she could not have been in Halifax when HX 171 sailed on Jan. 20. I believe this might be a mix-up with Pacific Shipper, which is the only ship in A. Hague's list that is not mentioned in the diary. (El Estero is listed in HX 176 on Febr. 19; she had previously been in the westbound Convoy ON 42 in Dec.-1941. For info, she's listed in Convoy PQ 13 to Murmansk in March-1942, returning with Convoy QP 11).

A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of HX convoy escorts, also received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Acanthus - From 30/01/42 to 01/02/42
Clayoquot - From 20/01/42 to 22/01/42
Cowichan - From 22/01/42 to 23/01/42
Fredericton - From 20/01/42 to 22/01/42
Hamilton - From 20/01/42 to 22/01/42
Hibiscus - From 30/01/42 to 31/01/42
Newport - From 30/01/42 to 31/01/42
Rose - From 30/01/42 to 01/02/42
Saskatoon - From 20/01/42 to 22/01/42
St. Albans - From 30/01/42 to 31/01/42
USCGC Ingham - From 22/01/42 to 30/01/42
USS Cole - From 22/01/42 to 24/01/42
USS Dallas - From 22/01/42 to 30/01/42
USS Gleaves - From 22/01/42 to 30/01/42
USS Upshur - From 22/01/42 to 30/01/42
Weyburn - From 20/01/42 to 22/01/42

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