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CONVOY HX 3 & HXS 3

Convoy HX 3 Cruising Order
Departed Halifax on Sept. 30-1939 and arrived Liverpool on Oct. 14 (Arnold Hague agrees with 20 ships).
Transcribed from original documents received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew).

Br=British
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
11
Rushpool
iron ore
Newport
(Br)
21
Dorelian
general
Avonmouth
(Br)
31
Manchester Exporter
general
Manchester
(Br)
41
Newfoundland
general
Liverpool
(Br)
51
Beaverbrae
general
Liverpool
(Br)
61
Mathura
Avonmouth
(Br)
 71
Trevarrack
wheat
Liverpool
(Br)		 81
Bassano
copper- general
Leith
(Br)
12
Torr Head
general
Belfast
(Br)
22
Framlington Court
coke
St. Nazaire
(Br)
32
Manchester Citizen
general
Manchester
(Br)
42
Lornaston
nitrates
(Br)
52
Daleby
wheat
Liverpool
(Br)
62
North Cornwall
paper
London
(Br)
 72
Gitano
general
Newcastle
(Br)		 82
Cairnross
grain - general
Newcastle
(Br)
13 23 33 43
Germanic
lumber - cotton
Liverpool
(Br)		 53
Sandsend
wheat
(Br)		 63
Ontariolite
crude oil
Le Havre
(Br)		 73
Esmond
paper
London
(Br)		 83
Comparing the above with Arnold Hague's listing for this convoy (see HX 3 on the page listing ships in all HX convoys) I find that he has Dorelian in station 31, Framlington Court in 32, Manchester Citizen in 22, Manchester Exporter in 21. Also, he says that Lornaston (in station 42) was bound for Bergen, Mathura (in 61) had a cargo of tobacco, lumber and ethyl. It'll be noticed that he has also included the 4 ships from HXS 3 below, station numbers not known.

Convoy HXS 3:
According to Arnold Hauge's "The Allied Convoy System", this convoy sailed in 2 parts, a slow section, HXS 3 with 4 ships, sailing 24 hours ahead of the main convoy (Sept. 29) and amalgamating when overtaken by the main body. Tony Cooper, England has sent me the names of these ships as follows:
Grelhead (for Hull), Langleeford (for Glasgow), Brookwood (for Cardiff) and Larpool for London - all British. A. Hague adds that Brookwood, had cargo of wheat, as did Grelhead. Langleeford, had a cargo of wheat and flour and Larpool carried grain.


Notes:
Commodore for HX 3 was Rear Admiral A. T. Tillard D.S. O. in Newfoundland, Vice Commodore was C. T. Beard in Mathura, Rear Commodore in Bassano.

Average speed: 7.75 knots.

Ships that parted company with the convoy (at end of voyage):
At 12:15 on Oct. 14 - for the Channel and east coast ports: Bassano, Cairnross, Gitano, North Cornwall, Ontariolite, Esmond, Lornaston, Framlington Court.
At 18:00 on Oct. 14 - for the Bristol Channel: Rushpool, Dorelian, Sandsend, Mathura.
At 17:00 on Oct. 15 for Belfast: Torr Head.

The commodore reports "S/M active on 13th & 14th Oct. from 12° W to 18° W in neighbourhood of convoy, otherwise uneventful". He also says all ships kept their speed satisfactorily, suggesting that a signalman in each ship is considered essential, and that apparatus for signalling in fog other than sirens would also be very useful.

Ocean Escorts: None
Local Escort: Acasta and Ardent meeting up in 50 30N 12 45W at 06:30 on Oct. 14. Also, air patrols on Oct. 14 and 15.

According to A. Hague, the escorts were (received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year).
Berwick - From 30/09/39 to 02/10/39
Fraser - From 30/09/39 to 01/10/39
St. Laurent - From 30/09/39 to 02/10/39

Related external link:
HX and HXF Convoys - In chronological order.

Back to Convoy Index

To the next HX convoy in my list HX 4


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