I have added the nationalities with the help of "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939", R. W. Jordan.

Br=British, Am=American, Norw=Norwegian, Gr=Greek, Du=Dutch, Ca=Canadian

Also, it appears several other ships (not named in this table) had originally been scheduled for HX 69, but sailed in the next convoy instead - see the "Remarks" column on the next page, HX 70.

* Condor became British Empire Elk in 1940, then Norwegian Norvarg in 1942.

The British Corbis, cargo of fuel oil for Mersey was originally in station 72, did not sail - replaced by the Norwegian Austvard.

23 ships sailed from Halifax, joined by 9 from Sydney (with A numbers in table above) and 15 from Bermuda (with B numbers in table).

The following were cancelled from the Bermuda section:
Anten, Patella and Varand (see BHX 68), Cape of Good Hope, Kalypso Vergotti - both sailed in HX 70.

Ocean Escort: HMS Alaunia (local escorts are listed in text below).

Narrative of Voyage:
Aug. 28:
14:00 - Proceeded down harbour.
15:30 - Formed convoy 4 1.2 knots.
19:30 - 8 knots. 23 ships in company. HMC ships Assinibone and French local escort. Air patrol round convoy.
21:00 - HMCS French parted company.

Aug. 29:
Air patrol round convoy during morning and forenoon. 2.2. all day speed 7 knots.
20:10 - HMCS Assinibone parted company in 43 03N 59 15W.

Aug. 30:
13:00 - Sydney portion of convoy of 9 ships joined up in 42 49N 56 44W. 32 in convoy. 22 during afternoon and exercised emergency turn.

Aug. 31:
22 all day til 19:00.
Dressed ship with masthead flags Dutch ensign in honour of Queen Wilhelmina's birthday.

Sept. 1:
10:00 - Bermuda section of convoy of 15 ships joined up in 43 20N 48 20(40?*)W. 47 ships in convoy. 22 during afternoon. Exercised emergency turn.

* The Commodore gives 2 different numbers in 2 different reports.

Sept. 2:
02:30 - Ran into a fog bank which lasted 2 hours, switched on navigation lights and clustered astern.
Noon - A heavy N.W. swell got up which increased during afternoon. Ship rolling considerably.

Sept. 3:
Heavy N. W. swell. Ship rolling badly. Speed 9 knots making good 8.2 knots.

Sept. 4:
S/S Condor dropped astern during night owing to engine trouble but rejoined during forenoon. Swell not so heavy. Wind S. W. 3.4.

Sept. 5:
Swell subsiding.
06:45 - Exercised emergency turn to clear sailing ship.
16:00 - 22 for 3 hours.

Sept. 6:
Passed changes of destination to 17 ships and re-arranged convoy. 22 from dawn till 10:30 and 16:30 till 19:30.

Sept. 7:
Wind and sea increased at midnight and a fresh gale from N.W. was blowing at dawn into a rough sea. Opened out columns to 4 cables.

Sept. 8:
22 all day. Wind moderate. Altered course at dusk 35° to port.
20:15 - HMS Alaunia parted company in 58 28N 19 05W.

Sept. 9:
06:00 - At rendezvous.
07:00 - Met escort of HMS Arrow, Winchelsea, Ambuscade, Heartsease, Fowey, Clarkia, Cornelia in 58 47N 16 22W.
Received changes of destination of 5 ships and message from Commander in Chief to appoint another Vice Commodore to take charge of East Coast ships as S/S Beaverdale was being directed to Milford Haven.
20:30 - Air cover at dusk. Detailed S/S Lambridge to be Vice Commodore (Master T. B. Brunton).

Sept. 10:
Strong N.W. wind, heavy swell.
17:00 - HMS Arrow picked up boats' crews, the survivors of S/S Poseidon (Greek), torpedoed 48 hours previously.
19:00 - 14 East Coast ships parted company in 56 34N 18(08?) 42W. S/S Lambridge in charge.
22. 2 1/2 hours until midnight.

Sept. 11:
10:00 - 10 Clyde ships parted company under Rear Commodore (Delilian), 55 09N 05 48W.
13:15 - S/S Olympos (Greek) parted company for Belfast in 54 48N 05 26W.
20:15 - 12 Liverpool ships parted company under the orders of the Master of S/S Oropesa (from Bermuda section). Proceeded down Irish Channel.

Sept. 12:
13:00 - S/S Inger and Lylepark parted company for Milford Haven in 50 35N 05 30W.
23:00 - Arrived at Barry Roads with 8 Bristol Channel ships.

Commodore's Remarks:
There was no suitable British ship leaving Halifax which had any accommodation for Commodore and staff, so it was decided to embark in S/S Ulysses (Dutch) bound for Milford Haven. Everything ran smoothly as the officers were able to talk fairly good English. They were all keen and very good navigators - all officers taking sights every day. They seemed a little casual over ship's speed and steady revolutions but after I had got the engine room to send up the average revolutions every hour there was no difficulty. The ship was very well and efficiently run. There was only one W/T operator which necessitated a W/T guard in another ship in the convoy.

I would like to place on record the great assistance I received from Captain Jugtenberg and his officers who did everything to facilitate the smooth working of the convoy.

The voyage was without incident but was remarkable for two things:

(1) It is the first convoy I have commanded which was able to maintain 9 knots when ordered.

(2) The station keeping was very good and really remarkable for a convoy of 47 ships. This was commented on by two of the escort vessels. All ships kept well closed up which made signalling easy and rapid.

The following are deserving of special mention for good station keeping and signalling:
Oropesa, Tornus (J. C. Nettleship), W. B. Walker (W. B. Simpson), Lambridge (T. B. Brunton), Lapland (J. T. Gilroy), Beaverdale (J. Pettigrew), Charles F. Meyer (W. Wood), Inger (Georg Almaas), Delilian, Roxby, Narragansett (M. Roberts), Stad Maastricht.

Commodore's Suggestiosn for Improvement of the Convoy system:

(a) Oscillating in Mid Atlantic:
There were a certain number of ships oscillating in mid Atlantic which was difficult to locate, but HMS Alaunia was able to D.F. S/S Parracombe on 2nd September, and he was told to close his W/T office. It seems to be so difficult to stop oscillating that it is recommended that the Commodore should be able to close the W/T offices of all ships while in convoy and only opened in the event of fog and for reading routines. A signald in "Consigs" to this effect would be useful.

(b) Degaussing - Keeping the current switched on:
I requested the Master of S/S Ulysses, the Commodore's ship to keep the current switched on during the voyage across the Atlantic, as there was no gyro compass, and it was most important that the compass errors in all courses should be known. It is recommended that N.C.S.O's should give orders to this effect to all ships that have sufficient power.

(c) Consigs
It is recommended that the following orders and signals should be included in "Consigs":

(1) Art. 137 (a) (see *) D.M.S. Part I re shaded stern light. Several of the Allied and Neutral ships had badly fitted shaded stern lights which were visible before the beam. The only means of telling them was a lengthy message in Morse.
* Don't know how to type the "letter" in this parenthesis - resembles a V with a tale at the top front).

(2) The following signals should be included:

Station has been well kept V.B in M.N.C.

Your signalling is good

I wish to communicate with you by flashing.

Excessive lights being shown (or were shown during last night). Take more precautions to prevent unauthorised lights being shown. Signal K.B. in M.N.C.

More details on all the Norwegian ships named in this table can be found in the alphabetical ship lists of this website.

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