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CONVOY ON 92

List gratefully received from Keith Haywood who says much of the information has been taken from the original convoy sailing instructions dated 5th May 1942, and has been updated using "Britains Sea War", "Doenitz and the Wolfpacks", and "British & Commonwealth Merchant Ship Losses 1939-1945". The original document was obtained from the UK Public Records Office.

Keith says the convoy assembled off the Scottish island of Islay on May 7th 1942 and sailed that afternoon. The sailing order shown is taken from the original convoy papers dated 5th May 1942, but was later changed with the vessels being formed into 10 columns of four ships with the rescue vessel Bury taking up position astern.

I've copied Keith's notes at the end of the table, then added my own comments in italic text in parenthesis with the help of info found in "The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague, "Convoy Rescue Ships", Arnold Hague, "Axis Submarine Successes of WW II", Jürgen Rohwer and "The World's Merchant Fleets", R. W. Jordan.


Convoy ON 92 Cruising Order
departed Liverpool on May 6-1942 and arrived Halifax on May 21, according to Arnold Hague, who gives 42 ships.
Br=British, FF=Free French, Pa=Panamanian, Yug=Yugoslavian, Norw=Norwegian, Du=Dutch, Gr=Greek, Pol=Polish, Sw=Swedish

RS=Rescue Ship, CAM=Catapult Armed Merchant Vessel

See also Convoy SC 79 and other SC convoys from the same time period (for instance, SC 87)

s=sunk, †=dead.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
Empire Dell
Note 1
s - 2 †
(Br)
21
Selvistan
(Br)
31
Cristales
s - 0 †
Note 2
(Br)
41
Gazcon
(Br)
51
Southern Princess
Note 9
(Br)
61
Portsea
(Br)
71
Empire Antelope
Note 10
(Br)
81
Dorington Court
(Br)
91
Empire Clive
(Br)
12
Mount Parnes
Note 3
(Gr)
22
Batna
s - 1 †
Note 4
(Br)
32
Empire Wolfe
(Br)
42
Fort Binger
(FF)
52
Elisabeth Lensen
(Br)
62
Titanian
(Norw)
72
Langleebrook
(Br)
82
Photinia
Note 5
92
Mount Taurus
(Gr)
13
Dimitrios Chandris
Note 5
(Gr)
23
Empire Raven
Note 5
(Br)
33
Empire Chamois
(Br)
43
Greylag
(Pa)
53
Suecia
Note 5
(Sw)
63
Stalowa Wola
Note 5
(Pol)
73
San Ambrosio
(Br)
83
Mount Rhodope
(Gr)
93
Carras
(Gr)
14
Selvik
(Norw)
24
Zypenberg
(Du)
34
Chagres
(Pa)
44
Belinda
(Norw)
54
Solarium
(Br)
64
Empire Bronze
Note 5
(Br)
74
Achilles
(Du)
84
Juno
(Du)
94
Isobel
Note 5
(Pa)
15
Llanover
s - 0 †
Note 6
(Br)
25
Spokane
(Pa)
35
Clearpool
(Br)
45
Lisbeth
(Norw)
55
Argolikos
Note 5
(Gr)
65
Dorcasia
(Br)
75
Tolken
s - 0 †
Note 7
(Sw)
85
Cocle
s - 4
Note 8
(Pa)
95
Ivan Topic
(Yu)
16
Mount Parnes
s - 0 †
Note 3
(Gr)
26
British Power
(Br)
36
Alex
(Br)
46
Empire March
Note 5
(Br)
56
Bury
(RS)
66
Ragnhild
(Norw)
76
Empire Emery *
(Br)
86 96

Notes:
* Should this be Empire Emerald?

Ships departing from Aultbea:
Departing from Belfast:
Dorington Court.
Langleebrook
Photinia
(did not sail in convoy)
Mount Taurus
San Ambrosio
Mount Rhodope
Carras
Achilles
Juno
Isobel
(did not sail)
Llanover
Tolken
Cocle
Ivan Topic
Empire Clive (CAM)
Chagres
Lisbeth

Departing from the Clyde:
Spokane
Clearpool
Argolikos
(did not sail)
Dorcasia
Bury
Ragnhild
Departing from Liverpool (May 6):
Departing from Milford Haven:
Empire Dell (CAM)
Gazcon
Southern Princess
Portsea
Empire Antelope
Fort Binger
Elisabeth Lensen
Titanian
Greylag
Suecia
(did not sail)
Stalowa Wola
(did not sail)
Belinda
Solarium
Empire Bronze
(did not sail)
Selvistan
Cristales
Mount Parnes
Batna
Empire Wolfe
Dimitrios Chandris
(did not sail)
Empire Raven
(did not sail)
Empire Chamois
Selvik
Zypenberg

Ocean Escort
provided by Escort group A3 operating out of Lough Foyle, Northern Ireland.

USS Gleaves – destroyer (Capt. John B Heffernan)
Spencer - US Coast Guard Cutter
HMCS Algoma – corvette
HMCS Arvida – corvette
HMCS Bittersweet – corvette
HMCS Shediac – corvette

Note 1 - Empire Dell:
7,065 GRT, G. Nisbet & Co.
Torpedoed and sunk in 53 00N 29 57W by U-124 (Johann Mohr) 12 May 1942.
(In ballast, 2 dead, 61 survived, 21 picked up by Bury. Hague says Empire Dell was torpedoed on May 11 and sank at 04:00 GMT on the 12th)

Note 2 - Cristales:
5,368 GRT, Elders & Fyffes.
Rear Commodores ship.Torpedoed in 52 55N 29 50W by U-124 (Johann Mohr) 12 May 1942.
Sunk by gunfire from HMCS Shediac (K110)
(Arnold Hague gives 5389 gt for this ship, as does Rohwer - cargo of general and china clay, all 82 survived, picked up by HMCS Shediac).

Note 3 - Mount Parnes:
Vessel removed from original sailing plan but re-inserted at position 16.
Torpedoed and sunk by U-124 (Johann Mohr) 12 May 1942.
(Position given by Rohwer is 52 31N 29 20W, cargo of coal, all 32 survived).

Note 4 - Batna:
4,399 GRT, F.C. Strick & Co, cargo of 4,988 tons of coal. 1 lost
Torpedoed and sunk in 52 09N 33 56W by U-94 (Otto Ites) 13 May 1942.
(42 survivors according to R. W. Jordan, who says she was torpedoed and damaged on the 12, sunk on the 13th. "Convoy Rescue Ships" by Arnold Hague, says Bury picked up 40 survivors from Batna).

Note 5 - Photinia, Dimitrios Chandris, Empire Raven, Suecia, Stalowa Wola, Empire Bronze, Isobel, Argolicos, Empire March:
Vessel marked on original sailing plan but later removed – did not sail with the convoy (Stalowa Wola had engine problems).

Note 6 - Llanover:
4,959 GRT, E.T. Radcliffe & Co., cargo of coal.
Torpedoed by U-124 (Johann Mohr) 12 May 1942.
Sunk by gunfire in 52 50N 29 04W from HMCS Arvida (K113)
(Arnold Hague says she was in ballast, no casualties, 45 rescued by Bury)

Note 7 - Tolken:
4,471 GRT - Torpedoed and sunk by U-94 (Otto Ites) 13 May 1942
(Position 51 50N 33 35W, in ballast, all 34 survived, rescued by Bury).

Note 8 - Cocle:
5,630 GRT. - Torpedoed and sunk by U-94 (Otto Ites) 12 May 1942.
(Position 52 37N 29 13W, General cargo, 4 dead, 38 survivors picked up by Bury, 1 injured man later died, making it a total of 5 casualties).

Note 9 - Southern Princess:
12,256 grt, Salvesen, Christian & Co. - Commodores vessel.

Note 10 - Empire Antelope:
4,782 GRT. - Vice Commodores vessel.

The Rescue Ship:
Bury was on her 4th voyage as Resuce Vessel, having been requisitioned as such on Aug. 14-1941. The very first rescue of her carreer took place when Llanover was lost. Arnold Hagues says "45 men were rescued from this ship although Lloyd's state that all 46 crew were saved, the discrepancy might be accounted for by either a miscount by Bury, or work by one of the escorts." (R. W. Jordan says 65 survived). Bury also rescued 21 of Empire Dell's 61 survivors. There's another discrepancy here in that Hague says "The Llanover was then sighted and the possibility of re-boarding her and salvage was considered. However, as the convoy was still under attack, and she appeared to be slowly foundering, the idea was not followed up and the wreck was despatched by HMCS Shediac." (compare to HMCS Arvida in Note 6 above). After having rescued the survivors from Tolken, Bury had 178 survivors on board, which was in excess of her available accommodation, so she was permitted to leave the convoy to land the survivors in St. John's. Bury later returned to Clyde with Convoy SC 85.

Back to Convoy Index

To the next convoy in my list ON 93
will be added, as will ON 94 through ON 98
In the meantime, see Ships sailing in all ON convoys
The next available ON convoy is ON 99


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