Site Map | Search Warsailors.com |Merchant Fleet Main Page | Warsailors.com Home 

Available Discussion Forums

CONVOY SC 3
Departed Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 2-1940 arrived Liverpool on the 18th.
Arnold Hague's "The Allied Convoy System" gives 47 ships in this convoy.

Transcribed from several documents received from Tony Cooper (Advance Sailing Telegram) - His source: Public Records Office, Kew.
The station numbers and names of escorts have been extracted from documents recived from Don Kindell, based on Arnold Hague's database - see
ships in all SC convoys.

Further details have been added with the help of:
"Axis Submarine Successes of World War Two", Jürgen Rohwer
"The Allied Convoy System", Arnold Hague
"The World's Merchant Fleets 1939". R. W. Jordan
"Lloyd's War Losses", Vol I.

Crossed out ships did not sail.

MoWT = Ministry of War Transport

Ship
Nationality
Cargo
Station
Destination
Remarks
Norwegian
pit props
54
Belfast / Tyne
Sunk - see Notes
"
lumber
26
Sunderland
From SC 2
"Not at rendezvous"
Nora
Estonian
lumber
Belfast f. o.
See also SC 4, SC 5 & SC 6
Norwegian
lumber
32
Boston / Newport(?)
"
pulp wood
53
Belfast / London
Empire Sambar
British
pig iron
92
Grangemouth
from SC 2
Kalliopi S*
Greek
grain
Belfast
To HX 70
* This ship has been crossed out on the original Advance Sailing Telegram, with the word NOT next to it and HX 70; she's mentioned in the Sydney section for that convoy. But A. Hague has included her in SC 3 (again, see SC 3 at ships in all SC convoys). He adds that she was sunk by aircraft on Sept. 17 after having been detached. See also Notes below.
Alexandros
"
lumber - paper
82
Sharpness
Sunk - see Notes
William H. Daniels
British
lumber
86
Milford Haven
From SC 2
Listed in SC 4
*This ship is crossed out in the Advance Sailing Telegram, while A. Hague says she returned.
Dundrum Castle
"
general
62
Liverpool
Kenordoc
"
lumber
94
Bristol
See HX 66
"Not at rendezvous"
Sunk - see Notes
Kuurtanes
Finnish
pulp wood - lumber
42
Glasgow
Norwegian
phosphates
31
Glasgow
From SC 2
Empire Volunteer
British
iron ore
51
Glasgow
Sunk - see Notes
Norwegian
lumber
63
Warrington
Hartbridge
British
scrap iron - steel
81
Swansea / Newport
Edwin T. Douglass
"
lumber
95
Swansea
"Not at rendezvous"
Peterton
"
maize
75
Liverpool
Orion
Greek
sulphur
72
Manchester
See Notes
Norwegian
lumber
83
Bristol
Kirsten Mærsk
Danish / MoWT 1940
pit props
33
Hull
Penhale
British
pit props
11
Immingham
Ottoland
Dutch
pit props
15
Immingham
Norwegian
pit props
55
Belfast / Medway
Empire Soldier
British
iron ore
21
Middlesbrough
From HX 69
Norwegian
pulp wood
13
Medway
Empire Woodcock
British
phosphates
41
Garston
From SC 2
"Not at rendezvous"
Norwegian
pit props
52
Belfast / Immingham
Søborg
Danish / MoWT 1940
pulp wood
12
Medway
Elizabeth Massey
British
wheat
London
Listed in SC 4
Leonidas N. Condylis
Greek
lumber
84
Sharpness
From SC 2
Pencarrow
British
iron - steel
44
Grangemouth
Norwegian
lumber
14
Methil
Eugena Cambanis
Greek
iron ore
Port Talbot
Also crossed out from SC 5, SC 6 & SC 7
Norwegian
pulp - lumber
64
Garston
Robert W. Pomeroy
British
lumber
74
Preston
Aldergrove
"
lumber
Belfast / London
Listed in SC 5
Alma Dawson
"
iron ore
93
Port Talbot
Gullpool
"
grain
61
Manchester
Marionga D. Thermiotis
Greek
pit props
73
Garston
Ashcrest
British
scrap - steel
85
Swansea / Newport
Llandilo
"
grain
76
Manchester
"Not at rendezvous"
Narocz
Polish
general
Liverpool
Listed in SC 4
Fanø
Danish / MoWT 1940
lumber
Belfast / Hull
Listed in SC 5
Miguel de Larrinaga
British
steel
71
Birkenhead
Norwegian
lumber
Boston
Listed in SC 4
"
lumber
65
Belfast / Grimsby
Nolisement
British
pig iron
Clyde f. o.
To HX 72
See also HX 73.
Sailed in HX 74
Norwegian
Tanker W
U.K.
"To be held at Sydney"
Listed in SC 5 with same note
Shows up again in SC 9
"
lumber
22
Kirkaldy
"
lumber
23
Montrose
"
pit props
24
Immingham
See Notes
"
lumber
25
Grimsby
Sandsend
British
sugar
34
Greenock
Norwegian
Adm tanker B
43
Clyde
See Notes
Administrateur de Bournat
British / ex French
ballast (trawler)
45
Fleetwood
Barrhill
British
steel
91
Clyde f. o.

Notes:
Commodore was in Gullpool, Vice Commodore in Empire Soldier.

Commodore's name and notes are not available.

One of the documents contains a note saying:
Not traced
Noreg (Norw) - fuel oil for Clyde
Gezina (Norw) - aluminium bars for London (not mentioned in Advance Sailing Telegram. She's crossed out from SC 4, sailed in SC 5)
Iron Baron (listed as Norwegian Baron, but there was no Norw. ship by this name, so this should probably be Iron Baron) - pit props for Immingham. According to this document, showing her voyages in this period, she arrived Clyde from Sydney, C.B. on Sept. 17 (Immingham Sept. 28).
Orqun (Gr) - sulphur for U.K. (not included in Advance Sailing Telegram, however, this might be a mis-spelling of Greek Orion, which is included in the above table).

Ships sunk:
Empire Volunteer, on a voyage from Wabana for Glasgow with 7700 tons of iron ore, was sunk on Sept. 15 by U-48 - She had a crew of 39, 6 of whom died. Some of of the survivors were rescued by the Norwegian Fido, others by the Norwegian Granli (page 2 has an account on the rescue).

Alexandros, on a voyage from Montreal for Sharpness with 4500 tons of lumber and paper, was also sunk on Sept. 15 by U-48 - She had a crew of 30, 5 died.

Kenordoc, on a voyage from Quebec for Bristol with 2000 tons of lumber, was shelled on Sept. 15 by U-99 - She had a crew of 21, 7 died. Sunk by gunfire.

Lotos, which had lost touch with the convoy shortly after departure, was sunk on Sept. 16 by U-99 - see my page about Lotos for more details.

Additionally, the British Magdalena is said to have come from Convoy SC 3, though, as can be seen, she's not listed in the table above. She was sunk by U-48 on Sept. 18, on a voyage from St. John's for Holyhead and Liverpool with 4600 tons of iron ore - She had a crew of 30 and 1 gunner, no survivors. Looking at the map showing her sinking position at the external link below, we see that she was quite a distance away from the U.K. at the time; she's said to have become a straggler, but still, had she been part of Convoy SC 3? (the convoy arrived Liverpool on that date).

With regard to the Greek Kalliopi S, the following can be found in "The World's Merchant Fleets 1939":
"Bombed by German aircraft 11 m SW of Tory Is, abandoned, drifted on rocks Sheephaven Bay, 10 m E of Tory Is, broke in two". There were no casualties. R. W. Jordan agrees with A. Hague's date of Sept. 17-1940, mentioned in the table above and adds she became a total loss.

The escorting HMS Dundee was also sunk in this convoy, by U-48 on Sept. 15. The Norwegian Fido, Vigsnes, and Granfoss picked up survivors.

The convoy arrived rendezvous on Sept. 15.

Escorts (extracted from this list of SC convoy escorts, based on Arnold Hague's database, received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Drangey - From 15/09/40 to 16/09/40
Dundee - From 02/09/40 to 14/09/40
Ottawa - From 15/09/40 to 18/09/40
Reindeer - From 02/09/40 to 04/09/40
Skeena - From 15/09/40 to 18/09/40
St. Laurent - From 17/09/40 to 18/09/40
Wanderer - From 17/09/40 to 18/09/40
Witch - From 15/09/40 to 18/09/40

Related external links:
The loss of Empire Volunteer
The loss of Alexandros
The loss of Kenordoc
The loss of Magdalena

HMS Dundee

The Empire Ships

Back to Convoy Index

To the next SC convoy in my list SC 4


   Be   
C
   D   
E
F
G
   He   
I
J
   K   
L
M
N
O
   PQ   
R
   So   
   To   
U
V
W
   Ø   

 Site Map | Search Warsailors.com |Merchant Fleet Main Page | Warsailors.com Home