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Convoy SC 28 - warsailors.com

️Wed Apr 24 2041

CONVOY SC 28

HMS Chitral's Report is available on Page 2

Convoy SC 28 Cruising Order Departed Halifax at 11:00 on Apr. 9-1941 and arrived Liverpool on the 28th (Arnold Hague says 31 ships).
Transcribed from several documents received from Roger Griffiths (his source: Public Records Office, Kew). Crossed out ships did not sail, underlined ships returned to port (except those that are linked, which will automatically be underlined. The Norwegian Bernhard, however, did return). Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Am=American (U.S.), Gr=Greek, Du=Dutch, Da=Danish, Lat=Latvian MoWT=Ministry of War Transport
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
11 King Stephen wheat Loch Ewe (Br)	21 Prince Rupert City general Loch Ewe (Br)	31 Niceto de Larrinaga cereals Loch Ewe (Br)	41 Riley cotton Loch Ewe (Br)	51 Trojan Star refrig general Clyde (Br)	61 Baron Inchcape oil cake Liverpool (Br)	71 Navarino phosphate Milford Haven (Br)	81 Bristol City steel Barry Roads (Br)	91 Bosworth wheat Belfast (Br)
12 Gullpool grain Loch Ewe (Br)	22 Kisnop iron - steel Loch Ewe (Am / MoWT 11-1940)	32 Manatee steel scrap Loch Ewe (Am / MoWT 1941)	42 Cleodora fuel oil Clyde (Du)	52 Acasta Adm. fuel Clyde (Norw)	62 Buccinum diesel oil Manchester (Norw)	72 Georgios P. scrap iron Swansea (Gr)	82 Belnor nitrate Barry Roads (Norw)	92 Anna Bulgari grain Barry Roads (Gr)
13 Beckenham iron ore Loch Ewe (Br)	23 Gezina lumber Loch Ewe (Norw)	33 West Amargosa scrap iron Loch Ewe (Am / MoWT 11-1940)	43 Almenara bauxite Loch Ewe (Br)	53 Sildra Adm. fuel Clyde (Norw)	63 Euthalia wheat Liverpool (Gr)	73 Katvaldis steel - lumber Newport (Lat / MoWT 1940)	83 Matronna grain Barry Roads (Gr)	93
14 Aldington Court iron carbide Loch Ewe (Br)	24 Akabahra lumber London (Norw)	34 Alpherat potash Loch Ewe (Du)	44 Bernhard scrap iron Ardrossan (Norw)	54 Wellfield fuel oil Clyde (Br)	64 Marika Protopapa wheat Liverpool (Gr)	74 Groenlo lumber U.K. (Du)	84 Armathia phosphate Avonmouth (Gr)	94 Aeas wheat Barry Roads (Gr)
15 Spero steel - pulp London (Norw)	25 Rossum phosphate Tyne (Du)	35 Prins Willem van Oranje bauxite London (Du)	45 Embassage grain Loch Ewe (Br)	55 Despina grain Swansea (Gr)	65	75 Susan Mærsk Groundnuts Barry Roads (Da / MoWT 5-1940)	85 Cressdene general Barry Roads (Br)	95 Runswick wheat Barry Roads (Br)
Note that the Advance Sailing Telegram lists additional ships as scheduled, that are not included in this A 1 form. Groenlo is not mentioned in the AST - she had also been cancelled from SC 27, joined SC 29 (returned to Halifax). Also, Riley, Cressdene and Susan Mærsk are not mentioned in the AST - the latter ship is listed in SC 29, while Riley sailed in HX 120. Cressdene, which is crossed out on the form, did not sail with SC 28 upon departure, but joined from HX 120 later on. See also Commodore's comments in Notes below. It'll be noticed, when comparing the above with Arnold Hague's listing for SC 28 at ships in all SC convoys, that he has some of the ships in different stations.

Advance Sailing Telegram Crossed out ships did not sail, underlined ships returned to port (except those that are linked, which will automatically be underlined. The Norwegian Bernhard, however, did return).
Ship	Nationality	Cargo	Destination	Remarks
Belnor	Norwegian	nitrates	Avonmouth	From SC 26 To SC 31 - did not sail Listed in SC 33
Manatee	American / MoWT 1941	steel - scrap iron	Middlesbrough	(Renamed Empire Waterhen) From SC 27
Bernhard	Norwegian	scrap iron	Ardrossan	From SC 26 Returned to Halifax (follow link to Bernhard)
Buccinum	"	Tanker B	Manchester	From SC 27
Katvaldis	British	steel - lumber	Newport	–
Spero	Norwegian	steel - dry pulp	London	Joined SC 29 - returned to port Listed in SC 30
Gezina	"	lumber	Garston	From SC 25
Kisnop	American / MoWT 11-1940	iron - steel - trucks - special	Middlesbrough	(Renamed Empire Dabchick) From HX 117
Cleodora	Dutch	Adm. tanker B	Clyde	Listed in SC 29
Sildra	Norwegian	Adm. tanker B	Clyde	From SC 27
Anna Bulgari	Greek	grain	Avonmouth	From SC 27
Akabahra	Norwegian	lumber	London	From SC 26
Navarino	British	phosphates - 479 tons gunpowder	Milford Haven / Plymouth	From SC 27
Bristol City	"	steel - 363 tons shells	Bristol	From HX 118 Barry Commodore
Matronna	Greek	grain	Avonmouth	From SC 27
Aeas	"	wheat	Barry Docks	From HX 118
Rossum	Dutch	phosphates	Ipswich	–
Armathia	Greek	phosphates	Ipswich	–
Acasta	Norwegian	Adm. tanker B	Clyde	Listed in SC 29
Almenara	British	bauxite	Dundee	–
Niceto de Larrinaga	British	cereals	London	From SL 68
Alpherat	Dutch	potash	London	From SL 68 Listed in HX 120
Widestone	British	iron ore	Cardiff	From SL 68 Listed in SC 29
Euthalia	Greek	wheat	Liverpool	From HX 119
Prince Rupert City	British	general	Hull	From SL 68 Listed in HX 120
King Stephen	"	wheat	Leith	From SL 68
Baron Inchcape	"	oil cake	Liverpool	From SL 68 Vice Commodore
West Amargosa	American / MoWT 11-1940*	scrap iron	W. Hartlepool	(Renamed Empire Crossbill) From HX 119
Georgios P.	Greek	scrap iron	Swansea	From HX 119
Gullpool	British	grain	London	–
Ioannis Frangos	Greek	grain	Swansea	Listed in SC 29
Ruth I	Norwegian	steel - lumber	Garston	To SC 29 - did not sail To SC 31 - did not sail To SC 32 - did not sail Listed in SC 33
Clare Lilley	British	scrap iron	Clyde f. o.	Listed in SC 29
Runswick	"	grain	Sharpness	Returned to Halifax
Aarø	Danish / MoWT 1940	bauxite	Burntisland	To SC 29 - did not sail To SC 31 - did not sail To SC 32 - did not sail Listed in SC 34
Dunsley	British	grain	Hull	Listed in SC 29
Empire Unity	"	Tanker B	Manchester	Listed in SC 29
Embassage	"	grain	London	–
Jessie Mærsk	Danish / MoWT 1940	bauxite	Burntisland	Listed in SC 29
Marika Protopapa	Greek	grain	Liverpool	To SC 29 - did not sail Listed in SC 30
Morska Wola	Polish	general	Liverpool	(Ex Norwegian Rio Negro) To SC 29 (not listed) Listed in SC 30 (see also HX 124)
Tilemachos	Greek	grain	Manchester	Listed in SC 29
Titanian	Norwegian	lead - zinc - lumber	London	Listed in SC 29
Vernon City	British	steel - trucks	Liverpool	Listed in SC 29
Mariposa	"	steel - scrap iron	Ardrossan	Listed in SC 29
Stad Amsterdam	Dutch	steel - lumber	London	To SC 29 - returned to port To SC 31
Beckenham	British	iron ore	Middlesbrough	From SL 68
Aldington Court	"	iron carbide	Immingham	From HX 120
Prins Willem van Oranje	Dutch	bauxite	Burntisland	From HX 120
Trojan Star	British	refrig general	Glasgow	From HX 120
Despina	Greek	grain	Swansea	–
Wellfield	British	Adm. tanker B	Liverpool	From HX 119
Bosworth	"	wheat	Belfast	From SL 68
* Sunk in Convoy SC 42.

Notes:
Commodore O. H. Dawson, R.N.R. was in Trojan Star. Vice Commodore was D. MacGregor, the captain of Baron Inchcape (later Commodore for Liverpool portion)
Barry Commodore in Bristol City.

The Convoy had 32 ships - 30 were present at rendezvous with Local Escort.

7 knots convoy arranged to make good 6.6 knots - actually made good: 5.8 knots.

The Convoy formed up at 12:30 on Apr. 9; by dusk 30 ships were in station and 2 in sight astern - 11 ships did not sail as arranged.

The weather was "average", but the convoy was 48 hours late.

Cressdene, which had started out in Convoy HX 120, joined SC 28 at 08:00 on Apr. 25 in 61N 24 20W. The Commodore says "Insufficient speed for HX convoy? She made no attempt to go on when HX convoy parted".

With regard to the Norwegian Akabahra and Gezina, he states "showed themselves capable of 8 knots at times but at other times they could not maintain 7 knots". "Akabahra, a careless station keeper sometimes being 6 cables astern of station when convoy was going 6 knots".

Many ships broke down during the passage, some falling out never to be seen again:
At 08:00 on Apr. 13 Runswick dropped astern and out of sight, 42 5N 52 10W. HMS Chitral went back to look for her at noon, but failed to find her. She was searched for on standard route on subsequent days but not seen.

On Apr. 15, after having encountered fog at night, some ships were much out of station, but returning. The Norwegian Bernhard, which had almost regained her station, dropped out of sight at 12:40, but returned at nightfall.
On Apr. 18 the convoy was somewhat scattered by gale. At 13:00, Bernhard dropped out again, having almost regained her station. Convoy steaming at 6 knots.

At 06:00 on Apr. 19, in 52 35N 39 15W, Kisnop signalled slight engine trouble requiring 3 hours to rejoin, but did not return. Chitral went back and returned at dark having seen neither of the missing ships.

The following ships suffered 1 or more breakdowns:
Kisnop (3 and did not return), Sildra (1), Buccinum (4), Bernhard (3 and did not return), Baron Inchcape (1), Navarino (1), Runswick (1 and did not return), Matronna (2 + steering trouble), Anna Bulgari (4), West Amargosa (1), Georgios P. (3 + frequent steering trouble), Aeas (1 + steering trouble), Manatee (2), Embassage (1), Euthalia (1 or 2), Katvaldis (1), Wellfield (1), Akabahra (1), and Gezina (1 - steering gear).

The convoy arrived rendezvous on Apr. 24.

Escorts:
HMS Chitral - left at 15:30 on Apr. 21 in 57 10N 34 55W.
HMS Talisman - Apr. 11-20.
HMS Royal Sovereign - intermittent.
The Commodore also mentions Bulldog and Group ? (15:30 Apr. 21, in 57 10N 34 55W), adding, this escort was not prearranged.
At 21:30 on Apr. 24, in 61 20N 26 40W, HMS Wanderer and No. 5 Group relieved escort.
Chitral's report also mentions HMS Laconia.

A. Hague names the following 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):
Bramble - 24/04/41
Chitral - From 09/04/41 to 21/04/41
Dianthus - From 24/04/41 to 01/05/41
Hazard - 24/04/41
Mallow - From 24/04/41 to 26/04/41
Marigold - From 24/04/41 to 28/04/41
Nasturtium - From 24/04/41 to 28/04/41
Periwinkle - From 24/04/41 to 28/04/41
Primrose - From 24/04/41 to 28/04/41
Royal Sovereign - From 13/04/41 to 20/04/41
Scimitar - From 24/04/41 to 28/04/41
Speedy - 24/04/41
Talisman - From 11/04/41 to 20/04/41
Wanderer - From 27/04/41 to 28/04/41

Related external links:
SL Convoys - SL 68 is included.

Back to Convoy Index

To the next SC convoy in my list SC 29

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