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Convoy SC 83 - warsailors.com

️Fri Dec 05 2042

CONVOY SC 83
Advance Sailing Telegram and Cruising Order

Departed Halifax on May 7-1942 and arrived Liverpool on the 23rd
(Arnold Hague's The Allied Convoy System" gives 62 ships)

Advance Sailing Telegram Transcribed from several original documents received from Tony Cooper, England - His source: Public Records Office, Kew. Station numbers, cargoes for the tankers and names of escorts have been extracted from documents recived from Don Kindell, based on the late Arnold Hague's database - see his listing for SC 83 at ships in all SC convoys. Additional details have been added with the help of: "Convoys to Russia 1941-1945", Bob Ruegg & Arnold Hague. "Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945", Arnold Hague. Crossed out ships did not sail. MoWT = Ministry of War Transport
Ship	Nationality	Cargo	Station	Destination	Remarks
Wanstead	British	grain	61	Belfast Dock	From SC 81
Parthenon	Greek	steel - pulp	105	Manchester	–
Vest	Norwegian	general	22	Dundee	From SC 82
El Oceano	Panamanian	general	72	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	From SC 81 (Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
Ilissos	Greek	grain	12	Hull	From SC 82
Fairfield City	American	general	53	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Dekabrist	Russian	general	35	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	From SC 81 Listed in Convoy UR 32 to Iceland in July (Not listed in any convoy to Russia in this period, see * at the end of this table)
San Amado	British	Tanker W (petrol)	24	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Anna N. Goulandris	Greek	grain	13	London	–
Honomu	American	general	54	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Vermont	"	general - trucks	85	Clyde f. o. (Murmansk)	Listed in Convoy UR 32 to Iceland (Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51B - Dec.-1942)
Eastern Guide	"	general	43	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Gateway City	"	general	65	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland (Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
Algic	"	general	15	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	From SC 81 (Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Evita	Norwegian	Tanker W (aviation gas)	45	Avonmouth	–
Hampton Lodge	British	general	104	Manchester	From SC 82
William Hooper	American	general	95	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Pan Atlantic	"	general	73	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Solitaire	Norwegian	Tanker B (lub. oil)	32	Sunderland	From SC 82
Hoosier	American	general	55	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Aruba	Dutch	general	112	Newport	From SC 82
Norlago	American	general	34	Iceland	–
Empire Mariner	British	general	91	Cardiff	From SC 82
Peter Kerr	American	general	63	Clyde f. o. (Murmansk)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17 - sunk
Silver Sword	"	general	94	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17
Fjallfoss	Icelandic	general	–	Iceland	Listed in SC 84
Michael Jebsen	Danish / MoWT 1940	flour	103	Glasgow	–
Winston Salem	American	general	75	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17
Samuel Chase	"	general	83	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland, later Convoy PQ 17
White Clover	Panamanian	general	84	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	From SC 81 Listed in Convoy UR 32 to Iceland (Later joined Convoy PQ 18)
Saturnus	Dutch	general - mail 158	102	Liverpool	From SC 82
Agwidale	American	general	14	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Scorton	British	general	93	Clyde	From SC 82
Empire Gannet	"	steel - cotton	101	Cardiff	–
Ashworth	"	grain	41	London	–
Inger Elisabeth	Norwegian	flour	11	Leith	From SC 82
Dynastic	American	general	25	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Listed in Convoy UR 32 to Iceland (Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
Wacosta	"	general	82	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Joined Convoy UR 26 to Iceland (Later Convoy PQ 18 - sunk)
Baron Kinnaird	British	sugar	71	Greenock	–
Kelso	"	general	31	Hull	–
Wind Rush	American	general	74	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
Norluna	"	general	–	Iceland	Listed in SC 84
Empire Snow	British	steel - tobacco	33	Hull	Listed in Convoy UR 32 to Iceland (later in Convoy PQ 18)
Askeladden	Norwegian	timber	113	Swansea / Southampton	–
El Almirante	Panamanian	general	62	Clyde f. o. (Murmansk)	(Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
English Monarch	British	general	111	Avonmouth	–
Cap Cantin	French (A. Hague says British)	timber	42	Loch Ewe / Hartlepool	–
Daniel Morgan	American	general	–	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	Listed in SC 84 (Later joined Convoy PQ 17 - sunk)
Empire Cormorant	British	general	92	Holyhead / Liverpool	–
Kentucky	American	general	23	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Later joined Convoy PQ 18 - sunk)
Oregonian	"	general	–	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Listed in SC 84 (Later joined Convoy PQ 18 - sunk)
Dorothy Luckenbach	"	general - trucks	–	Clyde f. o. (Murmansk)	Listed in SC 84 (Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Bristol City	British	general	–	Bristol	Listed in SC 84
Empire Norse	"	Tanker B (dieso)	52	Glasgow	–
Katingo Hadjipatera	Greek	grain	115	Mersey	–
Lafayette	American	general - trucks	96	Clyde f. o. (Murmansk)	(Later joined Convoy PQ 18)
Nolisement	British	grain	51	Glasgow	–
War Admiral	Panamanian (A. Hague says American)	general	81	Liverpool	–
Mirlo	Norwegian	Adm. tanker B (gas oil)	21	Sheerness	–
Sommerstad	"	Tanker B (lub. oil)	36	London (Purfleet)	–
Telesfora de Larrinaga	British	general	76	Manchester	–
John Witherspoon	American	general	–	Clyde f. o. (Russia)	Listed in SC 84 (Later joined Convoy PQ 17 - sunk)
Richard Bland	"	general	–	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	Listed in SC 84 (Not listed in Russian convoy until JW 51A - Dec.-1942)
Kofresi	"	general	–	Clyde f. o. (Archangel)	(Not listed in any convoy to Russia)
Sithonia	British	general	114	Liverpool	–
Empire Reindeer	"	general	26	Newport	–
Cherokee	American	general	44	Iceland	–
Quest	Norwegian	rubber	64	Glasgow	From SC 82
Lista	"	general	86	Liverpool	–
Joining from Newfoundland
Empire Sunrise	British	grain - flour	–	Loch Ewe	Listed in SC 84
PLM 13	"	iron ore	16	Middlesbrough	–
PLM 17	"	iron ore	116	Cardiff	–
* Dekabrist had sailed to Russia with Convoy PQ 6 in Dec.-1941, and is said to have returned with Convoy QP 5 in Jan.-1942. The next time she shows up is in "Operation FB", in which she was sunk by aircraft on Nov. 4-1942 - see the external link at the end of this page. According to A. Hague, the American Algic became a straggler and arrived Iceland (again, see his listing for SC 83 at ships in all SC convoys). Perth (requisitioned Oct. 14-1940) was also with this convoy, sailing in station 66. She was on her 14th voyage as such, having started this voyage from Clyde on Apr. 14 with the westbound Convoy ON 86 (to Halifax Apr. 29), returning with SC 83 from Halifax May 7, to Clyde May 22-1942.

Convoy SC 83 Cruising Order
Received from Ted Agar. His source: A diary, which lists ships joining from Halifax only. The stations given are the initial convoy stations on departure Halifax; these may have changed as the voyage progressed. Some ships have been given the same station numbers.
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
11 Inger Elisabeth	21 Mirlo	31 Kelso	41 Ashworth	51 Nolisement	61 Wanstead? El Almirante?	71 Baron Kinnaird	81 War Admiral	91 Empire Mariner	101 Empire Gannet	111
12 Ilissos	22 Vest	32 Solitaire	42 Cap Cantin	52 Empire Norse	62	72 El Oceano	82 Wacosta**	92 Empire Cormorant	102 Saturnus	112 Aruba
13 Anna N. Goulandris	23 Kentucky**	33 Empire Snow	43 Eastern Guide	53 Fairfield City*	63 Peter Kerr*	73 Pan Atlantic*	83 Samuel Chase*	93 Scorton	103 Michael Jebsen	113 Askeladden
14 Agwidale	24 San Amado	34 Norlago	44 Cherokee? Lafayette?**	54 Honomux	64 Quest	74 Wind Rush	84 White Clover**	94 Silver Sword*	104 Hampton Lodge	114 Sithonia
15 Algic	25 Dynastic	35 Dekabrist	45 Evita	55 Hoosierx	65 Gateway City	75 Winston Salemx	85 Vermont	95 William Hooper*	105 Parthenon	115 Katingo Hadjipatera
16	26 Empire Reindeer	36 Sommerstad	46	56 Sarnolite* (Ca)	66 Perth (Br) RV	76 Telesfora de Larrinaga	86 Lista	96	106	116
English Monarch is also listed as going out with this convoy, but no pendant has been given (A. Hague gives her station 111). PLM 13 and PLM 17 are not included in the diary, since they joined from Newfoundland. * Note that Sarnolite is not included in the Advance Sailing Telegram, which indicates she was not part of the convoy and went out that day for other reasons than to join SC 83 (A. Hague has her in Convoy LC 12 to St. John's, external link).

Notes:
Commodore was in Wanstead, Vice Commodore in Empire Mariner, Rear Commodore in Kelso.
Glasgow Commodore: In Ashworth.
Liverpool Commodore: In Empire Gannet.

According to the diary, the Panamanian El Lago also cancelled, but as can be seen, she's not mentioned in the Advance Sailing Telegram. This ship is listed in Convoy SC 87 (for info, she had a Norwegian captain - see this external link).

The ships went out in the following order (according to the diary):
The first to leave at 10:22 was Empire Norse (whale oil factory), followed at 10:28 by Wacosta, and with a few minutes between each ship, Kentucky, Empire Mariner, Nolisement, Inger Elisabeth, Ilissos, War Admiral (trucks on deck), Ashworth, Baron Kinnaird, Empire Gannet, Mirlo, Kelso, Cap Cantin, Saturnus, El Oceano (2 bombers), Empire Cormorant, Solitaire, Hampton Lodge, Fairfield City, Aruba, William Hooper (8 tanks on foredeck), Vest, Silver Sword (4 bombers, crated planes), Pan Atlantic ("B" flag - which I believe means she carried explosives), Evita ("U" on stack), Eastern Guide, Scorton, Samuel Chase, San Amado, Wanstead, Askeladden, Sithonia, Katingo Hadjipatera, Parthenon, Peter Kerr (3 bombers on deck), Anna N. Goulandris, Norlago, Agwidale, Quest, Empire Snow, Cherokee, Sommerstad, El Almirante, Empire Reindeer, Lista, Michael Jebsen, Gateway City (bombers), White Clover (listed as Panamanian Wild Plover in the diary), Hoosier, Honomu, Winston Salem, Sarnolite, Dekabrist, Wind Rush, Dynastic, English Monarch, Telesfora de Larrinaga, Algic, Lafayette, Perth (Admiralty flag, small passenger ship flying a green flag with a white diagonal stripe), and at 15:25 Vermont went out as the last ship ("B" flag).

As mentioned, some of the ships in this convoy joined PQ 17 which departed Reykjavik on June 27 - they have been denoted *. Others joined Convoy PQ 18, denoted **. See also SC 81 for the names of some of the other ships in PQ 17, as well as this posting to my ship Forum and the external link at the end of this page. (Since these convoys had no Norwegian ships in them, they are not included in my own Arctic Convoys section).

The convoy arrived Clyde on May 23.

A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of SC convoy escorts, received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Acanthus - From 12/05/42 to 22/05/42
Cowichan - From 10/05/42 to 11/05/42
Eglantine - From 12/05/42 to 22/05/42
Halifax - From 07/05/42 to 12/05/42
Potentilla - From 12/05/42 to 22/05/42
Regina - From 07/05/42 to 12/05/42
Rose - From 12/05/42 to 22/05/42
USCGC Duane - 17/05/42
USS Badger - 17/05/42
Verity - From 07/05/42 to 12/05/42
Viscount - From 12/05/42 to 23/05/42
Witherington - From 07/05/42 to 12/05/42

Related external links:
Russian Convoys - All the convoys mentioned in my tables above are included. Arnold Hague's listings for the same convoys can be found via this page.

Back to Convoy Index

To the next SC convoy in my list SC 84

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