Please note that a full list of ships is given further down on this page.

Br=British, Du=Dutch, Norw=Norwegian.

The text in this convoy diary reads:
"This convoy of 36 ships was dispersed, heavy fog in Halifax made difficult the movement of shipping but sailings that did take place did so as follows" (time for the first ship to leave is given as 09:53):

The British Corner Brook (51), Empire Spring (81), Daltonhall (91 - Hurricane NJF), British Engineer (32), Dutch Cymbula (73).

Then it says: "Dense fog closes in and shipping movement appears to be stopped. 2:45 The fog lifts slightly".

Then at 3:11 (I assume this is 15:11) the Norwegian Fernmoor departed (72), followed a few minutes later by the British Tortuguero (71), and almost an hour later by the British G. S. Walden (82), then the British F. J. Wolfe (54).

The text continues:
"At 9:53 noticed a ship going out flying 81 (Corner Brook is given pennant No. 51 in previous statement). There seemed to be a convoy under way, but the fog closed in so thick that it was impossible to see the sheds at the water's edge. From that time on there was nothing to be seen. There was a great deal of whistling and signalling in the harbor, but I thought this was ordinary traffic and had no idea they would try to run a convoy out under such conditions until 3.11 when the fog thinned out a little. The last ship went out at 4.21, the F. J. Wolfe. Later I learned that there were 41 ships in movements, 1 was cancelled (Brimanger), 1 did not sail (Robert F. Hand), 1 was damaged in collision (Zuiderkerk, Dutch) and stayed in harbor leaving 39 that got away ok. The fog was so thick that official observers were unable to note the time of departure of many of the ships and simply marked 27 of them "Gone" when the fog lifted to reveal empty berths. This was said to be the most unusual convoy of the war. The following ships complete the January 2nd 1942 convoy; but not in this order:"

These ships are listed (no pendant No.'s are given - and note that some of them also appear in the next convoy, HX 169):
The British Ocean Vanguard, Mahout, British Engineer (32), Lancastrian Prince, Stentor, Eastern City, City of Derby, Dalhousie, Jean L. D. (ex French), Winamac, Cape Breton, Cape Verde, Theseus, Delilian, Novelist, Toltén and Narragansett.
The Greek Mount Kyllene, the Russian Kiev, the Dutch Amsterdam, Zuiderkerk and Mangkalihat (all 3 are listed in the next convoy), the Norwegian G. C. Brøvig, N. T. Nielsen-Alonso, Triton, Atlantic and Tai Shan, the Swedish Eknaren and Yngaren (straggled, sunk on Jan. 12 by U-43), and the Panamanian El Lago.

According this external page about HX 168, which is based on Arnold Hague's research and also includes the escorts, the above ships sailed in the following stations:

* Ocean Vanguard in 93 (collided with Toltén - returned, see HX 171), Mahout in 52, Lancastrian Prince in 84, Stentor in 62, Eastern City in 11, City of Derby in 31, Dalhousie in 13, Jean L. D. in 64, Winamac in 33, Cape Breton in 14, Cape Verde in 15, Theseus in 12, Delilian in 41, Novelist in 21, Toltén in 94 (returned following collision with Ocean Vangaurd - does not show up again until HX 177), Narragansett in 63, Mount Kyllene in 74, Kiev in 24, Amsterdam in 43 (returned - joined HX 169, but returned again, joined SC 66), G. C. Brøvig in 53, N. T. Nielsen Alonso in 42, Triton in 83, Tai Shan in 92, Eknaren in 55, Yngaren in 34, and El Lago in 23.

As will be seen, Atlantic (this is listed as the British ship by that name in T. Agar's diary), Zuiderkerk and Mangkalihat are not listed at all, all 3 show up again in the next convoy - as mentioned, Zuiderkerk was damaged in a collision and stayed in port. However, he has some ships that are not included in Ted's list, namely British Empire Sailor (61), Pachesham (joining from Wabana), and Seminole (44).
A. Hague otherwise agrees with Corner Brook in 51, Tortuguero in 71, Empire Spring in 81, Daltonhall in 91, British Engineer in 32, Fernmoor in 72, G. S. Walden in 82, Cymbula in 73 and F. J. Wolfe in 54.

Arnold Hague ("Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945") says the rescue ship Toward was with this convoy, from joining to dispersal Jan. 9 to Jan. 13-1942. She had been with Convoy ON 53 from Clyde until detachment, Jan 2-Jan 9, on her 17th voyage as rescue vessel (having been requisitioned as such in Dec.-1940).

Related external link:
The attack on Yngaren