Crossed out ships did not sail.

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

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Da=Danish, Gr=Greek, Du=Dutch, Pa=Panamanian, Am=American, Po=Polish
† = dead
MoWT=Ministry of War Transport

Note that the Advance Sailing Telegram lists additional ships as scheduled, that are not included in this A 1 form.

Alexandra is not mentioned in the AST and, therefore, I don't know the tonnage of this ship (there was also a Danish Alexandra). Also, C. K. Kampan is not included in the AST.

It'll be noticed, when comparing the above with Arnold Hague's listing for SC 29 at ships in all SC convoys, that he has some of the ships in different stations. Also, he has not included Morska Wola and British Fortune in this convoy. He adds that Becheville was involved in a collision on arrival.

Crossed out ships did not sail.

* The tonnage for Bellemina in this convoy is given as 6085 gt. This ship was built in 1919, and I believe it's identical to Empire Magpie (ex Bellemina) listed at the Empire Ships website (ref. external link at the end of this page) though tonnage is given as 6517 gt. Similarly, I believe West Raritans is identical to Empire Mavis.

The convoy had 28 ships, + 2 joining at sea from Convoy HX 124 (Morska Wola and British Fortune) on May 7 in 49 18N 42 32W.

Average speed: 6 1/2 knots.

Commodore's narrative and Salopian's report are available on Page 2

Escorts:
HMS Salopian and the sub Thunderbolt sailed with convoy. The sub parted company at sunset on May 10, while Salopian left at 17:00 on the 12th (59 06N 38 28W). She was sunk the next day by U-98 - see external link below.
HMS Royal Sovereign joined on May 5 from Convoy HX 124 in 46 20N 45 08W, then rejoined HX 124.
Iceland Escort: Joined at 17:00 on May 12 in 59 02N 38 34W - HMS Malcom S.O. - others are not named.
Local Escort: HMS Leamington (S.O.) joined at 18:00 on May 16 in 61 06N 24 08W - others are not named. The Commodore states that the Iceland and Local Escorts were "many and varied".

Air escort:
2 Sunderland Flying Boats joined Convoys HX 124 and SC 30 at 15:00 on May 14 in 60 33N 29 30W, and from this time air escort was continuous.

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):
Abelia - From 14/05/41 to 20/05/41
Anemone - From 18/05/41 to 20/05/41
Arabis - From 18/05/41 to 20/05/41
Ariguani - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Burwell - From 18/05/41 to 20/05/41
Cobalt - From 29/04/41 to 30/04/41
Collingwood - From 29/04/41 to 30/04/41
Eridge - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Gladiolus - From 18/05/41 to 20/05/41
Hussar - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Leamington - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Niger - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Roxborough - From 15/05/41 to 18/05/41
Salopian - From 29/04/41 to 17/05/41. According to the Commodore's notes, she left on May 12 (see also external link below).
St. Kenan - From 12/05/41 to 20/05/41
St. Zeno - From 12/05/41 to 20/05/41
Thunderbolt - From 29/04/41 to 10/05/41
Veronica - From 18/05/41 to 20/05/41
Violet - From 12/05/41 to 20/05/41
Vizalma - From 12/05/41 to 20/05/41
Watchman - From 12/05/41 to 15/05/41
(As can be seen, Hague does not mentioned Royal Sovereign and Malcolm).

Related external links:
The attack on Somersby
The loss of HMS Salopian

Empire Ships

Back to Convoy Index