The details on ships sunk and number of dead were added with the help of "The Allied Convoy System" by Arnold Hague.

Br=British (Ca=Canadian), Du=Dutch, Norw=Norwegian, Gr=Greek, Pol=Polish, s=sunk, dam=damaged, †=dead.

The rescue ship Toward was with this convoy from Sept. 13 till Sept. 19-1941 (to Clyde). She had started out with Convoy ON 13 from Clyde until detached to Iceland, Sept. 5-Sept. 8, and was on her 13th voyage as rescue vessel, having been requisitioned as such in Dec.-1940. ("Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945", Arnold Hague).

Sally Maersk and Gunvor Maersk were both ex Danish/British control.

Arnold Hague gives the cargo for Stonepool as 7000 tons grain, 528 tons oats and MT.

All the Norwegian ships listed in the table above can be found on this website (alphabet index below).

* Sjømennenes Minnehall's website (Seamen's Memorial in Stavern, Norway) places Måkefjell in Newcastle on Sept. 2-1941, saying the cook was killed during an air raid there on that date. If this is correct, she could not have been in Convoy SC 42, which did not arrive Liverpool until Sept. 15, according to Arnold Hague. Minnehallen's details could be incorrect, of course.

The Battle:
The following text is a brief summary of what can be found in the Norwegian book "Nortraships flåte" with regard to this convoy (some of this disagrees with Uboat.net's account, link below):
The convoy passed Cape Farewell, Greenland on Sept. 7. Being aware the convoy was being shadowed the Admiralty ordered it even further north, closer to the east coast of Greenland. It seemed like it had managed to shake off its followers, but on Sept 9 a ship that had lagged somewhat behind reported having sighted a periscope and the wake of a torpedo, so the convoy changed course from N to NE. At about 21:30 that same eveing U-432 (Schultze) unleashed several torpedoes, 2 British ships went down, then several more U-boats joined the attack. Another 2 ships were torpedoed, one of which sank. In the early morning hours the attacks continued, a Dutch and a Danish ship went down, then the Norwegian D/S Stargard was hit by U-432; D/S Regin rescued 9 of her survivors. The convoy continued while 14 U-boats followed. Another British ship went down. By this time the escort had been reduced because one of the corvettes had taken a torpedoed tanker in tow for Iceland. 2 Canadian corvettes, en route to reinforce the escort, sank U-501 with all men, and this took place so far away from the convoy that they couldn't assist when the battle started in earnest.

"Nortraships flåte" adds that by Sept. 11, 16 ships had been sunk, 1 was damaged, and the Norwegian Bestum was missing, but it later turned out she had become a straggler and had reached Iceland safely.

The captain of D/S Vestland reported that when the British Gypsum Queen was torpedoed on Sept. 11 he didn't have the heart to ignore the men in the sea crying for help, and against orders he stopped and rescued 26, but 10 died. 2 independent attacks took place on the 16th and 19th (1 ship damaged, another sunk) but at this time the main force of the U-boat group was concentrating on a new eastbound convoy, SC 44 (M/T Barbro and D/S Carrier were in that convoy).

Ship losses according to Jürgen Rohwer (all times are German):

U-81 sank the straggling Empire Springbuck at 06:55 on Sept. 9, then U-85 attacked the British Jedmoor at 13:59 but she was not hit.

U-432 sank the British Muneric at 02:30 on Sept. 10. The next torpedoes came from U-652 which damaged the British Tahchee at 04:52 on Sept. 10 (towed to Reykjavik by HMCS Orillia), and the British Baron Pentland at 04:53, followed at 07:08 by the sinking of the Dutch Winterswijk and 1 minute later the Norwegian Stargard, both by U-432 - Rohwer says there are some discrepancies in the times of the torpedoing of the latter 2. "N. flåte" has about 20 mins between these attacks. The Danish ship mentioned by "N. flåte" above was Sally Maersk (under British control), sunk at 07:53 Sept. 10 by U-81, followed by the British Empire Hudson at 09:57 by U-82, then the British Thistleglen that afternoon at 16:40 by U-85.

Rohwer lists the British Bulysses as sunk at 01:51 on Sept. 11 by U-82, which also sank Gypsum Queen at 02:12. The Swedish Garm was sunk at 04:06 by U-432, survivors rescued by Bestum.

Rohwer lists Bestum as damaged by U-433 (Ey) at 04:08 on Sept. 11, position 63N 37W. This appears to be incorrect if the info given my "N. flåte" is right (see above). This is confirmed to a certain extent by what Jan-Olof, Sweden has told me about Garm. He says she was on a voyage from Sydney N. S. for Kings Lynn at the time - position for her sinking is given as 63 02N 37 51W. Shortly after having been torpedoed her survivors were rescued from their lifeboats by Bestum and taken to Reykjavik three days later, so if Bestum was indeed damaged, it could not have been serious.

Rohwer now lists the British Stonepool and Berury and the Canadian (ex Danish) Randa as the next victims, adding in a footnote "There are no attack reports for this time. The attacking U-boat must have been U-207, which was sunk a few hours later by the escort. The Randa was reported lost by SOE in position 113 (the other two ships were in stations 111 and 112). However, it is probable that the Randa became a straggler after staying behind to rescue survivors". As mentioned further up on this page, Randa was not even in this convoy at that time. She survived the war with no damages.

Rohwer then says the Swedish Scania was damaged at 07:05 (still 11th) by U-82 which sank the British Empire Crossbill at the same time. Scania was sunk later by 2 torpedoes from U-202 at 13:32.

No more ships appear to have been sunk until Sept. 16 at 23:11 when the British Jedmoor received a torpedo from U-98. The drifting, abandoned Baron Pentland was finally sent to the bottom by U-372 at 14:33 on Sept. 19.

Escorts:
HMCS Skeena, Kenogami, Alberni and Orillia.
Wetaskiwin, Mimosa, Gladiolus, Buttermere (from HX 147), Douglas, Veteran, Leamington, Saladin and Skate (from Convoy ON 13).

Related external link:
SC-42, 9 - 14 Sept 1941 - this is Uboat net's detailed account of the battle for Convoy SC 42. By entering the name of each ship sunk in the search field on this page, more details are available.

Preserving the Atlantic Lifeline - Mentions Convoy SC 42.

Back to Convoy Index