See also Battle of Convoy ONS154, Escort Ships, U-boats, and Memorials

Dec 30: SOE advised ship to proceed alone if there was the opportunity

One of the faster ships in this convoy.

SS Baron Cochrane ** (British - Ardrossan)
GRT: 3385 - Convoy Position: #12

Built 1927: Ship #160124

Crew of 38, with 6 DEMS.
Voyage: From Cardiff to Pernambuco, with 4,000 tons of coal.
Torpedoed by U-406 (Lt. Cdr. Dieterichs) at 2124 hours, December 28, 1942.
Sunk by U-123 (Lt. von Schroeter) at 2150 on December 28, 1942.
Position: 43.23N 27.14W, in mid-Atlantic.
Casualties: 1 crew plus 1 DEMS killed - Survivors: 42 rescued by HMS Milne.

See Memorial

SS Calgary (Canada)
UK143707 - Built 1921

Dec 30: SOE advised ship to proceed alone if there was the opportunity

One of the faster ships in this convoy.

General cargo ship

Dundurn Castle  (British)

Position #73 - Reserve tanker
 Dec 28: SOE ordered Shediac to refuel from Suebart
Dec 29: SOE order Napanee to refuel from Suebart
 

Tanker

During the battle, this ship was erroneously reported as a casualty.

1941: Built by Lithgows Ltd., Port Glasgow. Modified as CAM ship.
Launched July 23, 1941, and completed that October.
M.O.W.T..

(photo courtesy Ron Tovey

Commodore, 6 staff, and 1 wireless mechanic. Crew of 49, with 11 DEMS.
Voyage: 2,000 tons of general cargo (incl. aircraft and ammunition) for Halifax, NS.
Torpedoed on December 28, 1942, by U-225 (Lt. Leimkühler) at 2215.
Torpedoed by U-123 (Lt. von Schroeter) and sunk by U-435 (Lt. Cdr. Strelow) both at 2255.
Position: 43.23N 27.14W, in mid-Atlantic.
Survivors: 7 rescued by HMCS Shediac and 17 by SS Calgary.
Two boatloads of survivors (which included the Commodore) picked up by HMS Fidelity.
Casualties: 44 (comprised of 32 crew +  Commodore & 4 staff members and 7 DEMS).

See Memorial

SS Empire Union **  (British - Glasgow)
GRT: 5964 - Convoy Position: #121
1924: Salvore - Built in Trieste; taken over by Lloyd Triestino and named Sistana.
1940: Myrica - Taken in prize in South Africa.
1941: Empire Union. British M.O.W.T.
see also ubootwaffe.net

Crew of 64 with 5 DEMS gunners.
Torpedoed and sunk by U-356 (Lt. Ruppelt), at 0230 hours on Sunday, December 27, 1942.
Position: 47.30N 24.30W, in mid-Atlantic.
Survivors: 63 rescued by RS Toward. - Casualties: 5 crew and 1 DEMS gunner.

See Memorial

SS Empire Wagtail  (British - London)
GRT: 4892 - Convoy Position: #111
See also Tower Hill and Empire Wagtail Galleries

Design 1014 "Cascade" type - 7,500 tdw, 380 ft x 53 ft. Engines: T3cyl.
1919: Ossining - Built in Tacoma, Wash. (Todd Drydock & Construction Corp.).
1932: Point Lobos (Gulf Pacific Mail Line Inc. (Swayne & Hoyt Inc., San Francisco)).
1942: Empire Wagtail. British M.O.W.T.

See Gallery 6 for more photos from SS Wagtail

Crew of 36 with 8 DEMS.
Voyage: Cardiff / Halifax, with a cargo of coal.
Torpedoed and sunk by U-260 (Lt. Cdr. Purkhold) at 2045 on December 28, 1942.
Position: 43.17N 27.22W, in mid-Atlantic. - No survivors.

See Memorial

#129151 - built 1919 - tanker

During the battle, this ship was erroneously reported as a casualty.
 

HMS Fidelity (ex-French Le Rhin), was taken over by the British in June 1940.
Built in 1920, Le Rhin was an armed merchantman working for the French Colonial Intelligence Service.
Costa took the ship and crew to Gibraltar in 1940 to join the Allies
1941/09: Renamed Fidelity, and converted to a Special Service Vessel (SSV). Ship was overhauled and
armed with four 4-inch guns, four torpedo tubes, two Kingfisher seaplanes, and a motor torpedo boat.
Fidelity rescued 2 boatloads of survivors from the Empire Shackleton, including the Commodore.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission shows the date of the sinking as January 1st, 1943
but German records show that Fidelity was sunk on December 30, 1942.
Strelow (U-435) reported seeing 300 to 400 survivors on rafts then and again the following morning.

See Memorial

During battle, this ship was erroneously reported as casualty

According to the book "Ravnefjell", written by Peder Kr. Nilsen, this ship was in Convoy ON 154. The book describes the sinking of several ships, and also mentions seeing James Hawson at the rear,

During battle, this ship was erroneously reported as casualty

Crew of 41 with 7 DEMS.
Voyage: Hull/New York, in ballast.
Torpedoed by U-356 (Lt. Ruppelt) at 0415 on December 27.
Position: 47.25N 25.20W, in mid-Atlantic.
Survivors: RS Toward rescued 23 and HMCS Napanee rescued 2. -
Casualties: 19 crew and 4 DEMS gunners.

See Memorial

(photo courtesy Ron Tovey)

Crew of 42 with 10 DEMS.
Voyage: Swansea to Capetown & Middle East, with military equipment, incl. 3,000 tons high explosives.
Torpedoed by U-406 (Lt. Cdr. Dieterichs) at 2120; sunk by U-628 (Lt. Hasenschar) at 2155 on Dec. 28.
Position: 43.23N 27.14W, in mid-Atlantic.
Survivors: 52 rescued by HMS Milne. - No casualties.

Maltheas
 

NOTE: This was a cargo ship, and was never an auxiliary vessel in the convoy.
Some websites have incorrectly confused this ship with the smaller RS Melmore Head.
 

See Memorial

SS Melrose Abbey  (British - Leith)
GRT: 2473 - Convoy Position:  #101
M.O.W.T. (Associated Humber Lines)
12/1940: shelled by Italian submarine Marconi and bombed by a German FW 200.

(photo courtesy Rob Tovey)

See also ubootwaffe.net

Crew of 29 with 5 DEMS gunners.
Voyage: Tyne to Trinidad, with 3,500 tons coal and 700 tons Christmas mail.
Torpedoed and sunk by U-356 (Lt. Ruppelt), at 0235 hours on December 27, 1942.
Position: 47.30N 24.30W, in Atlantic.
Survivors: 27 survivors rescued by RS Toward. - Casualties: 6 crew and 1 DEMS gunner.

See Memorial

D/S Norse King  (Norway)
GRT: 5701 - Convoy Position: #112
1920: West Mahwah - Built by J. F. Duthie & Co., Seattle, WA.
1937: became Norske King.
1940?: Norse King - M.O.W.T.

(Photo courtesy of Ron Tovey)
See also U-boat website

Crew of 36 (including 6 British and additional DEMS gunners,
but there could probably been at least three more DEMS gunners aboard
Voyage: to Boston, with  5,400 tons coal.
Torpedoed by U-591 (Lt. Cdr. H. Zetzsche) at 2000 hours on December 28.
Sunk by U-435 (Lt. Cdr. S. Strelow) at 1507 hours on December 29.
Position (when last seen): 43.27N 27.15W, in Atlantic.
No survivors. All aboard (36 crew members +  1 or more DEMS gunners) were killed.

See Memorial

(photo courtesy Ron Tovey)

Torpedoed by U-225 (Lt. Leimkühler) at 2230 hours on Dec 28, 1942 and 0630 hours on Dec 29.
Sunk by U-336 (Lt. Cdr. Hunger) at 0930 hours on December 29, 1942.
Position: 43.20N 27.20W,  in mid-Atlantic.
Survivors: 17 rescued by HMCS Shediac and 26 by HMCS Prescott,
and 1 by U-336 who took Captain Bayet aboard as a P.O.W.
Casualties: 5 killed.

See Memorial

GRT: 1399 - Convoy Position: #31

Built in Oslo, 1938. GRT 1339. Manager Olsen & Ugelstad, Oslo. General cargo. According to Siri Lawson,
Ravnefjell may have been in Convoy ON 154 in Dec.-1942. In an article in "Krigsseileren" (Issue 4/1989), Captain Knudsen of Fana describes a voyage they took part in, mentioning the disappearance of Norse King, and also says Ravnefjell was in the convoy. Ravnefjell was moved from her original station of No. 31 to a new station in the rear that evening, also for rescue purposes.
 

Voyage: to New York. Carried 750 tons of oil to refuel Escort Group.
(en route to Curacao to collect a cargo of high octane)
Torpedoed and presumed sunk by U-225 (Lt. Leimkühler) at 2040 hours, December 27, 1942 (46N 26W).
Ship was badly damaged, but the Second Mate with 10 volunteers reboarded.
Scottish Heather rescued her own crew, who had spent almost 24 hours in the lifeboats.
Total crew (incl. Dems?) 54. No casualties. The ship arrived in Clyde on January 2, 1943.

For more information on this ship,
please see Merchant Navy Ships and also the Scottish Heather Gallery

Ungeni
 

1942: On Dec 29, Veni reported sighting the Norse King.
In a book titled "Ravnefjell", written by Peder Kr. Nilsen, the mate/radio operator.

Ville de Rouen  (French)
GRT: 5597 - Convoy Position: #102
Ex-Vichy French ship captured off Natal in July, 1941.
Crew of 62 with 9 DEMS.
Voyage: Clyde to Ascension Isles, St. Helena, and South African ports, with 3100 tons general cargo
Torpedoed by U-225 (Lt. Leimkühler) at 2005 on December 28, 1942.
Sunk by U-662 (Cdr. Hermann) at 2210 on December 28, 1942.
Position: 43.25 N 27.15W, in Atlantic.
Survivors: 71 rescued by HMCS Shediac. - No casualties.

Zarian  (Freetown)
GRT: 4871 - Convoy Position: #13
Built for Unilever in 1938. Torpedoed 1940/07/01 by U-26
M.O.W.T. (United Africa Company)
Crew of 42 with 7 DEMS and 4 passengers.
Voyage: Hull via Leith to North Africa & West Africa, via Freetown, with 6,000 tons general cargo
Torpedoed by U-406 (Lt. Cdr. Dieterichs) at 2123 hours on December 28, 1942.
Sunk by U-591 (Lt. Cdr. H. Zetzsche) at 0005 hours on December 29, 1942.
Position: 43.23N 27.14W.
Survivors: 49 rescued by HMS Milne. - Casualties: 4 crew killed.

See Memorial

Merchant Navy: Contents

About the Ships

Bravery Awards

Convoy ONS154

Links & Sources

Memorials

Photo Galleries

POWs

Queries & FAQs

Radio Officers

Survival at Sea

WW II Bookshelf

Wartime Merchant Navy

e-mail Webmaster