Convoy TM 1

Convoy TM 1 was the code name for an Allied convoy during the Second World War. Nine tankers, escorted by Royal Navy warships, attempted to reach Gibraltar from Trinidad. The convoy was attacked by a U-boat wolf pack (Delphin) in the central Atlantic Ocean and seven of the nine tankers were sunk. This was one of the most successful attacks on Allied supply convoys of war.^[1] The convoy was defended by the destroyer HMS Havelock and three Flower-class corvettes, HMS Godetia, Pimpernel and Saxifrage. The two surviving tankers reached Gibraltar.^[2] Two U-boats were damaged during the attacks.

Convoy TM 1
Part of Atlantic Campaign of the Second World War
HMS Havelock in camouflage
Date 3–12 January 1943 Location mid-Atlantic Ocean Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom Belgium
Commanders and leaders
Rudolf Schendel	Richard Boyle
Strength
10 U-boats	1 destroyer 3 corvettes 9 tankers
Casualties and losses
2 U-boats damaged	7 ships sunk

Background

Aruba outlined in red

In 1942 1,664 Allied ships of 7,790,697 GRT had been sunk, 1,160 of the ships (6,266,215 GRT) by U-boats. Imports into Britain had been reduced by a third of the peacetime rate to 34,000,000 long tons (35,000,000 t) a year. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, formed and chaired a cabinet Anti-U-boat Warfare Committee on 4 November. By the end of the year there were only 300,000 long tons (300,000 t) of bunker fuel in Britain with monthly consumption at 130,000 long tons (130,000 t). The Admiralty had a reserve of 1,000,000 long tons (1,000,000 t) but this was for emergencies.^[3]

Churchill was told by Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord, that "An ample reserve of fuel on this side of the Atlantic is the basis of all our activities". The convoy cycle in the Atlantic was lengthened from eight to ten days and the saving in escorts was diverted to the Caribbean to escort tanker convoys from Aruba to Europe on a twenty-day cycle. Demand for black and white fuel oils increased after Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, leading to the first of the shipments from Aruba, Convoy TM 1 with nine tankers departing on 28 December 1942, from Trinidad to the Mediterranean.^[4]

Prelude

Convoy TM 1 sailed with Escort Group B5 (Commander Richard Boyle) in the destroyer HMS Havelock and the corvettes HMS Godetia, Pimpernel and Saxifrage. Escort Group B5 had been on detachment to the Caribbean for six months. The US Eastern Sea Frontier commander had asked for the ships to be painted grey and there was no time to re-paint the ships in Western Approaches Command camouflage. Havelock and Saxifrage carried high-frequency direction finding apparatus (Huff-Duff) but the set on Havelock was unserviceable. The radar on Godetia failed on 2 January 1943 and after 8 January the set on Pimpernel lost efficiency.^[5]

The convoy sailed from Port of Spain, Trinidad on 28 December for Gibraltar but without Godetia that was escorting two tankers that were catching up with the convoy. The convoy was escorted by a Catalina flying boat and early on 29 September, the crew reported a surfaced U-boat about 20 nmi (37 km; 23 mi) behind the convoy.^[5] U-124 located HMS Godetia on 29 December 1942, U-514 made contact with the convoy on 3 January and damaged the tanker British Vigilance, forcing her crew to abandon ship, though it remained afloat. By now aware that a large tanker convoy was in the Atlantic, Admiral Karl Dönitz, BdU, (commander in chief of U-boats) ordered wolf pack gruppe Delphin (Dolphin) to intercept it.^[2]

Battle

U-381 made contact with the convoy on 8 January and the wolf pack launched their first attacks that evening. U-436 attacked and sank Oltenia II and damaged Albert L. Ellsworth.^[2] Havelock damaged and drove off U-381, while Pimpernel and Godetia drove off U-571 and U-575 respectively.^[6] U-522 returned the following morning and damaged two tankers, Norvik and Minister Wedel, while U-442 damaged Empire Lytton. U-181 and U-134 attacked, but failed to hit any targets. Godetia damaged U-134 with depth charges.^[2]

U-620 kept in contact with the convoy and on the evening of 9 January, U-522 attacked the two tankers she had damaged earlier in the morning, Norvik and Minister Wedel and sank both. U-442 returned to the damaged and abandoned Empire Lytton and finished her off with two torpedoes, while U-436 returned to the abandoned Albert L. Ellsworth and sank her with shells from her deck gun. U-511 came across William Wilberforce, a merchant ship sailing independently and sank her.^[2]

The attacks resumed on the night of 10/11 January, with U-522 torpedoing British Dominion. Her crew abandoned her but the ship was only damaged and did not sink until U-620 arrived and sank her with a torpedo and gunfire. Other attacks that evening and over the next two days, by U-571 and U-511, failed. The convoy was approaching Gibraltar and the destroyer HMS Quentin and the corvettes HMS Samphire and HMS Pentstemon were sent out to reinforce the escorts. Supported by Allied air cover, the convoy reached Gibraltar without further loss on 14 January. Cliona and Vanja, survived from the original nine. The final action came on 24 January, when the abandoned hulk of British Vigilance, torpedoed by U-514 on 3 January, was discovered by U-105 and sunk.^[7]

Order of battle

Merchant ships

Convoy TM 1, Trinidad to Gibraltar^[8]

Name	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
Convoy TM 1
RFA Albert L. Ellsworth	1937	Royal Fleet Auxiliary	8,309	8 January, U-436, 27°59′N, 28°50′W, 9 January sunk 0†, 42 surv.
MV British Dominion	1928	United Kingdom	6,983	11 January, U-522, 30°30′N, 19°55′W, sunk U-620 38†, 15 surv.
MV British Vigilance	1942	United Kingdom	8,903	3 January, U-514, 24 January sunk U-105, 27†, 27 surv.
MV Cliona	1931	United Kingdom	8,375
MV Empire Lytton	1942	United Kingdom	9,807	9 January, U-442, sunk, 28°08′N, 28°20′W 14†, 34 surv.
MV Minister Wedel	1930	Norway	6,833	9 January, U-522 sunk, 28°18′N, 27°20′W 0†, 38 surv.
MV Norvik	1938	Panama	9,555	9 January, U-522, sunk U-575, 28°08′N, 28°20′W, 2†, 43 surv.
MV Oltenia II	1928	United Kingdom	6,394	8 January, U-436, sunk, 27°59′N, 28°50′W, 17†, 43 surv.
MV Vanja	1929	Norway	6,198
Independent sailing
MV William Wilberforce	1930	United Kingdom	4,013	9 January, sunk, U-511 29°20′N, 26°53′W, 3† 60 surv.

Escorts

Escorts for Convoy TM 1^[9]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
Escorts
HMS Havelock	Royal Navy	H-class destroyer	28 December – 14 January
HMS Godetia	Belgian Navy[a]	Flower-class corvette	28 December – 14 January
HMS Pimpernel	Royal Navy	Flower-class corvette	28 December – 14 January
HMS Saxifrage	Royal Navy	Flower-class corvette	28 December – 14 January
Reinforcements
HMS Quentin	Royal Navy	Q-class destroyer	12–14 January
HMS Pentstemon	Royal Navy	Flower-class corvette	12–14 January
HMS Samphire	Royal Navy	Flower-class corvette	12–14 January

Air support

Patrol Wing-11^[7]

Sqn	Flag	Type	No.	Notes
VP-53	United States Navy	PBY-5A Catalina	1	Based at NAS Trinidad, 29 December, attacked U-124

U-boats

gruppe Delphin

Name	Flag	Commander	Sank	Notes
U-134	Kriegsmarine	Rudolf Schendel	0	Damaged by Godetia
U-181	Kriegsmarine	Wolfgang Lüth	0
U-381	Kriegsmarine	Wilhelm-Heinrich Pückler und Limpurg	0	Damaged by Havelock
U-436	Kriegsmarine	Günther Seibicke	2
U-442	Kriegsmarine	Hans-Joachim Hesse	1
U-511	Kriegsmarine	Fritz Schneewind	1	Sank the independent William Wilberforce
U-522	Kriegsmarine	Herbert Schneider	2	Also damaged British Dominion
U-571	Kriegsmarine	Helmut Möhlmann	0
U-575	Kriegsmarine	Günther Heydemann	0
U-620	Kriegsmarine	Heinz Stein	1

Other U-boats

Name	Flag	Commander	Sank	Notes
U-105	Kriegsmarine	Jürgen Nissen	1	24 January, sank hulk of British Vigilance
U-124	Kriegsmarine	Johann Mohr	0	29 December, sighted convoy
U-125	Kriegsmarine	Ulrich Folkers	0
U-514	Kriegsmarine	Hans-Jürgen Auffermann	0	3 January, damaged British Vigilance

Notes

1. Royal Navy Belgian Section