Convoy HG 53 was the 53rd of the numbered series of World War II HG convoys of Homeward bound merchant ships from Gibraltar to Liverpool.[1] Convoy HG 53 lost nine ships during a coordinated attack in February 1941. HG 53 was one of the few Atlantic convoys to have ships sunk by submarines, by aircraft, and by surface ships.
Background
Twenty-one ships departed Gibraltar on 6 February 1941 bound for Liverpool and escorted by the V and W-classdestroyerVelox and the Grimsby-classsloop HMS Deptford. The convoy commodore was Rear Admiral Sir OH Dawson aboard Dagmar.[2]
Action
Convoy HG 53 was attacked by five of these KG 40 bombers.
While southbound to African waters[3] on the evening of 8 February German Type IX submarineU-37 sighted the convoy southwest of Cape St. Vincent and torpedoed the British freighters Courland and Estrellano after midnight.[4]U-37 reported the convoy to Bordeaux-Mérignac Air Base and commenced shadowing the convoy providing beacon signals for Kampfgeschwader 40. Five Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor bombers took off at dawn and found the convoy at noon 400 miles (640 km) southwest of Lisbon. The Fw 200s bombed from an altitude of 150 feet (46 m) because they lacked bombsights. Each flight mechanic fired at their target ship with a ventral machine gun during the approach to discourage anti-aircraft gunners; but one of the bombers was hit in a wing fuel tank[5] and crash-landed in Spain when fuel was exhausted on the return trip.[3] Six of the twenty bombs dropped hit ships,[5] sinking the convoy commodore's freighter Dagmar, the Norwegian freighter Tejo, and British freighters Britannic, Jura, and Varna. U-37 sank the British freighter Brandenburg after dark and continued sending beacon signals for the German cruiser Admiral Hipper. Admiral Hipper found and sank the straggling British freighter Iceland on 11 February.[4]
Aftermath
Hipper was distracted from further search by finding convoy SL 64 and sinking seven ships from that unescorted convoy.[4] The escort of convoy HG 53 was reinforced by the Grimsby-classsloopLondonderry on 18 February, by the F-classdestroyerFury on 20 February, and by the S-classdestroyerSabre, the Town-classdestroyerLeamington, and the Flower-classcorvette HMS Anemone from convoy OG 53 on 22 February. The surviving 12 ships of convoy HG 53 arrived in Liverpool on 24 February 1941. Nine ships totaling 15,217 GRT had been sunk.[2]
