Convoy ON 67 was a trade convoy of merchant ships that sailed during the Second World War. It was the 67th of the numbered series of ON convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The ships departed from Liverpool on 14 February 1942 with the convoy rescue ship Toward (1923, ) and were escorted to the Mid-Ocean Meeting Point by Escort Group B4.Hague (2000) p. 157Rohwer & Hummelchen (1992) p. 114

Escort Group A6 (Task Unit TU 4.1.5)

On 19 February Escort Group A6 (the US naval task unit TU 4.1.5) comprising s and , s and and the Canadian took over the escort from Escort Group B4. Edisons commanding officer, Commander Albert C. Murdaugh, USN, was the senior officer of the escort group. The escort group was conducting its first operation. Bernadou had been modified for long range escort work by replacing the fourth boiler and stack with an extra fuel tank.

Nicholson had the only functional radar, though the merchant ship Toward could provide support with its High-frequency direction finding (HF/DF, Huff-Duff) set. Lea carried a British ASV aircraft radar with fixed antennae, but salt water spray kept shoring the coaxial cable. Edison had no depth charge throwers, and was limited to a linear pattern rolled off the stern.Murdaugh (January 1976) p. 74 The US ships did not have enough binoculars. Bernadou had a 7×50 pair for the officer of the deck and a 6×30 pair for the junior officer of the deck but there were none for the lookouts.Joslin (February 1976) pp. 79–80 The escort was reinforced on 26 February by the cutter .

U-155

reported the convoy on 21 February. Toward obtained a bearing on the contact report, and Lea searched the bearing unsuccessfully at dusk.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 51 U-155 approached the port quarter of the convoy in the pre-dawn hours of 22 February, torpedoed the British tanker Adellen, the Norwegian freighter and both ships sank quickly.Hague (2000) p. 161 Algoma rescued eleven of Adellens crew of 31 while Nicholson and Toward found 20 survivors from Samas crew of 50. U-155 crash-dived to avoid Bernadou but the U-boat was not spotted. U-155 made another emergency dive while shadowing the convoy at 10:42 but Edison did not detect the U-boat. , and found the convoy on 23 February.

U-558

U-558 approached the convoy at 21:20, but repeatedly turned away to avoid Bernadous patrols until a squall provided cover at midnight. U-558 torpedoed the Norwegian tanker Inverarder at 00:45 on 24 February.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 53 The tanker sank slowly and Toward rescued all 42 of the crew. U-558 approached again at 02:30 and fired a single torpedo at Edison. The torpedo missed, and Edison was unaware it had been fired at. U-558 torpedoed the Norwegian tanker Eidanger at 02:55. U-558 reloaded and at 05:50 torpedoed the British tankers Anadara, Finnanger, and the British freighter White Crest.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 54 All three ships straggled and were sunk. Later that morning, the convoy commodore sent a signal to the escort commander regarding the performance of U-558: "That chap must be one of their best ones. I do hope you have done him in".

U-158

found the convoy at 04:25 hrs on 24 February and torpedoed the British tanker . Empire Celt was using the Admiralty Net Defence system, streaming a strong steel net from booms along either side of the ship. One torpedo broke through the net and hit amidships. Empire Celt later broke in half, but a tug from Newfoundland rescued 31 from the crew of 37.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 57

As U-558 was torpedoing ships on the starboard side of the convoy, U-158 approached the port side and hit the British tanker Diloma at 06:35.Abbazia (September 1975) pp. 54–55 Diloma was the only one of the torpedoed ships to reach Halifax. U-158 and U-558 dived to avoid being seen in the early daylight.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 55 U-558 found and sank the Eidanger, drifting and abandoned astern of the convoy, with gunfire and a torpedo. All of Eidangers crew had been rescued. Lea investigated a DF bearing from Toward at 15:15 and spotted U-558 astern of the convoy at 17:07. Lea dropped eight depth charges at 17:46, surprised the U-boat on the surface at 18:13 and dropped 14 depth charges at 18:47 but U-558 was undamaged.Abbazia (September 1975) p. 56

Nicholson investigated a DF bearing from Toward and sighted U-158 at 13:23. U-158 dived and evaded Nicholson that slowed to listen. U-158 surfaced at 15:50 and was surprised to find Nicholson waiting away. U-158 crashed-dived before Nicholson saw the U-boat. U-158 surfaced again at 18:17 and was surprised to find Edison away. U-158 again avoided detection by crash-diving. Edison spotted U-158 making another convoy approach at 20:08 and dropped 25 depth charges over the following six hours. U-158 was undamaged but had been prevented from making further attacks on the convoy. Admiral Karl Dönitz, BdU (commander in chief of U-Boats) ordered his U-boats to discontinue the attack on 25 February. The remainder of the convoy reached Halifax on 1 March 1942.

Aftermath Analysis In 1997, Clay Blair wrote that Murdaugh was awarded a medal for "particularly outstanding" conduct in the defence of the convoy. Blair called the defence a disaster and an embarrassment for the US Navy. Eight British ships (including six tankers) of about had been sunk and another tanker damaged. Dönitz wrote that the results were "particularly satisfactory", given the number of inexperienced U-boat captains involved. Dönitz judged that pack attacks could be resumed when there were sufficient U-boats to find convoys, shadow them and attack en masse. Reports of the anti-torpedo nets on Empire Celt caused consternation that a ship streaming nets could achieve and demanded that a new magnetic pistol, to explode torpedoes under a ship be prepared. A new design was being tested but the scientists wanted the new exploder to be perfect, given the draconian punishments meted out to the inventors of the first type. In 2004, David Woodman wrote that the losses suffered by the convoy was an embarrassment to the US Navy and the seven hours it took the naval headquarters in Washington (seven hours) to agree a course change requested by Murdaugh was clearly inadequate and the staff of the Commander-in-Chief agreed after the convoy that discretion should be delegated to the escort commander. The usefulness of radar and Huff-Duff was demonstrated and the need for a procedure for depth-charge attacks and more training in exploiting Asdic contacts was accepted.

Casualties The convoy suffered the loss of 123 merchant sailors.

Ships in convoy Allied merchant ships

+Merchant ships convoyedNameYearFlagGRTNotes19307,984Sunk 22 Feb, , 36† 12 surv. 49°30′N, 38°15′W19358,009Sunk 26 Feb, , 62† 0 surv. 43°45′N, 42°15′WBelinda19398,325Destination West IndiesConsuelo19374,847Destination New York CityCristales19265,389Vice-commodore R H R MacKay embarked; collided 24 FebDaghestan19417,248CAM shipDekabrist19037,363Diloma19398,146Damaged, , made HalifaxDolabella19398,142Destination CuraçaoDromus19388,036Destination Curaçao19389,432Sunk 24 Feb, , 0† 39 surv. 44°11′N, 43°25′W19418,032Sunk 24 Feb, 6† 43°50′N, 43°38′W19419,813Destination Port ArthurEmpire19418,134Destination Baton RougeEmpire Spray19417,242CAM ship; destination HalifaxEmpire Steel19418,138Destination Port Arthur19289,551Sunk 24 Feb, 39† 0 surv. 43°45′N, 42°15′WGlittre19286,409Destination ArubaGloucester City19193,071Destination PhiladelphiaHamlet19346,578Joined from Iceland 19 FebHektoria189913,797Destination New York CityIdefjord19214,287Destination Saint John, New Brunswick19195,578Sunk 24 Feb, 0† 42 surv. 44°34′N, 42°37′WLancastrian Prince19401,914Destination New York CityManchester Exporter19185,277Convoy Commodore Rear Admiral O. H. Dawson embarkedMentor19147,383Destination Singapore19326,982US Navy stores ship, ex-Iceland 19 FebNueva Andalucia194010,044Destination Port ArthurOrari193110,350Destination Trinidad19393,600US Navy, ex-Iceland 19 Feb19358,017Destination Curaçao19361,799Sunk 22 Feb, 20† 18 surv. 49°30′N, 38°30′WSkandinavia194010,044Destination ArubaStrinda193710,973Destination Key WestStuart Prince19401,911Destination HalifaxThorhild193510,316Destination CuraçaoTorr Head19375,021Destination Norfolk, Virginia19231,571convoy rescue ship Captain Arthur Knell, Huff-Duff embarked19284,365Straggled 19 Feb; sunk 24 Feb, 47† 0 surv. 43°45′N, 42°15′W

Convoy escorts

+ Escort Group A6 (TU 4.1.5)NameFlagType Notes19 February – 1 March 194219 February – 1 March 194219 February – 1 March 1942 cutter26 February – 1 March 194219 February – 1 March 194219 February – 1 March 1942

U-boats +U-boats sent towards Convoy ON 67NameFlagClass NotesType IXC submarineSank MV Adellen, SS SamaType IXC submarineSank Empire Celt, damaged DilomaType IXC submarineType VIIC submarineType VIIC submarineSank MV EidangerType VIIC submarine

See also Convoy Battles of World War II

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Further reading