Convoy HX 65 was a North Atlantic convoy of the HX series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. It was the 65th of the numbered series of merchant convoys run by the Allies from Halifax to Liverpool. The convoy was attacked by German U-boats and aircraft, losing eight of its 51 ships sunk and a further three damaged. One U-boat was damaged.
Background HX 65 formed of three sections sailing from the Americas, and was to divide into two sections for the landfall in the United Kingdom. The main body, of 13 ships, departed Halifax on 12 August 1940;Hague, p. 126 with ships gathered from the US eastern seaboard; it was led by convoy commodore Vice Admiral BG Washington in the steamship Harpalyce. It was accompanied by its ocean escort, the armed merchant cruiser Voltaire, and a local escort of two Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) warships. It was joined on 14 August by 16 ships from Sydney, on Cape Breton Island, also with a local escort. These had gathered from ports on the St Lawrence and the Great Lakes.Hague, Arnold; HX 65 at convoyweb.org.uk On 16 August the convoy was joined by BHX 65, 22 ships from the Caribbean and South America, that had gathered at Bermuda, departing there on 11 August escorted by the armed merchant cruiser .Hague, Arnold; BHX 65 at convoyweb.org.uk
Ranged against HX 65 were U-boats of the German Navy's 1st, 2nd and 7th U-boat Flotillas, operating from Kiel and Wilhelmshaven.
Action On 22 August HX 65's Western Approaches escort began to arrive; the destroyer and the corvette left the outbound OA 201, arriving later that day. On 24 August the destroyer and the corvette arrived from OB 201.Hague lists Gladiolus as escort for OB 201 with Westcott, but not joining HX 65. Uboat.net has Gladiolus joining HX 65 with Westcott on 24th, but from OA 201.
On the morning of 24 August, the tanker La Brea (one of two ships that had dropped out of HX 65 five days earlier) was sighted by in the North West Approaches west northwest of Rockall. She was attacked and sunk, leaving two boats of survivors in bad weather and rough seas. They made landfall in the Hebrides over the next two days.Blair p. 181HX 65 at uboat.net; retrieved 19 April 2020
On the evening of 24 August the convoy divided, one section (referred to in some sources as HX 65A) of 20 ships bound for Methil on Scotland's east coast via Cape Wrath and the north of Scotland, and a second section (HX 65 B) of 22 ships bound for Liverpool.
The Methil section, led by Harpalyce and escorted by Skeena and Godetia was found by U-48, which attacked during the night of 24/25 August, sinking two ships, Empire Merlin and Athelcrest. She was counterattacked by Godetia but escaped without damage. Later, on the morning of 25 August the convoy was sighted twice more, by and , but the convoy had been joined by a Sunderland from Coastal Command, and both submerged on sighting the aircraft. U-32 made a perfunctory attack, which failed. That evening the convoy was found again, by , and attacked just before midnight. U-124 fired four torpedoes and claimed four ships sunk; the actual success was two ships sunk (Harpalyce and Fircrest) and another () damaged. Harpalyce and Fircrest went down quickly with heavy loss of life. Stakesby was abandoned, but was later salvaged by the tug and repaired. U-124 was counterattacked by Godetia and damaged when she ran onto a rock. After the corvette had left, U-124 was unable to continue convoy operations relegated to weather reporting.Blair p181-182 Later that day the convoy was reinforced by and , two destroyers from Scapa Flow. HX 65A at uboat.net; retrieved 19 April 2020 On the evening of 26 August the convoy came under air attack near Kinnaird Head by Luftwaffe aircraft from occupied Denmark; eight Ju 88s of KG 30 based at Aalborg. four ships were hit; one was sunk and three damaged. Nellie and City of Hankow made port safely, but Cape York sank under tow on the following day. Later on the night of 26/27 August a second air attack by four He 115 torpedo bombers of KuFlGr 506, based in Stavanger, hit Remuera, which sank. The remaining 16 ships arrived at safely at Methil on 27th.Hague, Arnold; HX 65 at convoyweb.org.uk
Meanwhile, on 25 August the Liverpool section, led by V.Adm. Leir in Manchester Merchant and escorted by Westcott, was found by which gave chase. Several tankers had fallen out of the convoy, to be chivvied by the escort, and one of these, Pecten, was torpedoed by U-57. The escort counter-attacked, but U-57 escaped. This section was also reinforced on 26 August, by the sloop . No further attacks developed and the 21 ships arrived without further incident at Liverpool on 27 August.Blair p184HX 65B at uboat.net; retrieved 19 April 2020
Conclusion Of the 51 ships that set out, two turned back and eight were sunk. 41 ships made a safe and timely arrival. HX 65 was one of three HX convoys attacked during August: HX 60 lost 3 ships in one attack, while HX 66 lost 4 ships over three days. During the month as a whole the UBW sank 55 ships in the Atlantic; about half of these were unescorted vessels sailing independently (including ships hit after dispersal, or straggling).Tarrant p.89 August 1940 was the third month seeing a marked increase in successes by the U-boat Arm, referred to by them as "The Happy Time".
Forces involved Allied forces Merchant ships Convoy information is from Arnold Hague's Convoyweb + Merchant shipsNameFlagTonnage (GRT)SectionNotesAgapenor (1914)7,391HXAlfred Olsen (1934)8,817BHX 65Anna Mazaraki (1913)5,411SHXAspasia Nomikos (1938)4,855SHX en route to DublinAthelcrest (1940)6,825BHX 65 Sunk 25 August by 30 dead, 6 survivorsAtlantic (1939)5,414HXAxel Johnson (1925)4,915SHXBlairatholl (1925)3,319SHXBritish Lord (1922)6,098BHX 65Canford Chine (1917)3,364SHX Returned to Sydney, Nova ScotiaCape York (1926)5,027BHX 65Bombed 26 August by Luftwaffe aircraft off Kinnaird Head near Peterhead sank under tow 27th.Cetus (1920)2,614HXChama (1938)8,077BHX 65City of Hankow (1915)7,360SHXBombed 26 August, but made portConus (1931)8,132BHX 65Cymbula (1938)8,082BHX 65Eclipse (1931)9,767BHX 65Empire Merlin (1919)5,763BHX 65Straggled:Hague lists Empire Merlin as a straggler; Uboat.net states she was in convoy when hit sunk 25 August by 35 dead, 1 survivorF J Wolfe (1932)12,190BHX 65Fernbank (1924)4,333HXFircrest (1907)5,394HXCargo of iron ore. Torpedoed amidships by and sank very rapidly. All 40 crew diedGard (1938)8,259HXGitano (1921)3,956HXHarpalyce (1940)5,169HXSunk 25 August by . 42 of 47 crew dead. Vice-Admiral B G Washington CMG DSO (Commodore)Housatonic (1919)5,559HXInverlee (1938)9,158BHX 65Juno (1908)1,763SHXLa Brea (1916)6,665BHX 65Straggled 19 August, sunk 24th by . 2 dead, 31 survivorsLodestone (1938)4,877BHX 65Manchester Merchant (1940)7,264SHX Rear-Admiral E W Leir DSO (Vice-Commodore)Maplewood (1930)4,566HXNellie (1913)4,826SHXBombed 26 August but made port (1926)5,583HXArmed passenger/cargo steamer carrying 190 Canadian troops from Newfoundland.Nikoklis (1921)3,576HXNordlys (1916)3,726SHXPecten (1927)7,468BHX 65Straggled and sunk 25 August by . 48 dead with 8 survivors.Prins Maurits (1936)1,287SHXRangitane (1929)16,712BHX 65Reedpool (1924)4,848HXRegent Panther (1937)9,556BHX 65Remuera (1911)11,445BHX 65Sunk 26 August by Luftwaffe aircraft off Rattray Head. All 93 crew and one gunner were saved, some by Fraserburgh lifeboat.Sitala (1937)6,218BHX 65Solarium (1936)6,239BHX 65 (1930)3,900HXTorpedoed 25 Aug by SalvagedStatesman (1923)7,939BHX 65Taria (1939)10,354BHX 65Torr Head (1937)5,021SHXTorvanger (1920)6,568HXUskbridge (1940)2,715SHXReturned to Sydney, Nova ScotiaWelsh Prince (1940)5,148HXWinkleigh (1940)5,468BHX 65
Escort Escort information is from Arnold Hague's Convoyweb + Escort shipsNameFlagShip TypeNotesC-class destroyerHalifax local escort, 12 Aug – 13 AugHMCS French AuxiliaryHalifax local escort, 12 Aug – 13 Aug Western Approaches escort, 24 Aug – 27 Aug Western Approaches escort, 22 Aug – 27 Aug J-class destroyerReinforcement, 26 Aug – 27 Aug J-class destroyerReinforcement, 26 Aug – 27 AugHMCS Laurier AuxiliarySydney local escort, 12 Aug – 14 Aug sloopReinforcement, 26 Aug – 27 Aug Armed merchant cruiserOcean escort, 11 Aug – 16 Aug River-class destroyerSydney local escort, 12 Aug – 14 Aug River-class destroyerWestern Approaches escort, 22 Aug – 27 Aug Armed merchant cruiserOcean escort, 12 Aug – 23 AugWestern Approaches escort, 24 Aug – 27 Aug
Axis forces
NumberTypeNavyContact dateNotes VIIA Kriegsmarine 25 August 1940 VIIA Kriegsmarine 25 August 1940 VIIB Kriegsmarine 24 August 1940 IIC Kriegsmarine 25 August 1940 IXB Kriegsmarine 25 August 1940
References
Bibliography Blair, Clay (1996) Hitler’s U-boat War Vol I Cassell
Tarrant, VE (1989) The U-boat Offensive: 1914-1945. Arms & Armour