Convoy SC-7 consisting of 35 merchant ships was the first major casuality of a tactic termed Rudeltaktik ('tactics of a pack') notably practiced by what entities during WWII?
"from outside the convoy, but were actually running surfaced between the ships inside the convoy. Therefore, the escorts were unable to mount any serious attacks on the U-boats, and had to spend much of their time rescuing survivors. During 19 October, the escorts, loaded with survivors, gathered together those ships that remained. ""Fowey"" collected eight ships and made for the Clyde, arriving there a few days later. ""Scarborough"" passed through the scene of the battle later on 19 October; she found wreckage, but no survivors. Later that afternoon ""Leith"" met ""Heartsease"", still escorting the damaged ""Carsbreck""; together they headed for"
"escort vessels, which were too few in number and often lacking in endurance, had no answer to the lone submarine attacking on the surface at night as their ASDIC detection apparatus only worked against underwater targets. Pack tactics were first used successfully in October 1940, to devastating effect in the battles of Convoys SC-7 and HX-79. Convoy SC-7, with a weak escort of two sloops and two corvettes, was overwhelmed, losing 59% of its ships. The battle for Convoy HX-79 was in many ways worse than SC-7. The loss of a quarter of the convoy without any loss to the"
"them up, leaving the convoy unprotected and risking being torpedoed themselves. Convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first ""Kriegsmarine"" submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the"
"tried, with Donitz micro-managing operations from headquarters. This was a success, and set the pattern for wolf pack operations throughout the rest of the Atlantic campaign. For Britain, the loss of five ships was unpleasant, as was the failure of the escort to inflict any damage on the attackers. However the safe arrival of forty nine ships was an overall success. Allied ships sunk Convoy SC 2 SC 2 was a North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. SC 2 was an east-bound convoy of 54 ships which"
", , , and made a concerted attack. ""U-99"" was captained by the famous ace ""Korvettenkapitän"" Otto Kretschmer. The attack was coordinated from Lorient by Admiral Karl Dönitz and his staff. An early casualty was the iron ore ship, , bound for Cardiff, Wales. With her heavy cargo, she sank quickly, taking all 36 crew members with her. Later that night, SC 7 lost many of its members, including ""Empire Brigade"" with her cargo of trucks and six of her crew and with her cargo of steel ingots from Sydney. She sank quickly as well, taking with her 38 of"
"and the ""Avondale Park"" was the last merchant ship to be sunk by a U-boat. At the time it was felt that Kapitänleutnant Klusmeier, who was on his first patrol, had deliberately ignored Dönitz's ceasefire order; however, Klusmeier claimed that he had never received the order. Eight Type XXIIIs were lost to various causes. In early May 1945, 31 XXIIIs were scuttled by their crews. Twenty surrendered to the Allies and were sunk in Operation ""Deadlight"". Only three— (later British submarine ""N35""), (later British submarine ""N37"", subsequently transferred to the French Navy), and (later Norwegian submarine ""Knerten"")—survived the war. One"
"as ""wolfpack""), but was also ultimately the U-boats' downfall. By the end of the war, almost 3,000 Allied ships (175 warships, 2,825 merchantmen) had been sunk by U-boats. Although successful early in the war, ultimately the U-boat fleet suffered a casualty rate of 73%, almost all fatalities. Germany's U-boat fleet in World War II suffered heavy casualties, losing 793 U-boats and about 28,000 submariners, out of 41,000; a casualty rate of about 70%. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated the most varied fleet of submarines of any navy, including ""Kaiten"" crewed torpedoes, midget submarines ( and es), medium-range submarines, purpose-built supply"
"convoy back together, but no further attacks took place and all remaining ships reached port safely. HX 72 had lost 11 ships of 72,727 gross register tons, of which Kretschmer sank three and Schepke seven ships. Whilst undoubtedly a victory, and a vindication of Donitz's wolfpack tactic, most of the UBW's successes were achieved by two of its aces using their high-risk tactic of penetrating the convoy to attack from within. The other boats following the more traditional approach from the flank, and at longer range, were far less successful. Allied ships sunk Convoy HX 72 HX 72 was a"
"of World War I. Many British submarines were active as well, particularly in the Mediterranean and off Norway, against Axis warships, submarines and merchant shipping. Initially, Hitler ordered his submarines to abide by the prize rules, but this restriction was withdrawn in December 1939. Although mass attacks by submarine had been carried out in World War I, the ""wolf pack"" was mainly a tactic of World War II U-boats. The main steps in this tactic were as follows: With the later increase in warship and aircraft escorts, U-boat losses became unacceptable. Many boats were lost, and the earlier experienced commanders"
"due to hostile action, and another 160 to accidents. The Maritime Reconnaissance Staffel 88 () was the Condor Legion's maritime unit under the command of Karl Heinz Wolff. Operating independently of the land-based division, it acted against Republican shipping, ports, coastal communications and occasionally inland targets such as bridges. It used floatplanes, starting with the Heinkel He 60, which began operating in October 1936. Beginning in June, operations were expanded to allow attacks on all Republican ports, so long as no British ships were present. Ten ships were attacked in the second half of 1937; however, the Norwegian torpedoes being"
"escort. ON 18 sailed September 24 as the first westbound convoy with American escort. The was torpedoed while escorting Convoy SC 48 on October 17, 1941. The destroyer ""Reuben James"" was torpedoed and sunk on October 31, 1941, while escorting Convoy HX 156 with a loss of 100 lives. The Neutrality Patrol was a major focus of one of the world's largest navies for the first third of the Second World War. The Atlantic Squadron in that period consisted of three battleships, four heavy cruisers, 29 destroyers, and one aircraft carrier; and their primary mission was confirmed by its being"
"inbound Atlantic convoy SC.2 as escort. Over the next few days, the convoy was subject to a series of attacks by German U-boats which sank five of the 53 merchant ships of the convoy (four of them by , commanded by Günther Prien). This was the first successful Wolfpack attack of the Second World War. On 9 September 1940, Convoy HX 72 left Halifax, Nova Scotia, bound for the UK. The convoy was escorted most of the way across the Atlantic by the armed merchant cruiser , with an escort of destroyers and corvettes to protect the convoy for the"
"Wolfpack Blücher Blücher was a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated during the World War II Battle of the Atlantic from 14 to 28 August 1942. They attacked the Freetown, Sierra Leone to Liverpool convoys SL-118 and SL-119, and sank six ships for a total of , and damaged one (). The group was named after Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742–1819), a Prussian ""Generalfeldmarschall"" in the Napoleonic Wars. ""U-566"" struck first, while north-east of the Azores. At 17:56 on 17 August 1942, she fired three torpedoes at Convoy SL-118, hitting the 6,607 ton Norwegian merchant ship ""Triton"" twice and sinking"
"sunk by German U-boats in the first submarine offensive. As a result, the German Imperial Navy began a second offensive against merchant shipping on 29 February. The final ground rules agreed upon by the German ""Admiralstab"" were that all enemy vessels in Germany's self-proclaimed war zone would be destroyed without warning, that enemy vessels outside the war zone would be destroyed only if armed, and—to avoid antagonizing the United States—that enemy passenger steamers were not to be attacked, regardless of whether in the war zone or not. ""UB-10""s first victim in the new offensive (and Saltzwedel's first as a commander),"
"During the American Civil War, the Confederacy sent out several commerce raiders, the most famous of which was the CSS ""Alabama"". During World War I and World War II, Germany also made use of these tactics, both in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Since commissioned naval vessels were openly used, these commerce raiders should not be considered even privateers, much less pirates— although the opposing combatants were vocal in denouncing them as such. Seaborne piracy against transport vessels remains a significant issue (with estimated worldwide losses of US$16 billion per year), particularly in the waters between the Red Sea and"
"Torpedo Alley The Torpedo Alley, or Torpedo Junction, off North Carolina, is one of the graveyards of the Atlantic Ocean, named for the high number of attacks on Allied shipping by German U-boats in World War II. Almost 400 ships were sunk, mostly during the Second Happy Time in 1942, and over 5,000 people were killed, many of whom were civilians and merchant marines. The period of attacks began in January 1942, and together were known as the """"Great American Turkey Shoot"""", by U-boat sailors. Torpedo Alley encompassed the area surrounding the Outer Banks, including Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras."
"and 2nd Panzer Groups forced bridgeheads across the Dnieper river and closed in on Kiev, the Ju 87s again rendered invaluable support. On 13 September, Stukas from StG 1 destroyed the rail network in the vicinity as well as inflicting heavy casualties on escaping Red Army columns, for the loss of one Ju 87. On 23 September, Hans-Ulrich Rudel (who was to become the most decorated serviceman in the Wehrmacht) of StG 2, sank the Soviet battleship ""Marat"", during an air attack on Kronstadt harbour near Leningrad, with a hit to the bow with a single bomb. During this action,"
"in the Battle of Sevastopol and the Battle of Stalingrad. It also conducted anti-shipping missions against the Soviet Navy and Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea. IV. Gruppe operated the Ju 87 from northern Norway and Finland at the start of Operation Barbarossa. It flew a variety of ground attack missions, and anti-shipping missions around Murmansk. According to its records, the ""Gruppe"" lost 26 ""Stukas"", 21 crews killed, seven missing, 6 wounded and three captured between 3 September 1940 and 27 January 1942. Later, just prior to the Battle of Berlin, the Geschwader took part in ""Operation Eisenhammer"", striking at"
"forced to abandon a raid on Portland Harbour when engaged by RAF fighters. They suffered one shot down and two damaged. The last major convoy action took place on 8 August 1940 against Convoy CW 9 (""Peewit""), comprising 20 merchant ships and nine naval vessels. Two ""Stuka"" attacks were organised. The first involved StG 1 who lost two Ju 87s and two damaged. A second attack from 60 Ju 87s of I. StG 1, III./StG 2 and III./StG 3 resulted in the destruction of four merchant ships and damaged seven. In exchange three I./StG 3 Ju 87s were lost and"
"the others, but was unable to attack in heavy seas. ""U-101"" fell out of the chase with engine trouble, leaving only ""U-47"" to join the attack. Early hours of 7 September ""U 47"" made a series of attacks, succeeded in sinking three ships, the freighters ""Neptunian"", ""Jose de Larrinaga"" and the Norwegian, ""Gro"". On the same day SC 2 was joined by its Western Approaches escort, a mixed bag of 2 destroyers, a sloop, a corvette and 2 trawlers, which arrived from other duties at various times during the day. As was common at this point in the campaign this"
"2). The units numbered some 80 Ju 87s. This led to a notable increase in the bombing of Malta. A ""Stabsstaffel"" of ""Sturzkampfgeschwader 3"" (StG 3) arrived. ""Oberstleutnant"" Karl Christ, ""Geschwaderkommodore"" of StG 3 gave orders to intercept heavy units. One particular target was aircraft carriers. Days later, he ordered the Ju 87 ""gruppen"" to sink the new carrier . It had played the key role in the Battle of Taranto handing naval supremacy to the British, hence it became top of the Axis' target list. The ""Luftwaffe"" crews believed four direct hits would sink the ship and began practice"
"return from patrol. Two weeks later, in the battle of Convoy HX 112, the newly formed 3rd Escort Group of five destroyers and two corvettes held off the U-boat pack. was detected by the primitive radar on the destroyer , rammed and sunk. Shortly afterwards ""U-99"" was also caught and sunk, its crew captured. Dönitz had lost his three leading aces: Kretschmer, Prien, and Schepke. Dönitz now moved his wolf packs further west, in order to catch the convoys before the anti-submarine escort joined. This new strategy was rewarded at the beginning of April when the pack found Convoy SC"
"merchant ship ""Etrib"", the 1,346 ton British merchant ship ""Pelayo"", and the 7,374 ton Norwegian tanker ""Slemdal"". ""U-552"" struck again at 04:34, firing three torpedoes at the convoy. Two British merchant ships, the 2,759 ton and the 2,436 ton were hit and sunk. Wolfpack Endrass Endrass was a ""wolfpack"" of German U-boats that operated from 12 to 17 June 1942 in attacking Convoy HG 84 that comprised 23 Allied ships. The group was named after the U-boat commander Engelbert Endrass, who had been killed in action in December of 1941. Five ships of Convoy HG 84, assembled at Gibraltar for"
"Banner Fleet docked in Kronstadt harbour. During the attack, Oblt. Rudel crippled the soviet Battleship ""Marat"" with a 1000 kg bomb. In late 1942, a ""Panzerjäger Staffel"" was formed within StG 2, which enjoyed such success that, after October 1943, a similar unit was added to each Stuka Geschwader. During the spring of 1943 SG 2 worked up with modified Ju 87 G-1 'tank-busters' armed with two Rheinmetall-Borsig 37mm Flak 18 guns mounted under each wing. Prototypes were first used against Russian landing craft in the Black Sea area. In March 1943 Rudel knocked out the first tank with the"
"cost of one escort carrier and three destroyers. The German anti-convoy tactics included: The Allied responses included: They were also aided by Many naval battles of World War II were fought around convoys, including: The convoy prefix indicates the route of the convoy. For example, 'PQ' would be Iceland to Northern Russia and 'QP' the return route. The success of convoys as an anti-submarine tactic during the world wars can be ascribed to several reasons related to U-boat capabilities, the size of the ocean and convoy escorts. In practice, Type VII and Type IX U-boats were limited in their capabilities."
"the number of U-boats sunk and reduced the number of Allied ships sunk. In response, U-boats were provided with French-made detectors for the microwave pulses, known as METOX. By the end of 1942, the production of Type VII U-boats had increased to the point where Dönitz was finally able to conduct mass attacks by groups of submarines, a tactic he called ""Rudel"" (group or pack) and became known as ""wolfpack"" in English. Allied shipping losses shot up tremendously, and serious concern existed for a while about the state of British fuel supplies. During 1943, the war in the Atlantic turned"
"merchant ships and a small number of escorts preparing to sail for Liverpool as Convoy SC-107. The convoy departed for Liverpool on 30 October. On 2 November 1942, Convoy SC-107 was intercepted by the German wolf pack ""Veilchen"" (""Violet""). U-boat ace Siegfried von Forstner commanding was the first to score a kill. At around 4:10 am, ""U-402"" fired two torpedoes, sinking the cargo ships ""Dalcroy"" and ""Rinos"". ""U-402"" struck again a few hours later, firing two torpedoes at 8:03 am, one of which hit and sank ""Empire Antelope"" and the other hitting ""Empire Leopard"", which caused the ship to explode."
"sank immediately, killing all 237 on board. Wolfpack Vorwärts Vorwärts (English : ""Forwards"") was a wolfpack of German U-boats that operated from 25 August to 26 September 1942, in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. They attacked several convoys, principally Convoy ON 127, sailing from Liverpool to New York, and sank fifteen ships for a total of , and damaged nine (). ""Abbekerk"", an unescorted 7,906-ton Dutch merchant ship en route from Port of Spain, Trinidad to Liverpool with 9,489 tons of sugar, general cargo and mail, was inspected by the Norwegian convoy escort about south-east of"
"18 October SC-7 was east of Rockall in the Western Approaches when the commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Kretschmer torpedoed ""Fiscus"". The steamship sank almost immediately, killing Captain Williams, 36 crew members and one DEMS gunner were lost. One man survived. A lifeboat from the Norwegian cargo steamship , which had been sunk earlier by ""U-99"", sighted him standing on some débris and took him aboard. The rescued him and ""Snefjeld""s survivors on 23 October. ""Fiscus"" fatalities included two of the youngest killed in UK Merchant Navy service in the Second World War. Brothers Kenneth and Raymond Lewis from Wales were"
"Convoy PQ 17 PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied convoy in the Arctic Ocean during the Second World War. In July 1942, the Arctic convoys suffered severe losses when Convoy PQ 17 lost 24 of its 35 merchant ships during a series of heavy enemy daylight attacks which lasted a week. The German success was possible through German signals intelligence (SIGINT) and cryptological analysis. On 27 June, the ships sailed eastbound from Hvalfjord, Iceland for the port of Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, after which it was shadowed continuously"
"The Germans organized a powerful task force, centered on the battleship and three heavy cruisers, to attack the convoy; the operation was codenamed ""Rösselsprung"" (Knight's Move). Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U-boats and the Luftwaffe. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports. The next day, while south of Spitzbergen, the ships were spotted and shadowed"
"German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis (HSK 2), known to the ""Kriegsmarine"" as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider-C, was a converted German ""Hilfskreuzer"" (auxiliary cruiser), or merchant or commerce raider of the ""Kriegsmarine"", which, in World War II, travelled more than in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships with a combined tonnage of 144,384. ""Atlantis"" was commanded by ""Kapitän zur See"" Bernhard Rogge, who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. She was sunk on 22 November 1941 by the British cruiser . Commerce raiders do"
"Europe from the Americas. ""Pfeil 2"" was responsible for the sinking of 11 ships (54,326 GRT) plus 1 ship damaged (9,272 GRT) in the Atlantic Ocean. Wolfpack Pfeil Pfeil (""Arrow"") was the name given to two separate U-Boat ""wolfpacks"" of Nazi Germany during World War II. The first wolfpack comprised 11 U-boats and operated from 12 September 1942 to 22 September 1942. This pack patrolled both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, preying on merchant vessels coming to Europe from the Americas. ""Pfeil 1"" was responsible for the sinking of 0 ships in the Atlantic Ocean. The first wolfpack comprised 13"