| Conflict: | Convoy SC 118 |
| Partof: | Battle of the Atlantic |
| Date: | 4–7 February 1943 |
| Place: | North Atlantic |
| Result: | German tactical victory |
| Combatant1: |  United Kingdom Canada United States[1] |
| Commander1: | Captain H C C Forsyth RNR Commander Proudfoot RN |
| Strength1: | 64 freighters 5 destroyers 2 cutters 4 corvettes |
| Strength2: | 20 submarines |
| Casualties1: | 8 freighters sunk (51,592 GRT) 445 killed/drowned |
| Casualties2: | 3 submarines sunk 101 killed/drowned 45 captured |
Convoy SC 118 was the 118th of the numbered series of World War II slow convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, to Liverpool.[2] The ships departed New York City on 24 January 1943[3] and were met by Mid-Ocean Escort Force Group B-2 consisting of V-class destroyers and, the cutter, the, s,, and, and the convoy rescue ship Toward.[4]
As western Atlantic coastal convoys brought an end to the "second happy time", Admiral Karl Dönitz, the Befehlshaber der U-Boote (BdU) or commander in chief of U-boats, shifted focus to the mid-Atlantic to avoid aircraft patrols. Although convoy routing was less predictable in the mid-ocean, Dönitz anticipated that the increased numbers of U-boats being produced would be able to effectively search for convoys with the advantage of intelligence gained through B-Dienst decryption of British Naval Cypher Number 3.[5] However, only 20 percent of the 180 trans-Atlantic convoys sailing from the end of July 1942 until the end of April 1943 lost ships to U-boat attack.[6]
On 2 February sank three ships from convoy HX 224. A survivor of one of the sunken ships was picked up by and told his rescuers a slower convoy was following behind HX 224.[7]
A careless merchant seaman of convoy SC 118 fired a pyrotechnic snowflake projector aboard the Norwegian freighter SS Vannik in the pre-dawn darkness of 4 February.[7] observed the snowflake display, reported sighting the convoy, and was promptly sunk by Beverly and Vimy after Bibb and Toward triangulated the submarine's location from the sighting report, using high-frequency radio direction-finder (HF/DF or Huff-Duff).[4] The destroyers rescued 44 of the submarine's crew.[8] The Polish freighter Zagloba was torpedoed on the unprotected side of the convoy by and torpedoed the straggling American freighter West Portal.[4]
On 5 February the convoy escort was reinforced by the cutter and the s and from Iceland.[4] The reinforced escort damaged U-262 and .[9]
In the pre-dawn hours of 7 February, Kapitänleutnant Siegfried von Forstner's torpedoed the British freighter Afrika, Norwegian tanker Daghild, Greek freighter Kalliopi, American tanker Robert E. Hopkins, American cargo liner, and convoy rescue ship Toward.[10]
Henry R. Mallory was capable of 14kn but had been straggling well astern of the convoy for several days and was not zig-zagging in that exposed position.[11] Mallory would normally have been assigned to one of the faster HX convoys, but there had been no Iceland section of the preceding convoy HX 224.[11] No commands came from the bridge after Mallory was torpedoed, no flares were sent up, no radio distress message was sent out, and no orders were given to abandon ship.[12] There were heavy casualties from Mallorys crew of 77, 34 Navy gunners, and the 136 American soldiers, 172 American sailors, and 72 American Marines she was transporting to Iceland.[13]
sank the straggling British freighter Harmala[10] while Lobelia sank .[4]
B-17 Flying Fortress J of No. 220 Squadron RAF sank U-614 on 7 February.[4] U-402 sank British freighter Newton Ash that night. On 9 February Kapitänleutnant von Forstner was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for ships sunk by U-402 from this convoy and from Convoy SC 107 on the previous patrol. SC 118 reached Liverpool without further loss on 12 February.[3]
| Name[14] | Flag | Dead | Tonnage (GRT) | Cargo | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acme (1916) | | 6,878 | Petrol & oil | |||
| Adamas (1918) |  | 0 | 4,144 | Steel & lumber | Sank 8 Feb after collision with | |
| African Prince (1939) | | 8,031 | Bauxite and ammunition | Carried convoy commodore Capt H C C Forsyth RD RNR | ||
| Afrika (1920) | | 23 | 8,597 | 4,000 tons steel & 7,000 tons general cargo | Sunk by 7 Feb | |
| Ann Skakel (1920) | | 4,949 | General cargo | Veteran of convoy SC 107; Detached to Iceland 9 Feb | ||
| Arizpa (1920) | | 0 | 5,437 | Stores | ||
| Athelprince (1926) | | 8,782 | Diesel & naptha | Convoy vice-commodore was ship's master | ||
| Baron Haig (1926) | | 3,391 | Sugar | |||
| Baron Ramsey (1929) | | 3,650 | Iron ore | Veteran of convoy SC 42 | ||
| Bestik (1920) |  | 2,684 | Steel & lumber | |||
| Blairdevon (1925) | | 3,282 | Steel & lumber | |||
| Celtic Star (1918) | | 5,575 | refrigerated & general cargo | |||
| Cetus (1920) | | 2,614 | Sugar | Veteran of convoy HX 84; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 | ||
| City of Khios (1925) | | 5,574 | Sugar | |||
| Daghild (1927) | | 0 | 9,272 | 13,000 tons Diesel | Veteran of convoy ON 127; sunk by, & | |
| Dallington Court (1929) | | 6,889 | Wheat | Survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 | ||
| Danae II (1936) | | 2,660 | Bauxite | Veteran of convoy HX 84 | ||
| Danby (1937) | | 4,281 | Linseed & grain | |||
| Daylight (1931) | | 9,180 | General cargo | Escort oiler; Detached to Iceland 9 Feb; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 | ||
| Deido (1928) | | 3,894 | Petrol | |||
| Dettifoss (1930) |  | 1,564 | General cargo | Detached to Iceland 9 Feb | ||
| Dordrecht (1928) |  | 4,402 | Palm oil | Returned to Halifax | ||
| (1942) | | 2,847 | Bauxite | |||
| (1941) | | 7,157 | General cargo | |||
| Glarona (1928) | | 9,912 | fuel oil & Diesel | |||
| Gogra (1919) | | 5,190 | General cargo | |||
| Gold Shell (1931) | | 8,208 | Petrol | |||
| Grey County (1918) | | 3 | 5,194 | General cargo | ||
| Gulf of Mexico (1917) | | 7,807 | Oil & petrol | |||
| H M Flagler (1918) |  | 8,208 | Furnace fuel oil | Escort oiler | ||
| Harmala (1935) | | 53 | 5,730 | 8,500 tons iron ore | Straggled and sunk by 7 Feb | |
| Helder (1920) | | 3,629 | General cargo | |||
| Henry Mallory (1916) | | 272 | 6,063 | 383 passengers & general cargo | Veteran of convoy ON 154; sunk by 7 Feb | |
| Ioannis Frangos (1912) | | 3,442 | Grain | |||
| Julius Thomsen (1927) |  | 1,151 | Detached to Greenland | |||
| Kalliopi (1910) | | 4 | 4,965 | 6,500 tons steel & lumber | Sunk by 7 Feb | |
| King Stephen (1928) | | 5,274 | Grain | |||
| Kiruna (1921) |  | 5,484 | General cargo | Veteran of convoy HX 79 and convoy ON 154 | ||
| Lagarfoss (1904) | | 1,211 | General cargo | Detached to Iceland 9 Feb; survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 | ||
| Makedonia (1942) | | 7,044 | Flour | |||
| Mana (1920) |  | 3,283 | General cargo | Detached to Iceland 9 Feb | ||
| Maud (1930) | | 3,189 | Sugar | |||
| New York City (1917) | | 2,710 | General cargo | Veteran of convoy SC 107 | ||
| Newton Ash (1925) | | 32 | 4,625 | 6,500 tons grain, mail & military stores | Sunk by 7 Feb | |
| Norbryn (1922) | | 5,087 | Tea & rubber | |||
| Permian (1931) | | 8,890 | Survived this convoy and convoy SC 122 | |||
| Petter II (1922) | | 7,417 | Gas oil | |||
| Polyktor (1914) | | 4,077 | Grain | Sunk by | ||
| Radmanso (1914) | | 4,280 | Sulphur | |||
| Radport (1925) | | 5,355 | General cargo | |||
| Redgate (1929) | | 4,323 | General cargo | |||
| Robert E. Hopkins (1921) | | 0 | 6,625 | 8,500 tons furnace fuel oil | Escort oiler; sunk by 7 Feb | |
| (1942) | | 7,181 | General cargo | Liberty ship | ||
| Sheaf Holme (1929) | | 4,814 | Potash & general cargo | Survived this convoy and convoy SC 130 | ||
| Sommerstad (1926) | | 5,923 | Lubricating oil | |||
| Stad Arnhem (1920) | | 3,819 | Phosphates | |||
| Tilemachos (1911) | | 3,658 | Grain | |||
| Toward (1923) | | 58 | 1,571 | Rescue ship; sunk by 7 Feb | ||
| Vacuum (1920) | | 7,020 | Petrol | |||
| Vannik (1940) | | 1,333 | General cargo | Detached to Iceland 9 Feb | ||
| West Portal (1920) | | 5,376 | Stores | Straggled and sunk by 4 Feb | ||
| William Penn (1921) | | 8,447 | Petrol | |||
| Yemassee (1922) | | 2,001 | General cargo | Detached to Iceland 9 Feb | ||
| Zagloba (1938) |  | 2,864 | Ammunition & general cargo | Sunk by 4 Feb |