| Conflict: | Convoy TM 1 |
| Partof: | Atlantic Campaign of the Second World War |
| Date: | 3–12 January 1943 |
| Place: | mid-Atlantic Ocean |
| Result: | German victory |
| Combatant2: |  United Kingdom
|
| Commander1: | Rudolf Schendel |
| Commander2: | Cdr. Boyle |
| Strength1: | 10 U-boats |
| Strength2: | 1 destroyer 3 corvettes 9 tankers |
| Casualties1: | 2 U-boats damaged |
| Casualties2: | 7 ships sunk |
Convoy TM 1 was the code name for an Allied convoy during the Second World War. Nine tankers, escorted by Royal Navy warships, attempted to reach Gibraltar from Trinidad. The convoy was attacked by a U-boat wolf pack in the central Atlantic Ocean, and most of the merchant vessels were sunk. This was one of the most successful attacks on Allied supply convoys throughout the entire war.[1] The convoy was defended by the destroyer, and three s,, and . Seven tankers were sunk during the attacks, two surviving to reach Gibraltar.[2] Two U-boats were damaged during the attacks.
located HMS Godetia on 29 December 1942, escorting two tankers to join up with the main convoy. made contact with the convoy on 3 January and attacked and damaged the tanker, forcing her crew to abandon her though the ship remained afloat. By now aware that a large tanker convoy was headed through the Atlantic, presumably to deliver supplies to the Allied armies in North Africa, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the German BdU (commander in chief of U-boats) ordered wolf pack "Dolphin" to attempt to intercept it.[2]
made contact with the convoy on 8 January, and the wolf pack launched their first attacks that evening. attacked and sank and damaged .[2] HMS Havelock launched a counter-attack, damaging and driving off U-381, while Pimpernel and Godetia drove off and respectively.[3] returned the following morning and attacked the convoy, damaging two tankers,, and, while damaged Empire Lytton. and attacked, but failed to hit any targets. Godetia damaged U-134 with depth charges.[2]
kept in contact with the convoy, and in the evening of 9 January, U-522 attacked the two tankers she had damaged earlier in the morning, Norvik and Minister Wedel, and sank both of them. Meanwhile, U-442 returned to the damaged and abandoned Empire Lytton and finished her off with two torpedoes, while U-436 returned to the abandoned Albert L. Ellsworth and sank her with shells from her deck gun. came across, a merchant ship sailing unescorted and not part of convoy TM 1, and sank her.[2]
The attacks resumed on the night of 10/11 January, with U-522 torpedoing . Her crew abandoned her, but the ship was only damaged and did not sink until U-620 arrived and sank her with a torpedo and gunfire. Other attacks that evening and over the next two days, by U-571 and U-511, fail to score any successes. By now the convoy was approaching Gibraltar, and the destroyer and the corvettes and were sent out to reinforce the escorts. Supported by Allied air cover, the convoy reached Gibraltar without further loss on 14 January. Two tankers, Cliona and Vanja, survived from the original nine. The final action came on 24 January, when the abandoned hulk of British Vigilance, torpedoed by U-514 on 3 January, was discovered by, and promptly sunk.[3]
| Name[4] | Nationality | Tonnage | Cargo | Fate | Date of attack | Survivors | Dead | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert L. Ellsworth (1937) |  Norwegian | 8,309 gross register tons (GRT) | Furnace oil | Damaged by U-436 Sunk by U-436* | 8 January 9 January | 42 | 0 | |
| British Dominion (1928) | British | 6,983 GRT | Aviation spirit | Damaged by U-522 Sunk by U-620* | 11 January 11 January | 16 | 37 | |
| British Vigilance (1942) | British | 8,093 GRT | Clean petroleum products | Damaged by U-514 Sunk by U-105* | 3 January 24 January | 27 | 27 | |
| Cliona (1931) | British | 8,375 GRT | Reached port safely | |||||
| Empire Lytton (1942) | British | 9,807 GRT | Aviation spirit | Damaged by U-442 Sunk by U-442* | 9 January 9 January | 34 | 14 | |
| Minister Wedel (1930) | Norwegian | 6,833 GRT | Furnace oil | Damaged by U-522 Sunk by U-522* | 9 January 9 January | 38 | 0 | |
| Norvik (1938) |  Panamanian | 9,555 GRT | Furnace oil | Damaged by U-522 Sunk by U-522* | 9 January 9 January | 43 | 2 | |
| Oltenia II (1928) | British | 6,394 GRT | Furnace oil, lubricating oil, military stores | Sunk by U-436* | 8 January | 43 | 17 | |
| Vanja (1929) | Norwegian | 6,198 GRT | Reached port safely | |||||
| Name | Class | Navy | Date joined | Date departed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgian section, Royal Navy | 28 December | 14 January | |||
| HMS Havelock | H-class destroyer | Royal Navy | 28 December | 14 January | |
| Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 12 January | 14 January | ||
| Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 28 December | 14 January | ||
| Q-class destroyer | Royal Navy | 12 January | 14 January | ||
| Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 12 January | 14 January | ||
| Flower-class corvette | Royal Navy | 28 December | 14 January | ||
| Name | Commander | Ships sunk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-134 | Rudolf Schendel | 0 | Damaged by Godetia |
| U-181 | Wolfgang Lüth | 0 | |
| U-381 | Graf Wilhelm-Heinrich Pückler und Limpurg | 0 | Damaged by Havelock |
| U-436 | Günther Seibicke | 2 | |
| U-442 | Hans-Joachim Hesse | 1 | |
| U-511 | Fritz Schneewind | 1 | Sank the unattached William Wilberforce |
| U-522 | Herbert Schneider | 2 | Also damaged British Dominion |
| U-571 | Helmut Möhlmann | 0 | |
| U-575 | Günther Heydemann | 0 | |
| U-620 | Heinz Stein | 1 | |
| Name | Commander | Ships sunk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| U-105 | Jürgen Nissen | 1 | Sank abandoned British Vigilance on 24 January |
| U-124 | Johann Mohr | 0 | Made initial sighting of convoy on 29 December |
| U-125 | Ulrich Folkers | 0 | |
| U-514 | Hans-Jürgen Auffermann | 0 | Made contact with the convoy on 3 January and damaged British Vigilance |
Belgium