Most Costly Day in WW2 for Allied Merchant Ships? World Naval Ships Forums Archive

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Most Costly Day in WW2 for Allied Merchant Ships? World Naval Ships Forums Archive

Most Costly Day in WW2 for Allied Merchant Ships?

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On 6 April 1942 the IJN's Malaya Force sank 19 Allied merchant ships in the Bay of Bengal. Was this the largest number of Allied merchant ships lost on a single day due to a single enemy force or operation?

Hi Rob, According to what I've read, it seems Convoys SC-7 and HX 79 on 18-19 October 1940 just edge that out - attacked by u-boats, losing 27 ships in a 24 hour period. SC-7 had lost 5 ships to individual u-boat action since the 16th. The wolf pack of seven u-boats moved in on the night of the 18th-19th sinking 15 ships. HX-79 then lost 12 on the 19th bringing the total lost to 27 in 24 hours, 32 in 3 days. Five of the seven u-boats that attacked SC-7 subsequently turned their attention to HX-79 so you might consider them a single wolf pack force. Does all that fit your criteria? 32 ships, 154,661 tons..... wow! This I think, made October 1940 likely the costliest [I]month[/I] for Allied merchant shipping. Here are some u-boat vs. convoy stats: [url]http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/battles.htm[/url]

[QUOTE=Paul C.;10122772]32 ships, 154,661 tons..... wow! This I think, made October 1940 likely the costliest [I]month[/I] for Allied merchant shipping.[/QUOTE] I've no information on the most costly day but John Terraine gives different monthly figures for merchant ship losses in the North Atlantic: October 1940: 56 ships; 286,644 tons and the highest North Atlantic total for a single month is: June 1942: 124 ships; 623,545 tons Worldwide, there are several contenders for the worst month, depending on which yardstick is chosen: December 1941: 285 ships; 583,706 tons March 1942; 273 ships; 834,164 tons June 1942; 173 ships; 834,196 tons [Source: Terraine, John, [i]Business in Great Waters: The U-Boat Wars 1916-1945[/i] (Mandarin 1990), pp.767-9] Ted

Hi Ted, Thanks for those figures. I'm realizing that the uboat.net site is showing "the most important" convoys, so not necessarily all of them or all the losses. So it's very likely your source is the better one. The uboat site only mentions one convoy for June 1942... But I guess with the US entry into the war, 1942 brought a whole new set of targets off the US coast, so despite better convoy escort capabilities crossing the Atlantic - including the use of escort carriers, the u-boats were still able to rack up their successes.

Paul: The US coast proved quite lucrative for the u-boots in the winter and spring of 1942, less so after the coastal convoys started in the summer. The CVEs didn't start making their appearance felt until the next spring. Bill

Hi Bill, Thanks. I guess I was thinking of the [I]Audacity[/I] which was first employed in December 1941 in convoy HG76 and demonstrated the usefulness of the "CVE". But in fact, as you said, these ships did not come into their own until '43 covering the air cover gap in mid Atlantic. But to show how "lucrative" the US coast was, according to a text I have: [QUOTE]After America's entry into the war in December 1941 a whole new theatre of operations was opened up for the U-boats. Shipping off the U.S. coast carried on almost as if it were peacetime, with no convoy system and little in the way of protection. Thus, the few big type IX U-boats that could be sent had extra-ordinary success: between January and July 1942, 460 ships totalling 2.3 million gross registered tons, including many tankers, were sunk in the area.[/QUOTE] Cajus Bekker The German Navy 1939-45 Straying a bit from the original topic, but one thing leads to another!:D

It appears that SC-7 lost one straggler to U-124 on 16 October and three ships on 17 October. Another 16 were sunk by five U-boats during a six hour period during the night of 18-19 October. These 16 ships totalled about 61,000 tons. The attack on the nearby HX-79 commenced at nightfall on 19 October and during the next six hours 10 ships were sunk. A further two were sunk later in the day. The 12 ships totalled about 75,000 tons, so in a little over 24 hours 28 ships totalling about 136,000 tons were sunk. So yes, that certainly beats the 19 ships of about 88,000 tons sunk by Ozawa on 6 April 1942. The raid on Bari on 2 December 1943, which cost the Allies 25 ships of 93,308 tons, was also worse, as was noted by a poster on another site on which I posted the same question.

(Deleted duplicate post)

From#2 SC-7 had lost 5 ships to individual u-boat action since the 16th. The wolf pack of seven u-boats moved in on the night of the 18th-19th sinking 15 ships.[B][B]ie 20 ships.[/B][/B] Quote Rob It appears that SC-7 lost one straggler to U-124 on 16 October and three ships on 17 October. Another 16 were sunk by five U-boats during a six hour period during the night of 18-19 October. [B][B][B]These 16 ships [/B][/B][/B]totalled about 61,000 tons.- Surely you too also mean 20 ships Rob???? jainso31

No. I was trying to identify [B]the single day[/B], or 24 hour period, on which the most Allied merchant ships were sunk. This is why I discounted the four ships lost from SC-7 prior to the night of 18-19 October.

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