After construction of U-Boat pets in French Atlantic ports in 1940 autumn and with training and perfection of wolfpack tactics came to full use , by October 1940 German U-Boat fleets , still small in numbers , began to exploit temporary weakness (or absence) of Royal Navy escorts in Atlantic convoys , attack in wolfpack groups and sink huge numbers of tonnages from Atlantic convoys mostly in Western Approaches. Between 19-26 October 1940 German U-Boats sunk 20 ships from slow convoy SC-7 and 13 more merchant vessels from convoy HX79.
from naval-history.net
October 1940
22nd October - Canadian destroyer MARGAREE escorting Liverpool-out convoy OL8, was lost in collision with merchantman âPort Fairyâ to the west of Ireland. This was the last of the short-lived fast OLâs sailing from Liverpool. 30th October - Royal Navy Destroyers âHarvesterâ and âHighlanderâ sank âU-32â northwest of Ireland during a convoy attack. Two days earlier, the U-boat had finished off the damaged 42,000-ton liner âEmpress of Britainâ .
German Surface Warships & Raiders - Pocket battleship âAdmiral Scheerâ sailed from Germany for the Atlantic and later Indian Oceans. She returned home in March 1941. Meanwhile German raider âWidderâ arrived in France after six monthâs operations in the central Atlantic where she sank or captured 10 ships of 59,000 tons.
Battle of the Atlantic - Focke-Wulf Kondor bombers continued to range the waters off Ireland and on the 26th, bombed and damaged the âEmpress of Britainâ, later sunk by âU-32â (above). The Luftwaffeâs long-range aircraft were now flying from bases in Norway as well as France. Inter-service rivalry between the Luftwaffe and Navy meant the Kondor would never be fully integrated into the Gerrnan effort in the Battle of the Atlantic. Escort limits were only now pushed out to 19ÂșW. In a series of wolf-pack attacks on lightly-defended Canada/UK convoys, U-boats sank more than 30 ships from SC7 and HX79 between the 17th and 20th, a rate of loss that would soon have brought Britain to her knees. Fortunately, a number of measures were being taken to ease the dire situation and provide some of the foundations from which Britain and her Allies would go on to hold the U-boat threat in check: (1) the old US destroyers were coming into service and the British building programme starting to deliver the escorts needed; (2) the need for permanent escort groups to develop and maintain expertise was being accepted, and greater emphasis given to A/S training and (3) co-operation between RAF Coastal Command and Western Approaches Command was steadily improving. But there was still a long way to go, and vast areas of the Atlantic were without air or sea anti-submarine cover.
Europe - October 1940
Britain - Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester joined London as targets for German bombers in the Blitz. On the 12th the planned invasion of Britain was postponed until the following Spring.
18th October - The old Royal Navy submarine H-49 , on anti-invasion patrol off the Dutch coast, was lost to German A/S trawlers. 19th October - Royal Navy Destroyer VENETIA also of World War 1 vintage was sunk by a mine in the Thames Estuary while on patrol. **30th October - Destroyer STURDY , local Western Approaches escort for Halifax/UK convoy SC8, ran aground off the west coast of Scotland, on Tiree Island. She was a total loss.
Eastern Europe - German troops occupied the Rumanian oilfields.
Monthly Loss Summary: 56 British, Allied and neutral ships of 287,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes, 1 destroyer; 1 German U-boat.
NOVEMBER 1940
ATLANTIC - NOVEMBER 1940
United States - Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented third term of office as President of the United States.
2nd November - Attacking a convoy northwest of Ireland, âU-31â was sunk for the second and final time, on this occasion by destroyer âAntelopeâ in co-operation with shore-based aircraft of RAF Coastal Command. RAF Bomber Command first sank her in March 1940.
3rd November - Two armed merchant cruisers returning from patrol were sunk west of Ireland by Kretschmerâs âU-99â. The first was âLAURENTICâ on the 3rd. 4th November - Next day, âPATROCLUSâ was lost west of Ireland to an attack by âU-99â. A third AMC was sunk next day.
5th November, Loss of the âJervis Bayâ - Halifax/UK convoy HX84 with 37 ships and its solitary escort, armed merchant cruiser âJervis Bayâ (Capt Fegen) was attacked by 11in-gunned pocket battleship âAdmiral Scheerâ in mid-Atlantic. The convoy was ordered to scatter as âJERVIS BAYâ headed for the âScheerâ, guns firing. The end was in no doubt and she went down, but her sacrifice saved all but five of the merchant ships. Capt Edward Fegen RN was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. It was in this action that tanker âSan Demetrioâ was damaged by gunfire and abandoned. Later re-boarded by a few of her crew, they got her into port in spite of the greatest difficulties and privations. âAdmiral Scheerâ headed for the central and later the South Atlantic.
Battle of the Atlantic - Outward-bound OB244 and UK-bound SC11 were attacked by two groups of U-boats west of North Channel. Fifteen merchant ships were sunk, including seven from SC11 by Schepkeâs âU-100â on the night of the 22nd/23rd. In separate North Atlantic operations, German submarine âU-104â and the Italian âFAA DI BRUNOâ were lost. In both cases the circumstances were uncertain, but âU-104â was claimed by corvette âRhododendronâ and the Italian submarine is probably sunk by destroyer âHavelockâ. âU-104â was the last German U-boat lost until March although the Italians suffered casualties. By the end of the month they had 26 submarines operating out of Bordeaux, but were never as successful as their Axis ally. Important steps were taken in the air war when an RAF Sunderland equipped with 1.5m wavelength anti-surface vessel (ASV) radar located a U-boat. This was the first success of its kind with a system that was mainly effective by day; contact was lost within two miles of the target. It was the addition of the Leigh light that turned it into a powerful night-time weapon as well. Now Coastal Command was using depth charges instead of ineffective A/S bombs.
Monthly Loss Summary: 38 British, Allied and neutral ships of 201,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes; 3 armed merchant cruisers; 2 German and 1 Italian U-boats.
**EUROPE - NOVEMBER 1940
Britain - The Blitz continued with a particularly damaging raid on Coventry on the night of the 14th. Night-time attacks on London and other ports and cities carried on through to May. German cities were also targets for the RAF. Former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain died on the 9th.
7th November - A planned attack by German torpedo boats (small destroyers) off the coast of Scotland ended when âT-6â was mined on the British East Coast barrage and went down.
16th November - Royal Navy Submarine SWORDFISH , setting out on Bay of Biscay patrol, struck an enemy mine off the Isle of Wight, southern England and sank.
**Eastern Europe - Hungary and Rumania joined the Axis Tripartite Pact on the 20th and 23rd. Only Yugoslavia and Bulgaria held out against German pressure to become members, the only countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans not completely dominated by the Axis or Russia.
Monthly Loss Summary: 48 British, Allied and neutral ships of 93,000 tons in UK waters.
DECEMBER 1940
ATLANTIC - DECEMBER 1940
German Surface Raiders - German auxilary cruiser âKormoranâ was the first of the second wave of raiders to leave for operations. She started in the central Atlantic and later moved to the Indian Ocean, where she was lost in November 1941. Much further afield in the South West Pacific, other German disguised raiders (auxilary cruisers ) âKometâ and âOrionâ shared in the sinking of five ships near the phosphate island of Nauru. Later in the month âKometâ shelled the installations on Nauru. 1st December - Armed merchant cruiser âCarnarvon Castleâ was badly damaged in action with German raider âThorâ off Brazil, the German shipâs second and equally successful fight with an AMC.
2nd December - Cdr Otto Kretschmer and his submarine âU-99â claimed a third Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser when âFORFARâ was sent to the bottom west of Ireland with torpedoes of U-99; the others were âLaurenticâ and âPatroclusâ a month earlier. At the same time nearby convoy HX90 was attacked by a U-Boat wolfpack just before the Western Approaches escorts arrived. Eleven ships were lost to the U-boats.
15th December - Italian submarine âTARANTINIâ returning from North Atlantic patrol was torpedoed and sunk by Royal Navy submarine âThunderboltâ in the Bay of Biscay.
German Heavy Warships - Earlier in the month the 8in heavy cruiser âAdmiral Hipperâ left Germany and passed into the Atlantic through the Denmark Strait. On Christmas Day the 25th December, 700 miles to the west of Cape Finisterre, northwest Spain she encountered Middle East troop convoy WS5A, one of âWinstonâs Specialsâ, escorted by cruisers. They were accompanied by carrier HMS Furious ferrying aircraft to Takoradi in West Africa. In an exchange of gunfire the heavy cruiser HMS Berwick and two merchantmen were slightly damaged. âHipperâ retired and soon reached Brest. She was the first of the Gerrnan big ships to reach the French Biscay ports. From there she and her companions posed a major threat to the Atlantic convoy routes right up until the Channel Dash of February 1942.
Monthly Loss Summary: 42 British, Allied and neutral ships of 239,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes, 1 armed merchant cruiser; 1 Italian U-boat
EUROPE - DECEMBER 1940
Royal Navy - Adm Sir John Tovey succeeded Adm Forbes as Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet.
5th December - The ex-American destroyer CAMERON undergoing refit in Portsmouth harbour was bombed and badly damaged. Not worth repairing, she was used for experimental purposes. 17th December - Following repairs to bomb damage, destroyer ACHERON was carrying out trials off the Isle of Wight, southern England when she detonated a mine and went to the bottom.
Eastern Europe - Hitler ordered detailed planning for Operation âBarbarossaâ - the invasion of Russia.
Monthly Loss Summary: 34 British, Allied and neutral ships of 83,000 tons in UK waters.