Convoy FS 271 (3 to 5 September 1940) was a North Sea convoy of the FS series (Forth South) to the Thames, which ran during the Second World War from Methil, Fife on the Firth of Forth on the east coast of Scotland to Southend-on-Sea on the Thames. The convoy was ambushed by German E-boats on the night of 4 September, that sank five ships and damaged one for no loss.
| Convoy FS 271 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of The Second World War | |||||||
 Map of the North Sea | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg){kind=small} Germany |
 United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Karl Dönitz | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~4 E-Boats | 35 merchant ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
5 ships sunk 1 damaged | |||||||
Background
editFS convoys (Forth South), ran from Methil, Fife a big coal port on the Firth of Forth to Southend-on-Sea on the Thames Estuary during the war.[1] Ships joined the convoys as they passed their port and the vast importance of coal to the British economy convoys spent little time in harbour, two FS and two FN (Forth North) convoys were usually at sea, the southbound convoys with the code-names Agent and Arena, the northbound ones known as Booty and Pilot. The first FS convoy assembled off Methill and the first FN convoy formed off Southend-on-Sea on 6 September 1939.[2] At the end of November the assembly port for FS convoys was moved to the Tyne to get cargoes moved quicker, ships proceeding to the Tyne independently but losses were so severe that in February 1940 convoy assemblies were moved back to Methil.[3]
Convoy
editE-boat attack
editOn 4 September, Convoy FS 271 was attacked off Great Yarmouth by the 1st E-boat Flotilla (1.Schnellbootflottille, Kapitänleutnant Karl-Heinz Birnbacher). The convoy was taken by surprise and few of the merchant ships had time to take evasive action. The collier Joseph Swan (1,571 gross register ton [GRT]) was sunk with seventeen of the eighteen-man crew killed.[4] Beattie had just come off watch when S 18 (Leutnant zur See Christiansen) attacked,
The Chief Officer called down the companion way 'What does six short blasts mean?' I answered 'submarine or track of torpedo on starboard side'.[4]
Beattie looked for the code book to check and there was explosion; when he arrived on deck the rear section of the ship was awash,
All those who were aft at the time had no chance whatsoever ... I saw the master step off the bridge ... and that was the last I saw of him. Then I felt the water round my ankles and the next thing I knew I was in the water. When I came to the surface the ship had completely disappeared.[4]
Beattie was surrounded by the sound of E-boat engines, machine-gun fire "spattering in the water all around me". As Fulham V passed close by he waved a flare and shouted but its captain obeyed orders and left him behind; Beattie found a raft and was rescued at 11:30 p.m. Soon afterwards, Fulham V passed by it was torpedoed amidships to port by S 2 (Leutnant-zur-See Grund). The explosion sent Captain Ramshaw into the air over the bridge and Fulham V sank quickly. The captain of New Lambton saw two of the E-boats which sank his ship, one being S 21 (Leutnant-zur-See Bernd Klug).[4]
Two E-boats came along our port side about 200 feet off and started to machine gun us and they continued to do this while we launched the boat and for twenty minutes in the boat. We all lay flat in the boat and no-one was injured...the E-boats were about fifty to sixty feet long and had a certain amount of superstructure with a machine gun mounted forward.[4]
In the one rush 1.Schnellbootflottille also sank the Dutch collier Nieuwland, the British Corbrook and damaged Ewell, then disappeared into the night.[5]
Ships in the convoy
edit| Name | Flag | GRT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam (1922) |  Netherlands
|
7,329 | |
| Aruba (1916) |  United Kingdom
|
1,159 | |
| Baron Renfrew (1935) | United Kingdom
|
3,635 | |
| Baronesa (1918) | United Kingdom
|
8,663 | 9 September, bombed and sunk at London docks |
| Benledi (1930) | United Kingdom
|
5,943 | |
| Birtley (1922) | United Kingdom
|
2,873 | |
| Brasted (1938) | United Kingdom
|
1,076 | |
| Brockley (1920) | United Kingdom
|
1,564 | |
| Corbrook (1929) | United Kingdom
|
1,729 | Sunk by E-Boat S-21, 4 September[4] |
| Cordene (1924) | United Kingdom
|
2,345 | |
| Corferry (1937) | United Kingdom
|
1,788 | |
| Cormount (1936) | United Kingdom
|
2,841 | |
| Eastwood (1924) | United Kingdom
|
1,551 | |
| Eleanor Brooke (1938) | United Kingdom
|
1,037 | |
| Ethylene (1921) | United Kingdom
|
936 | |
| Ewell (1926) | United Kingdom
|
1,350 | Damaged 4 Sep by E-Boat S-54, 4 September[4] |
| Fulham V (1939) | United Kingdom
|
1,584 | Sunk by E-Boat S-22, 4 September[4] |
| Glynn (1918) | United Kingdom
|
1,134 | |
| Granby (1922) | United Kingdom
|
2,051 | |
| Grit (1934) | United Kingdom
|
501 | |
| Helmspey (1931) | United Kingdom
|
4,764 | |
| Joseph Swan (1938) | United Kingdom
|
1,571 | Sunk by E-Boat S-18, 4 September[4] |
| Moorwood (1940) | United Kingdom
|
2,056 | |
| New Lambton (1924) | United Kingdom
|
2,709 | Sunk by E-Boat S-21, 4 September[4] |
| Nieuwland (1920) | Netherlands
|
1,075 | Sunk by E-Boat S 18, 4 September[4] |
| Old Charlton (1919) | United Kingdom
|
1,562 | |
| Rimac (1919) |  Norway
|
942 | |
| Sambre (1930) | Netherlands
|
349 | |
| Signality (1937) | United Kingdom
|
487 | |
| Sitona (1920) | Norway
|
1,143 | |
| Socony (1936) | United Kingdom
|
4,404 | |
| Sparta (1900) | United Kingdom
|
708 | |
| Spero (1922) | United Kingdom
|
1,589 | |
| Spero I (1920) | United Kingdom
|
1,960 | |
| Western Coast (1919) | United Kingdom
|
1,434 |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Hague 2000, p. 111.
- ^ Hewitt 2008, p. 44.
- ^ Roskill 1957, p. 94.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hewitt 2008, p. 153.
- ^ Hewitt 2008, p. 155.
- ^ AHCD.
Bibliography
edit- "Convoy FS 271". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
- Hewitt, Nick (2008). Coastal Convoys 1939–1945: The Indestructible Highway. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84415-861-4.
- Roskill, S. W. (1957) [1954]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The War at Sea 1939–1945: The Defensive. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. I (4th impr. ed.). London: HMSO. OCLC 881709135.
Further reading
edit- Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999]. The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships (2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal. ISBN 978-1-86176-293-1.