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The TAG convoys were a series of Caribbean convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War. They take their name from the route: Trinidad to Aruba and Guantanamo, Cuba
Overview
editThe TAG series was the reverse of GAT series. The series ran from August 1942 to May 1945. There were 205 TAG convoys, comprising 3,843 individual ship listings. Five convoys were successfully attacked by U-boats during 1942 and 1943, with 12 ships sunk and one damaged but then later declared a total loss.
Convoy list
edit| Convoy | Departure Date |
Arrival Date |
No. of merchant ships | No. of escort ships | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAG 1 | 29 Aug 1942 | 5 Sep 1942 | 31 | 10 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 2 | 1 Sep 1942 | 7 Sep 1942 | 7 | 8 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 3 | 5 Sep 1942 | 11 Sep 1942 | 21 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 4 | 9 Sep 1942 | 14 Sep 1942 | 18 | 6 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 5 | 12 Sep 1942 | 16 Sep 1942 | 17 | 7 | 2 vessels sunk. 1 damaged; she eventually reached New Orleans, but declared a total loss |
| TAG 6 | 16 Sep 1942 | 21 Sep 1942 | 29 | 8 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 7 | 19 Sep 1942 | 24 Sep 1942 | 22 | 6 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 8 | 22 Sep 1942 | 27 Sep 1942 | 15 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 9 | 27 Sep 1942 | 2 Oct 1942 | 19 | 9 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 10 | 3 Oct 1942 | 8 Oct 1942 | 39 | 6 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 11 | 6 Oct 1942 | 11 Oct 1942 | 11 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 12 | 9 Oct 1942 | 14 Oct 1942 | 20 | 10 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 13 | 13 Oct 1942 | 18 Oct 1942 | 12 | 11 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 14 | 17 Oct 1942 | 22 Oct 1942 | 24 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 15 | 21 Oct 1942 | 26 Oct 1942 | 25 | 8 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 16 | 25 Oct 1942 | 31 Oct 1942 | 34 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 17 | 29 Oct 1942 | 3 Nov 1942 | 28 | 7 | 0 vessels lost |
| TAG 18 | 2 Nov 1942 | 8 Nov 1942 | 37 | 8 | 6 vessels sunk (40,477 tons) |
| TAG 19 | 6 Nov 1942 | 11 Nov 1942 | 31 | 14 | 2 vessels sunk |
| TAG 20 | 10 Nov 1942 | 15 Nov 1942 | 27 | 10 | 1 vessel sunk |
| TAG 70 | 3 Jul 1943 | 8 Jul 1943 | 20 | 0 | 1 vessel sunk |
Exceptions
editThere were two exceptions, namely special convoy TAG.SP, which ran in two sections from Trinidad to Kingston, Jamaica, and then on to Guantanamo in January 1943, without any losses, and Convoy TAG 205 which sailed from Curaçao to Guantanamo, and comprised only one ship.
Citations
editBibliography
edit- Arnold Hague (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Chatham. ISBN 1-86176-147-3.
- Rohwer, J. & Hummelchen, G. (1992). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
- Silverstone, Paul H. (1968). U.S. Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company.