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slower ships westbound on the ON convoy route OS: Liverpool to Sierra Leone: 24 July 1941 27 May 1945 131 replaced OB convoys for non-North American destinations - included KMS convoys detached west of Gibraltar PQ: Iceland to White Sea: 29 September 1941 2 September 1942 18 replaced by JW convoys QP: White Sea to Iceland: 28 September 1941 17 ...
This is a list of convoy codes used by the Allies during World War II There were over 300 convoy routes organized, in all areas of the world; each was designated by a two- or three letter code. List of Allied convoys during World War II by region provides additional information.
Convoy Battles of World War II occurred when convoys of warships protected cargo ships assembled for mutual defense and were attacked by submarines, surface ships and/or aircraft. Most were in the North Atlantic from 1939 to 1943 and involved attacks by U-boat wolfpacks .
Until April 1943, ships capable of speeds between 9 and 13 knots (17 and 24 km/h; 10 and 15 mph) were assigned to odd-numbered (fast) convoys—sometimes designated ON(F); while ships capable of speeds between 6 and 9 knots (11 and 17 km/h; 6.9 and 10.4 mph) were assigned to even-numbered (slow) convoys—sometimes designated ON(S) or (ambiguously) ONS.
British and Dominion Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company. Middlebrook, Martin (1976). Convoy. William Morrow and Company. Milner, Marc (1985). North Atlantic Run. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-450-0. Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I The Battle of the Atlantic ...
Many new anti-submarine tactics, detection systems, and weapons were developed during the War. Perhaps the greatest single factor for combating U-boats in the Atlantic, aside from the convoy system, was the use of Enigma decrypts that enabled rerouting convoys to safer routes and guiding warships and aircraft to U-boat locations for attack. [147]
However, they had failed to interrupt the North Atlantic convoy route to any extent; 68 ships (two-thirds of those involved) made a safe and timely arrival, and the 38 ships of HX 229A, which had been detached at New York to cross separately, arrived unscathed. This was the largest convoy battle of the Atlantic campaign.
Approaching the Americas were ONS 4 and ON 179; departing was SC 128, while in mid-Atlantic, due to pass ONS 5 east of Greenland, was SC 127. Two other east-bound convoys, HX 235 and HX 236, were also in mid-Atlantic, following a southerly route. This accounted for over 350 ships on the move in the north Atlantic at that time.