Convoy HG 73
| Convoy HG.73 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
 Regia Marina
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 United Kingdom
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Admiral Karl Dönitz | |||||
| Strength | |||||
| 5 U-boats 3 Italian submarines |
25 merchant ships 16 escorts |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 9 ships sunk | |||||
Convoy HG 73 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the second World War. It was the 73rd of the numbered HG convoys Homeward bound to the British Isles from Gibraltar. The convoy departed Gibraltar on 17 September 1941 and was found on 18 September by a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor of Kampfgeschwader 40 (KG 40). The 25-ship convoy was attacked by five U-boats of 1st and 2nd U-boat Flotillas, operating out of Brest and Lorient, respectively. They were initially assisted by Italian submarines Luigi Torelli, Morosini and Leonardo Da Vinci, that were en route to the Mediterranean. Nine ships were sunk from the convoy before the submarines exhausted their torpedo inventory on 28 September. Surviving ships reached Liverpool on 1 October.
One day after they had left Gibraltar, a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor aircraft of KG 40 located the ships off Cape St. Vincent but was chased away by the Fulmar fighter from HMS Springbank. Four Italian submarines, on patrol west of Gibraltar, were ordered to search for it: Leonardo Da Vinci (CC Ferdinando Calda), Alessandro Malaspina (TV Giuliano Prini) *, Morosini (CC Athos Fraternale) and Luigi Torelli (CC Antonio De Giacomo).
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