Convoy ONS 18
| Convoys ONS 18/ON 202 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Battle of the Atlantic/World War II | |||||||
|
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Nazi Germany
|
 Canada
|
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Admiral Karl Dönitz |
ONS 18: Comm: EO Cochrane Escort:LtCdr PW Burnett |
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| Strength | |||||||
|
Leuthen: : 21 U-boats |
ONS 18: 5 warships |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3 U-boats | 6 ships: 3 warships |
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ONS 18:
Comm: HC Forsyth
Escort:Cdr MB Evans
ONS 18:
27 ships:
8 escorts:
ON 202:
38 ships:
6 escort:
ONS 18 and ON 202 were North Atlantic convoys of the ONS/ON series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were the subject of a major U-boat attack in September 1943, the first battle in the Kriegsmarine's autumn offensive, following the withdrawal from the North Atlantic route after Black May.
Following the defeats of May 1943, and the devastating losses incurred by the U-boat Arm (U-Bootwaffe, or UBW) Adm Dönitz had withdrawn from attacks on the North Atlantic route while awaiting tactical and technical improvements. Chief among these was the T-5 acoustic torpedo, with which (it was planned) the convoy escorts could be attacked and eliminated, leaving the merchant ships defenceless. By September 1943 these were ready, and U-boat Control (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote, BdU) dispatched a patrol group of 21 boats, code-named Leuthen, to renew the attack on the North Atlantic route.
In September 1943 BdU had established the patrol line Leuthen of 21 U-boats south of Greenland; these were to intercept west-bound convoys as they were about to enter the Greenland Air Gap, where Allied aircraft were reckoned to be unable to operate due to the extreme range. Leuthen was to harry any convoy it encountered while crossing the gap, before breaking off to repeat the onslaught with the east-bound convoys.
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Wikipedia