Convoy OG 71
| Convoy OG.71 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||
|
|||||
| Belligerents | |||||
.svg){kind=small} Germany
|
 Royal Norwegian Navy
|
||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Admiral Karl Dönitz | Vice-Admiral P E Parker DSO | ||||
| Strength | |||||
| 8 U-boats | 23 merchant ships 13 escorts |
||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||
| 10 ships sunk (8 merchants, 2 escorts) |
|||||
Convoy OG 71 was a trade convoy of merchant ships during the second World War. It was the 71st of the numbered OG convoys Outbound from the British Isles to Gibraltar. The convoy departed Liverpool on 13 August 1941 and was found on 17 August by a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor of Kampfgeschwader 40. Starting on August 19, it became the first convoy of the war to be attacked by a German submarine wolfpack, when reached by eight U-boats from 1st U-boat Flotilla, operating out of Brest. Ten ships comprising a total tonnage of 15,185 tons were sunk before the U-boats lost contact on 23 August.
This convoy was known as "Nightmare Convoy". Eight merchant ships, two naval escorts and over 400 lives were lost, including 152 from the commodore's ship, Aguila (146 on August 19 and 6 survivors lost on August 22 when Empire Oak sank). The Aguila losses included the 22 "lost Wrens" (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service, or WRNS) who had volunteered for duties at Gibraltar. After this, Wrens were never sent again on passenger liners in convoys, but transported on HM ships. In their honour, a new Black Swan-class sloop, launched in 1942, was named HMS Wren, while a Liverpool-class lifeboat, launched in 1951, was named Aguila Wren.
...
Wikipedia