The battle for UC-1

UC-1

22 - 25 Feb 1943

The convoy: 33 ships

Escorts The British escort group 44 (Cdr Durnford-Slater) consisting of the sloops Weston, Folkestone, Gorleston and Totland and the frigates Exe and Ness
An American support Group consisting of the 4 destroyers Charles F. Hughes DD428, Hilary P. Jones DD427, Madison DD425, and Landsdowne.

First sighting: On Feb 22th by U-522
U-boats: The wolfpack Rochen of 8 boats
U-43 (Oblt. Schwantke), U-66 (Kptlt. Markworth) *,
U-87 (Kptlt. Berger), U-202 (Kptlt. Poser) *,
U-218 (Kptlt. Becker), U-504 (Kptlt. Luis) *,
U-521 (Kptlt. Bargsten) *, U-558 (Kptlt. Krech) *
Also: U-382 (Kptlt. Juli) *, U-522 (Kptlt. Schneider) * ++,
U-569 (Oblt. Johannsen) *
* U-boats that fired torpedoes or fired the deck gun.

The battle: On the sighting report of U-522, The gruppe Rochen and U-382 and U-569 are deployed. U-522 attacks in the morning of the 23th and sinks one tanker. She is however sunk in the counterattack by the Totland.
In the evening U-382 damages one ship and U-202 sinks one and damages two in the night. U-558 sinks one of the ships damaged by U-202. U-504 and U-569 attack without success.
In the next night U-66 and U-521 attack, but also without success. U-66 and U-107 sink one independent ship each.
In these attacks, the T-4 Falke acoustic torpedo is tried out for the first time. It proved to be effective, but only against slow and big targets. It was not the 'Zerstörerknacker' the U-boats were waiting for.
The losses sustained in this convoy, made the Americans decide to take over the control and escort for these so-called 'Greyhound' convoys. These were special emergency tanker convoys straight from the Caribbean to England.

Ships lost from the convoy:

Date Ship Weight Country Damaged by Sunk by

23 Feb Athelprincess 8,852 UK U-522

23 Feb Murena 8,252 Dutch U-382

23 Feb Empire Norseman 9,811 UK U-202 U-558

23 Feb British Fortitude 8,482 UK U-202

23 Feb Esso Baton Rouge 7,989 US U-202

3 tankers were sunk for a total of 26,652 grt. 2 tankers for 16,734 grt damaged.

Compiled by Tom Linclau
editing Guđmundur Helgason
Material within was provide mostly by U-boat.net with some additional information by Richard Angelini.

The convoy:	33 ships
Escorts	The British escort group 44 (Cdr Durnford-Slater) consisting of the sloops Weston, Folkestone, Gorleston and Totland and the frigates Exe and Ness An American support Group consisting of the 4 destroyers Charles F. Hughes DD428, Hilary P. Jones DD427, Madison DD425, and Landsdowne.
First sighting:	On Feb 22th by U-522
U-boats:	The wolfpack Rochen of 8 boats U-43 (Oblt. Schwantke), U-66 (Kptlt. Markworth) , U-87 (Kptlt. Berger), U-202 (Kptlt. Poser) , U-218 (Kptlt. Becker), U-504 (Kptlt. Luis) , U-521 (Kptlt. Bargsten) , U-558 (Kptlt. Krech) * Also: U-382 (Kptlt. Juli) , U-522 (Kptlt. Schneider) ++, U-569 (Oblt. Johannsen) * * U-boats that fired torpedoes or fired the deck gun.
The battle:	On the sighting report of U-522, The gruppe Rochen and U-382 and U-569 are deployed. U-522 attacks in the morning of the 23th and sinks one tanker. She is however sunk in the counterattack by the Totland. In the evening U-382 damages one ship and U-202 sinks one and damages two in the night. U-558 sinks one of the ships damaged by U-202. U-504 and U-569 attack without success. In the next night U-66 and U-521 attack, but also without success. U-66 and U-107 sink one independent ship each. In these attacks, the T-4 Falke acoustic torpedo is tried out for the first time. It proved to be effective, but only against slow and big targets. It was not the 'Zerstörerknacker' the U-boats were waiting for. The losses sustained in this convoy, made the Americans decide to take over the control and escort for these so-called 'Greyhound' convoys. These were special emergency tanker convoys straight from the Caribbean to England.

Ships lost from the convoy:
Date	Ship	Weight	Country	Damaged by	Sunk by
23 Feb	Athelprincess	8,852	UK		U-522
23 Feb	Murena	8,252	Dutch	U-382
23 Feb	Empire Norseman	9,811	UK	U-202	U-558
23 Feb	British Fortitude	8,482	UK	U-202
23 Feb	Esso Baton Rouge	7,989	US		U-202