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The Battle of the Atlantic
Atlantic convoys escorted by HMS Venomous
December 1940 - May 1942


This list is based on the research of Arnold Hague and colleagues. Arnold Hague (1930 - 2006) served in the RN and RNR from 1949 until he retired in 1979 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander but is best known as one of the foremost Naval Historians of the WW2 period. Copyright in his research belongs to his widow, Mrs Gill Hague, but she transferred the records to his collaborator and friend, Don Kindell in the USA.

It has been made accessible and searchable by convoy code and ship name on Convoyweb by Mike Holdoway in the UK. Mike has kindly provided a list of the convoys escorted by HMS Venomous in 1940-1 with links direct to details of each convoy on the Convoyweb site.

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Convy OB.330 painted by the Commodore

Convoy OB.330 painted by the Commodore, Rear Admiral Hugh Hext Rogers (1883-1955)
For details of the ships in this convoy click on the link in the table below
Courtesy of National Museums Liverpool, Merseyside Maritime Museum
Copyright reserved

The table gives the port of departure (e.g. Liv for Liverpool) and date of departure for westbound convoys, the "empties", and the dates Venomous (V) joined and detached from the convoy. This is followed by the code of the incoming (eastbound) convoy which Venomous met with its port (and date) of departure and the date on which Venomous was detached from the convoy to return to her base at Londonderry in Northern Ireland. By clicking on the convoy code you link to a list of the names of the merchant ships (with their nationality and cargo) and their escorts in the convoy with details of ships lost and other incidents of note.


CONVOY CODE
 From (departed)
 V Joins
 V Detached
 V Joins
 CONVOY CODE
 From (departed)
 V Detached
 Arrives
HX.96 Halifax (14 Dec 40)
 27 Dec 40

Mined in Liverpool bay, 29 December. Out of Action (OOA) for repairs.
OG.54
 Liv (25 Feb 41)
 25 Feb 41
 3 March




OB.297
 Liv (12 March 41)
 12 March 41
 17 March
 17 March
HX.113
 		Halifax (5 March)
 20 March
 Liv 21 March
OB.302
 Liv (24 March 41)
 24 March 41
 by 29 March
 29 March
 HX.115
 Halifax (17 March)
 3 April
 Liv 3 April
OB.307
 Liv (7 April 41)
 8 April 41
 8 April
 13 April?
 SC.27
 Halifax (30 March)
 18 April
 Liv 18 April
Collision with submarine H31 in Loch Moyle, Derry. Venomous OOA for repairs for two weeks.
OB.323
 Liv (17 May 41)
 19 May 41
 22 May
 26 May
 HX.126
 Halifax (10 May)
 28 May
 Liv 28 May
OB.330
 Liv (2 June 41)
 3 June 41
 7 June
 8 June
 HX.129
 Halifax (21 May)
 12 June
 Liv 12 June
OB.336
 Liv (15 June 41)
 17 June 41
 22 June
 24 June
 SC.34
 Halifax (10 June)
 28 June
 Clyde 29 June
OB.343
 Liv (6 July 41)
 6 July 41
 12 July
Towed to Havelfjord by Sabre. Machinery repairs at Londonderry.
OB.349
 Liv (21 July 41)
 22 July 41
 26 July
 26 July
 HX.139
 		Halifax (16 July)
 31 July
 Liv 31 July
ON.10
 Liv (27 Aug 41)
 29 Aug 41
 1 or 10 Sept?
 2 Sept
 HX.146
 Halifax (21 Aug)
 6 Sept
 Liv 6 Sept
ON.15
 Liv (11 Sept 41)
 11 Sept 41
 13 Sept
 16 Sept
SC.43
 Sydney, Nova Scotia (5 Sept)
 20 Sept
 Liv 20 Sept
ON.21
 Liv (28 Sept 41)
 30 Sept 41
 5 Oct
 9 Oct
 HX.152
 Halifax (28 Sept)
 14 Oct
 Liv 14 Oct
ON.28
 Liv (20 Oct 41)
 23 Oct 41
 25 Oct
 31 Oct
 SC.50
 Halifax (20 Oct)
 4 Nov
 Liv 4 Nov
ON.35
 Liv (10 Nov 41)
 10 Nov 41
 Collides with Keppel and detached 12 November. OOA for repairs and conversion until March 1942.
UR.20
 (17 April 42)
 17 April 42
 22 April
 28 April
 PQ.15
 Oban (10 April 42)
 5 May
 Murmansk 5 May
QP.12
 Kola (21 May 42)
 21 May 42
 27 May



Reykjavik 29 May

Convoy OB.302 1941
Eastbound Convoy HX.115 from Halifax to Liverpool was escorted by HMS Venomous
Note aircraft carried as cargo on deck
Photographed by Lt Richard Kershaw RNVR

Please note that the greatly expanded 2015 version of Convoyweb is not available on the Internet but may be viewed at Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HH. For details see: https://guildhalllibrarynewsletter.wordpress.com/2015/06/12/convoy-web-an-invaluable-resource-at-guildhall-library/

You can read about the part played by HMS Venomous in escorting these convoys in chapters eight to ten of the new edition of A Hard Fought Ship: the story of HMS Venomous which was published on 9 May 2017.

Liverpool and the Battle of the Atlantic

The Commander in Chief of Western Approaches "was responsible for the escort groups at Liverpool, Greenock and Londonderry. His headquarters were in the 'Dungeon', the basement of Derby House in Liverpool, where the position of the convoys and their escorts were displayed on the Plot, a floor to ceiling map of the Atlantic battlefield"; see A Hard Fought Ship, page 175. The Map Room has remained exactly how it was when the doors closed on 15 August 1945 and is open to the public as the Western Approaches Museum.

Joe Whittaker, whose father Edward "Lofty" Whittaker was an ERA in HMS Vidette,has taken the lead in planning a memorial to the Battle of the Atlantic known as "The Waves". The intention is to create wave shaped structures from recycled rubble and topsoil with the dimensions of the waves in the North Atlantic which would be seeded with a variety of grasses so that when the wind blew they resembled ocean waves. "The Waves" would honour the memory of men of all nations and services who braved the waters of the Atlantic and Arctic during the the war. Joe is looking for a suitable site in Liverpool and seeking funding from corporate and individual donations plus local, regional and central government sources. Further information can be obtained by emailing BOTAM193945@hotmail.com

HMS Vidette was a member of Peter Gretton's B7 Escort Group working out of Liverpool and Derry / Londonderry escorting convoys to Halifax, St Johns and the US base at Argentia in those critical months of Spring 1943. Vidette was involved in the defence of west bound Convoy ONS 5, now recognised as the convoy battle which turned the U-Boat War in the Allies favour (see Black May by Michael Gannon). Its 5th May core date is celebrated as Battle of the Atlantic Day.

The story of HMS Venomous is told by Bob Moore and Captain John Rodgaard USN (Ret) in
A Hard Fought Ship
  Buy the new hardback edition online for £29 post free in the UK
Take a look at the Contents Page and List of Illustrations

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