Convoy ONS 154

26–30 December 1942, North Atlantic, north of the Azores

German victory; 13 merchant ships and a special service ship sunk for one U-boat

Convoy ONS 154, 50 merchant ships westbound from Liverpool, was routed far south towards the Azores in the hope of better weather, away from air cover. Its escort was the Canadian group C1, led by Lieutenant-Commander Guy Windeyer in the destroyer St. Laurent with five corvettes, short of training and of modern radar. Two packs, Spitz and Ungestüm, found it after Christmas. In the night of 27–28 December the U-boats got among the convoy and sank nine ships in a few hours; others were finished off as stragglers, and on 30 December the special service ship Fidelity, which had fallen behind, was sunk with almost everyone aboard. The escorts sank one U-boat, U-356, on 27 December. Windeyer collapsed from exhaustion. It was the worst convoy battle of the Royal Canadian Navy's war, and in early 1943 the Canadian groups were taken off the mid-Atlantic run for training.