Convoy SC 26 SC 26 was a North Atlantic convoy of the SC series which ran during the battle of the Atlantic in World War II . Prelude . SC 26 was an east - bound convoy of 23 ships which sailed from Halifax on 20 March 1941 bound for Liverpool . It carried war materials and was led by Commodore GTC Swabey in SS " Magician " . SC 26 comprised 23 ships and was escorted only by the Armed Merchant Cruiser ( AMC ) " Worcestershire " ( Cdr J Cresswell ) . At this stage of the campaign escorts against U - boat attack could only be provided in the Western Approaches ; the Ocean escort , usually an AMC , was provided to give some protection against surface raiders . SC 26 was opposed by a patrol line of 9 U - boats , positioned at the limit of endurance to intercept east - bound convoys before the Western Approaches escort had joined . These were " U - 46 " , " U - 69 " , , " U - 74 " , " U - 97 " , " U - 98 " and " U - 101 " . Two other boats , " U - 94 " and " U - 76 " , were moving west to join the line . This patrol line was unnamed ; at this stage of the campaign patrol lines did not carry identifying names , as they did later , though if a wolfpack formed it was referred to by the name of the sighting captain . On 1 April 1941 an outbound U - boat , " U - 76 " ( Hippel ) on her way to join the newly formed patrol line south of Iceland sighted a west - bound convoy in the North - West Approaches . This was OB 305 , of 51 ships . Hippel reported this , but U - boat Command ( BdU ) was reluctant to engage so close to Britain and within range of Coastal Command aircraft ; he ordered Hippel to shadow OB 305 westwards and moved the patrol line to intercept . U - 76 followed the convoy during the day , but lost contact when she was forced to dive by approaching trawlers . Hippel was ordered to follow west to try and regain contact . As they did so , one of the boats on the patrol line , " U - 74 " ( Kentrat ) , made contact with an east - bound convoy , SC 26 , which BdU determined to attack . After sending a sighting report , Kentrat commenced shadowing , and was joined throughout the day by 3 other U - boats that were nearby . Action . After first sighting on 2 April 1941 " U - 74 " commenced shadowing , while the other boats in the area were drawn in for the attack . By evening of 2 April BdU had gathered a pack of 4 U - boats , ( " U - 46 " , " U - 69 " , " U - 74 " and " U - 76 " ) who commenced a devastating attack . The first assault , during the night of 2 / 3 April , was made by " U - 46 " ( Endrass ) just after midnight ; She fired on " British Reliance " , which sank ; " Alderpool " , which was damaged , to be sunk later by the newly arrived " U - 73 " ; and " Thirlby " , which had stopped to pick up survivors , but escaped harm . Just after 4am the pack attacked again ; " Leonidas Z Cambanis " was hit by " U - 74 " and sank , followed a few minutes later by and " Indier " , both hit by " U - 73 " ( Rosenbaum ) . With the loss of 5 ships already , nearly a quarter of the convoy , Swabey determined the ships would be less vulnerable if they were dispersed , and at 4 . 21 am the decision was made to scatter the convoy . As the convoy started to scatter , a 6th ship , the tanker " British Viscount " , was hit by " U - 73 " and burst into flames , illuminating the scene . Shortly after , " Worcestershire " was hit by " U - 74 " ; she was sustained severe damage , but remained afloat . At dawn on 3 October saw ships and U boats scattered across a wide area ; ships were heading east , pursued by U - boats seeking to regain contact , while the warships detailed to escort SC 26 hurried west . During the morning Swabey in " Magician " met a number of ships which he gathered together , to reform the convoy ; these eight ships were met later in the day by destroyers " Wolverine " ( LtCdr J Rowlands , as Senior Officer Escort ) , and " Veteran " . " Worcestershire " , moving under her own steam , was met by the destroyer " Hurricane " , which escorted her back to Liverpool . Two other destroyers , " Havelock " and " Hesperus " , arrived at the battle site and searched for survivors . Six other ships remained scattered ; just before midday " U - 98 " , newly arrived , found " Helle " , which she stalked and sank . In midafternoon " U - 98 " found and sank " Welcombe " , also travelling alone . Also on 3rd " U - 76 " , still moving west , encountered " Daphne " , a Finnish freighter sailing independently , and sank her . At dusk on the evening of 3 / 4 April " U - 94 " , also newly arrived , found the main body again . She attacked , sinking " Harbledown " , but all further attacks were driven off . During 4 April there were no further attacks on Swabeys group , and SC 26 was joined by 3 more destroyers ( " Verity " , " Vivien " and " Chelsea " ) and a corvette ( " Convolvulus " ) During the night of 4 / 5 April another ship from SC 26 , " Athenic " , was travelling alone ahead of the main body . She was intercepted by " U - 76 " and sunk . All of her crew were saved , including survivors from the " Liguria " , whom " Athenic " had rescued some days before . Another SC 26 ship , " Thirlby " , also sailing alone , was found and fired on by " U - 69 " . She was damaged , but not sunk , and was able to reach port . In the main body , " Eelbeck " was damaged , but there were no other casualties . At dawn on 5 April " U - 76 " was running on the surface when she was sighted by " Wolverine " . As Rowlands approached " U - 76 " dived , and " Wolverine " attacked , assisted by " Scarborough " and " Arbutus " . " Wolverine " dropped 2 depth - charges , followed almost immediately by a full pattern of 8 from " Scarborough " . " U - 76 " was forced to the surface , and the crew abandoned her . " Arbutus " rushed in to attempt to secure and capture the boat and its prized cypher equipment , but the boat was filled with chlorine gas from the batteries , and she quickly sank . All " U - 76 " crew but one were rescued . The pack made no further attacks on the ships of SC 26 , who made their way to port . Swabey ’ s group of 8 ships arrived in Liverpool on 8 April 1941 ; " Worcester " and " Hurricane " arrived in port the same day . " Thirlby " , which was damaged , in company with " Loch Ewe " , docked three days later on the 11th . " Tennessee " , carrying survivors from " British Reliance " , put into port in Ireland , while " Tenax " and " Ethel R " docked in Britain . Nearly half of SC 26 had been lost ; 10 ships sunk , for 51 , 969 tons , with 2 ships and the ocean escort damaged . Nearly 100 sailors lost their lives . Against this one U - boat was destroyed ; most of its crew were picked up . / rescued . Conclusion . The U boat arm had scored another victory , and by managing to shift its point of interception further west , beyond the range of the anti - submarine escorts , ensured a series of successes until Western Approaches Command could adjust . " Arbutus " had been unable to capture " U - 76 " and her prized Enigma machine , but this breakthrough was just 4 weeks away with the seizure of " U - 110 " in May , with a profound effect on the course of the Atlantic campaign .