Wolf pack Vorwärts Vorwärts ( English : " Forwards " ) was a wolfpack of German U - boat s that operated from 25 August to 26 September 1942 , in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II . They attacked several convoys , principally Convoy ON 127 , sailing from Liverpool to New York , and sank fifteen ships for a total of , and damaged nine ( ) . Ships hit by this Wolfpack . Abbekerk . The " Abbekerk " , an unescorted 7 , 906 ton Dutch merchant ship en route from Port of Spain , Trinidad to Liverpool with 9 , 489 tons of sugar , general cargo and mail , was inspected by the Norwegian convoy escort about south - east of Convoy ONS - 122 at 13 : 40 on 24 August 1942 . Soon after she was spotted by " U - 604 " which was searching for the convoy . The U - boat pursued the ship for more than 12 hours before firing a spread of three torpedoes at 03 : 48 on the 25th . One struck the ship , which stopped . At 03 : 56 " U - 604 " hit her again and the ship sank after two boiler explosions . All the crew except two managed to abandon ship in two lifeboats , which set sail for Ireland , and the 62 men were later picked up by . Capira & Bronxville . At 10 . 05 hours on 31 August " U - 609 " fired torpedoes at Convoy SC - 97 and sank two ships . The first was the " Capira " , a 5 , 625 ton merchant ship owned by United States Lines , but flagged in Panama . The ship , loaded with trucks , tractors , steel mats , bulldozers , and 250 bags of US mail , was struck in the engine room , which immediately flooded . The ship sank in 20 minutes , killing five of the crew , but 36 men and 13 armed guards escaped in lifeboats and rafts . Of these , 33 were soon picked up by the British rescue ship " Perth " , and the remaining 16 by a corvette . The second ship was the " Bronxville " , a 4 , 663 ton Norwegian merchant ship carrying general cargo , including 531 tons of explosives . All 39 hands survived and were picked up by the British rescue ship " Perth " . The next day , 1 September , " U - 756 " was sunk with all hands by depth charge s from the corvette . The attack on Convoy ON - 127 . The convoy comprised 32 ships , escorted by the Canadian Escort Group C - 4 consisting of the destroyers and , and four Flower class corvette s ; , , , and . It was first sighted on 9 September 1942 by " U - 584 " , which lost contact during the night , but " U - 96 " sighted the convoy again around noon on the next day . Elisabeth van Belgie , Sveve & F . J . Wolfe . Between 16 : 31 and 16 : 33 " U - 96 " fired four torpedoes at four ships and hit three . The 4 , 241 ton Belgian merchant ship " Elisabeth van Belgie " sank with the loss of one man from her crew of 56 . When the " Sveve " , a 6 , 313 ton Norwegian tanker in Admiralty service as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary was hit the subsequent explosion destroyed bulkheads , opened holes on the starboard side , and wrecked the steering gear . With the ship immobile and flooding , the 37 crew and two gunners abandoned ship in four lifeboats . They were picked up within the hour by HMCS " Sherbrooke " , which then attempted to scuttle the wreck with shell fire . Eventually the ship was reboarded by four of the crew and four men from the corvette who succeeded in sinking her . The third ship hit , the 12 , 190 ton British tanker " F . J . Wolfe " was damaged , but able to continue with the convoy . Empire Oil . " U - 659 " attacked south - west of Iceland , at 21 : 10 on 10 September , and hit the 8 , 029 ton British tanker " Empire Oil " with two torpedoes , stopping her . All her crew of 53 survived , as the master , 12 crewmen and 6 gunners were picked up by HMCS " St . Croix " , and 29 crewmen and 5 gunners by HMCS " Ottawa " . At 01 : 47 the next day , " U - 584 " sank the drifting " Empire Oil " with two more torpedoes . After her strike " U - 659 " was counter - attacked by the convoy escorts and seriously damaged . She was forced to abort the patrol and returned to France . Marit II . At 00 : 16 on 11 September " U - 404 " fired three torpedoes and one hit the 7 , 417 ton Norwegian tanker " Marit II " . " U - 608 " also fired torpedoes at 00 : 20 and claimed a hit . " Marit II " stopped , but after inspecting the damage , she continued and rejoined the convoy on 12 September . She was later repaired in New York and returned to service in February 1943 . Fjordaas . " U - 218 " fired five torpedoes between 01 : 35 and 01 : 40 on 11 September , and struck the 7 , 361 ton Norwegian tanker " Fjordaas " on the port side amidships opening a 30 by hole . The crew abandoned ship in two lifeboats , but remained close by as the master , first mate and chief engineer inspected the damage . Her engines and steering gear were intact , so the crew boarded and managed to take her back to Glasgow , arriving on 15 September . Delães . At 11 : 50 on 11 September " U - 96 " attempted to stop the 415 ton neutral Portuguese three - masted fishing schooner " Delães " by firing three shots from her deck gun across her bows . " U - 96 " then sank the vessel with shells when it did not stop . The Germans claimed to see no neutrality markings , that it had steered a suspicious course close to convoy ON - 127 , and believed they heard ASDIC signals from the ship . All 54 of the crew survived . Hindanger . At 19 : 25 hours on 11 September the 4 , 884 ton Norwegian merchant ship " Hindanger " was torpedoed by " U - 584 " . One man was killed , and the rest of the crew of 41 abandoned ship . The survivors were picked up by HMCS " Amherst " , which reported that she sank the wreck with gunfire and a depth charge at 23 : 12 . However it is possible that the scuttling was unsuccessful , and the ship was actually sunk at 05 : 34 hours on 12 September by two torpedoes by " U - 608 " . Daghild . At 06 : 17 on 12 September " U - 404 " fired three torpedoes , and struck the 9 , 272 ton Norwegian tanker " Daghild " with one , making a hole 50 by in her side . However , she reached St . John ' s for repairs , and then proceeded to New York for further work . Empire Moonbeam & Hektoria . At 01 : 05 on 12 September , " U - 211 " fired torpedoes , and damaged two British ships ; the 6 , 849 ton merchant ship " Empire Moonbeam " was hit once , and the 13 , 797 ton whale factory ship " Hektoria " twice . Both vessels were sunk by " U - 608 " later that day . " Hektoria " was sunk at 03 : 51 with the loss of one crewman , while the master , 76 crewmen and eight gunners were picked up by HMCS " Arvida " . " Empire Moonbeam " was sunk at 04 : 59 with the loss of three of her crew , while the master , 44 crewmen , six gunners and one passenger were also picked up by " Arvida " . Stone Street . At 14 : 36 on 13 September " U - 594 " fired a spread of three torpedoes at the 6 , 131 ton merchant ship " Stone Street " , owned by the Waterman Steamship Corporation of Mobile , Alabama , but sailing under the Panamanian flag . The ship was about from the main convoy having developed problems with her boilers . One torpedo hit the ship in the engine room , and she listed and finally sank at 15 : 50 . The master , 39 crewmen and 12 armed guards abandoned ship in a lifeboat and raft . Eleven crewmen and two armed guards were lost . The U - boat surfaced and took the survivors on board to be questioned , and provided them with supplies of whiskey , food , cigarettes and matches before returning all but the master ( who was kept as a prisoner ) to their lifeboats . They were picked up on 19 September by the merchant ship " Irish Larch " . HMCS Ottawa . At 02 : 05 on 14 September " U - 91 " fired two torpedoes at a destroyer and observed a hit . Then they saw another destroyer , made a full circle , and fired another torpedo at 02 : 15 , which hit amidships and caused the ship to explode and sink immediately . They thought that they had sunk two destroyers , but in fact it was , which was hit twice . Only 67 of her crew of 181 survived . By now though the convoy was within range of aircraft from Newfoundland and the escorts were reinforced by the destroyers and , forcing the U - boats break off their attacks and disperse . Olaf Fostenes . At 09 : 21 on 18 September , the unescorted 2 , 994 ton Norwegian merchant ship " Olaf Fostenes " was hit by one of two torpedoes fired by " U - 380 " on her starboard side . Another torpedo struck on her port side at 11 : 20 and sank her without loss . The crew of 36 abandoned ship in two lifeboats . The U - boat surfaced and asked for the master , but were told that he had been lost . The survivors set sail for Newfoundland , were spotted by an aircraft on 26 September , and soon picked up by . Esso Williamsburg . On 18 September at 01 : 16 , about south of Cape Farewell , Greenland , " U - 211 " sighted the unescorted 11 , 237 ton American tanker " Esso Williamsburg " loaded with of Navy special fuel oil en route from Aruba to Reykjavík . The U - boat fired two torpedoes at the tanker , but missed , and then lost contact due to very poor visibility . " U - 211 " eventually reacquired her target , and at 00 : 26 on 23 September , fired a torpedo which struck her amidships , causing a violent explosion which set the ship on fire . Ten minutes later , another torpedo was fired but missed . At 01 : 05 , a third torpedo struck the tanker on the starboard side amidships , engulfing the entire ship in flames . The tanker broke in two and " U - 211 " left the scene . On 3 October " U - 254 " discovered an abandoned and burnt out tanker — the drifting wreck of " Esso Williamsburg " . The U - boat finished her off with two torpedoes . None of the 60 crew ( 8 officers , 34 men and 18 armed guards ) survived , despite " U - 254 " s report that all but one lifeboat had been launched . New York and HMS Veteran . At 23 : 57 on 25 September " U - 96 " fired two torpedoes at Convoy RB - 1 south - east of Cape Farewell , and both hit the 4 , 989 ton passenger ship " New York " . At 01 . 25 on 26 September , " U - 91 " sank " New York " with a single torpedo . Thirteen of her crew of 64 were picked up by the destroyer , which itself was torpedoed by " U - 404 " at 10 : 36 the same day , and sank immediately , killing all 237 men on board . References .