Convoy TM 1
Convoy TM 1 was the code name for an Allied convoy during the Second World War. Nine tankers, escorted by Royal Navy warships, attempted to reach Gibraltar from Trinidad. The convoy was attacked by a U-boat wolf pack in the central Atlantic Ocean, and most of the merchant vessels were sunk. This was one of the most successful attacks on Allied supply convoys throughout the entire war. The convoy was defended by the destroyer , and three s, , and . Seven tankers were sunk during the attacks, two surviving to reach Gibraltar. Two U-boats were damaged during  the attacks. Battle. located HMS "Godetia" on 29 December 1942, escorting two tankers to join up with the main convoy. made contact with the convoy on 3 January and attacked and damaged the tanker , forcing her crew to abandon her though the ship remained afloat. By now aware that a large tanker convoy was headed through the Atlantic, presumably to deliver supplies to the allied armies in North Africa, Admiral Karl Dönitz, the German BdU (commander in chief of U-Boats) ordered wolf pack "Dolphin" to move into the area and attempt to intercept it. The attacks resumed on the  night of 10/11 January, with "U-522" torpedoing . Her crew abandoned her, but the ship was only damaged and did not sink until "U-620" arrived and sank her with a "coup-de-grace" torpedo and gunfire. Other attacks that evening and over the next two days, by "U-571" and "U-511", fail to score any successes. By now the convoy was approaching Gibraltar, and the destroyer and the corvettes and were sent out to reinforce the escorts. Supported by allied air cover, the convoy reached Gibraltar without further loss on 14 January. Two tankers, "Cliona" and "Vanja", survived from the original nine . The final action came on 24 January, when the abandoned hulk of "British Vigilance", torpedoed by "U-514" on 3 January, was discovered by , and promptly sunk.