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ONS 5 was the 5th of the numbered ONS series of Slow trade convoys Outbound from the British Isles to North America. The North Atlantic battle surrounding it in May 1943 is regarded as the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. The battle ebbed and flowed over a period of a week, and involved more than 50 Allied ships and their escorts, and over 30 U-boats. It saw heavy losses on both sides. However it was almost the last Allied convoy to do so, while losses inflicted on attacking U-boats and U-boat groups became a besetting feature of the campaign; As such it is seen as the point when the tactical and strategic advantage passed to the Allies, and ushered in the period known to Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' as Black May. ==Background== ONS 5 consisted of 43 ships bound from Liverpool to Halifax. The ships were either in ballast or carrying trade and export goods.〔Seth (1961) p.21〕 The convoy departed Liverpool on 21 April 1943, and would arrive in Halifax three weeks later on 12 May. It was under the command of JK Brook RNR as Convoy Commodore, traveling in the Norwegian freighter ''Rena''.〔Seth (1961) p.69〕 The escort was provided by Mid-Ocean Escort Force group B7, 7 warships under Captain Peter Gretton, in the destroyer ''Duncan''. Also in the group were the destroyer ''Vidette'', frigate ''Tay'', and corvettes ''Sunflower'', ''Snowflake'','' Loosestrife'', and ''Pink''. The group also contained 2 trawlers, ''Northern Gem'' and ''Northern Spray'' as rescue ships, and the fleet oiler ''British Lady'' for mid-ocean re-fuelling. The convoy was joined by other escort vessels as the battle progressed. ONS 5 was just one of the allied convoys at sea at the end of April; also in the Western Approaches were ON 180, just leaving, and HX 234, just arriving. Approaching the Americas were ONS 4 and ON 179; departing was SC 128, while in mid-Atlantic, due to pass ONS 5 east of Greenland, was SC 127. Two other east-bound convoys, HX 235 and HX 236, were also in mid-Atlantic, following a southerly route. This accounted for over 350 ships on the move in the north Atlantic at that time. Ranged against them were 58 U-boats in 3 patrol lines; ''Specht'' (Woodpecker) with 17 boats south of Greenland on the western side of the Air Gap; ''Meise'' (Bluetit) with 30 boats east of Greenland covering the northern route, and'' Amsel'' (Blackbird) with 11 boats, south of'' Meise'' covering the southern route. ''Meise'' had been deployed to catch SC 127, which had been identified by B-Dienst, but on 26 April SC 127 had slipped through a gap in the line and escaped undetected. Realizing what had happened on 27 April, and aware that a slow west-bound convoy was imminent, ''Meise'' was re-configured; the easternmost boats (16 in all) formed the patrol line ''Star'' (Starling) to intercept it. At 8am on 28 April ''U-650'' sighted ONS 5, and group ''Star'' quickly gathered for the attack. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Convoy ONS 5」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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