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THE FORGOTTEN CONVOY
SS Beaconhill
The Panama Transport Company tanker Beaconhill was in the famous "Forgotten Convoy" which sailed from Scotland in February, 1943,and was "lost" for eight months in north Russianports.
The Beaconhill had loaded at Philadelphia 74,028 barrels of hydrocodimer and alkylate - two of the most essential components of 100 octane aviation gasoline. The crew were provided with extra warm clothing for the Arctic winter and the vessel was stored with a four months' supply of provisions.
Under the command of Captain Kenneth Wing, with Chief Engineer William L. Naughton in charge of her engineroom, the Beaconhill was in a convoy of six ships which left New York on January 4, 1943. These vessels were destined to take part in the famous north Russian adventure.Bound For Murmansk
Captain Wing, in an interview for this history, told the story of the Beaconhill's experience:
"We sailed from New York in a slow convoy which took 24 days to cross the Atlantic, due to heavy head winds and severe weather. Reaching the Clyde on January 28, the Beaconhill and the other five ships missed the convoy they had been expected to join. We waited more than two weeks for another and on February 13 started for Loch Ewe, arriving on the 15th, when we put to sea in a formation of about 25 vessels bound for Murmansk.
"In this convoy there were two other oil carriers - the British Governor and a Norwegian tanker. The Beaconhill was armed with a 3-inch high altitude dual purpose gun forward, a 5-inch gun aft, and eight 20-millimeter guns in three emplacements - two forward, four amidships, and two aft, in nests or gun tubs. The U. S. Navy armed guard numbered 30. The Beaconhill carried a merchant crew of 42 officers and men.
"We proceeded north under the protection of a powerful escort force - a British cruiser and about 25 corvettes, fast minesweepers, and other types of naval vessels. There were apparently as many escort units as there were merchant ships and they formed a double ring around the convoy.
"Off Iceland the weather was freezing cold; headwinds and rough seas delayed the ships. These conditions were encountered until we passed Bear Island, due north of North Cape on the edge of the ice floes.
Bombing Attacks
"Two days before we neared Bear Island, German observation planes came over and circled the convoy at dusk. At noon the next day there was a bombing attack. The approach of the enemy planes under cloud cover was detected by radar and they got a warm reception; none of the ships was hit. During the next two days, between noon and 1:30 p.m., air attacks were persistent, but no damage was done. The anti-aircraft fire of the naval vessels was intense and very effective in keeping the German planes at a distance. The following 48 hours were quiet; we had snow squalls and poor visibility and the enemy could not find us.
"On February 26 the convoy divided; one group went to Murmansk and the other, including the Beaconhill, headed for Archangel.
"After the convoy was split, our group proceeded with a number of escorts along the Kola Peninsula in the Barents Sea. Off Svyatoi Nos Lighthouse (Lat. 68°-09' North, Long. 39°49' East), our escort vessels were forced to leave us because of the ice. We were met by ice-breakers and one ice-cutter was assigned to each two ships. It took five days to go 150 miles through the ice! A German plane flew over and dropped a few bombs, but the attack was a failure.
Mixed Cargo
"Passing through the White Sea and the Gulf of Archangel, we arrived at Molotovsk on March 2 with important supplies of food and war materials - including tanks, planes, jeeps and PT boats.
"Molotovsk, on Dvina Bay, is the deep sea port for Archangel; it is about 30 miles west of that city and is connected by a railroad which runs along the southern branch of the Dvina River estuary. The port facilities of Molotovsk were still being built when the Beaconhill was there. A channel 35 feet deep had been cut through a sand bar and the artificial harbor, dredged out to depths of 32 to 35 feet, had enough dockage for five or six ships. There were few cranes, but the Russians had construct-ed three storage tanks for gasoline and some underground tanks.
"We had to wait for the Norwegian tanker to unload ahead of us. She pumped a certain amount of gasoline into the shore tanks, which had a total capacity of about 120,000 barrels, and then we followed, discharging our hydrocodimer and alkylate to blend with the gasoline.
"Only a few tank cars were available at Molotovsk and when the storage tanks were full there were delays where the oil trains made the long haul to Moscow and return. It was mainly for this reason that 10 days were required to discharge our cargo.
"Molotovsk was attacked by German bombers shortly after the Beaconhill left on March 20 to go to Murmansk. But the air raids on Molotovsk were infrequent compared to those on Murmansk, which was bombed almost continuously, as was the Murmansk-Moscow railroad. Tankers were therefore safer at Molotovsk and the oil they delivered there had a better chance to reach Moscow by rail.
"While we lay at Murmansk from March 23 to April 11, awaiting a convoy, we were constantly being subjected to air attacks and a British tanker was disabled. While we were returning to Molotovsk we had pne air raid at night, but none of the vessels was hit.
Russian Shuttle
"On arrival back at Molotovsk I was told we would be there indefinitely. A number of freighters were in port, but when the ice broke in the Dvina River the cankers were sent to Archangel for their own safety and because the Russians wanted the anchorage at Molotovsk clear for other ships and for harbor work.
"We had been at Archangel for three days when the Beaconhill was ordered to Murmansk with a cargo of fuel oil for the Russian government. It took six days to load the oil at Molotovsk and get it to Murmansk and we made five trips back and forth between the two ports. Other tankers were assigned to the same task, but the Beaconhill was the only vessel that made more than one delivery, thus earning the name 'Murmansk Ferry Boat'.
Two Months of Daylight
"The U. S. Navy had a post at Archangel; the naval attache in charge of the staff was Commander S. B. Frankel, USN. On the staff were Lieutenant John H. Harshaw, USN, and Platoon Sergeant Michael C. Hutnick, USMC, both of Russian de-scent. They spoke the language fluently.
"As previously mentioned, the Beaconhill had provisions for four months. Finally, when the stores were used up, we received food from the Russians, supplemented by American and British 'survivor rations' of beef, cigarettes, and milk. The Russians supplied us with rice, beans, tea, fish, and cheese.
"For about two months we lived in constant daylight. The coldest winter day was 8 degrees below zero. To overcome their boredom, the seamen formed hitchhiking trips, traveling as far as 200 miles inland. Baseball tournaments were organized among the ships, and a theatrical company, recruited from the crews, staged amateur productions.
"At Molotovsk, entertainment facilities consisted of occasional movies and dances for foreigners arranged by the government's Intourist' agency. Vodka, when available, was rationed by the very practical method of limiting the supply according to the amount of noise made by the drinkers - the more noise, the less vodka.
Forgotten Convoy Certificate
"While the crews of the Beaconhill and other ships were in Murmansk, Commander Frankel, in recognition of the tough time they had, issued to each member of the American crews a certificate attesting to his membership in the 'Society of the Forgotten Convoy of North Russia'. The certificates bear the seal of the United States Embassy and the signature of the naval attache.
"The wording of the certificate follows:
'Be it known to all men by these presents: That ................ (name), .......... (rating),
on board the SS Beaconhill, did suffer eight months' confinement in North Russia and did undergo all privations connected therewith, that he did shiver through the Arctic and bask in the rays of the midnight sun, and by virtue of these facts is herewith declared to be a certified member of the Forgotten Convoy.'
"The escorting vessels finally arrived and we took departure from Archangel on November 1, in ballast. When we dropped anchor in the Clyde on November 14 a launch came alongside and we were boarded by representatives of the War Shipping Administration who brought stores of meat and other food.
"We sailed from the Clyde November 18 and put in at New York December 3 - eleven months after we started for the United Kingdom. "We had heard 'Lord Haw Haw' boast in one of his broadcasts that the Lost Convoy would never return. We were lucky. A few weeks after the Beaconhill arrived in New York, the British Admiralty announced the sinking of the Scharnhorst and the saving of a large convoy on the Murmansk run we had so recently made."
The Admiralty communique to which Captain Wing referred was issued on December 26, 1943, and began as follows:
"This afternoon, December 26, the German battleship Scharnhorst was brought into action by units of the Home Fleet, under command of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, which was covering a north Russian convoy. The Scharnhorst was sunk this evening off North Cape, Norway."
Captain Kenneth Wing joined the Company as a chief mate on August 15, 1919. He has had continuous service as master since October 31, 1939.
Chief Engineer William L. Naughton was first employed by the Company as a messboy June 21, 1922, and as a wiper on December 19 of that year. He has had continuous service as a licensed officer since September 29, 1929 and was made chief engineer on March 5, 1942.
The SS Beaconhill (ex Haven) was built in 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Ltd., at Sparrows Point, Md.
A single-screw vessel of 11,030 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 27 feet, li/^ inches, the Beaconhill has an overall length of 463 feet, a length between perpendiculars of 435 feet, a moulded breadth of 56 feet, and a depth moulded of 33 feet, 6 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 74,722 barrels, she has an, assigned pumping rate of 3,500 barrels an hour.
Her triple expansion engine, supplied with steam by three Scotch boilers, develops 2,800 indicated horsepower and gives her a classification certified speedof 10.2 knots.
On September 3, 1939, the Beaconhill was with the tied-up fleet in the Patuxent River. Brought back into service, she was sold to the Panama Transport Company on November 1, 1939 and, with a Danish crew, loaded at Aruba 72,178 barrels of gasoline for Swansea, Wales, where she arrived January 9, 1940. At Swansea her Danish crew was replaced by Canadians.
Following a subsequent Atlantic crossing from Aruba to London, the Beaconhill spent more than a year carrying gasoline, kerosene, Diesel oil, and blending stock from Caribbean ports to South America, Aruba, Puerto Rico, New York, Baltimore, and Canada; with two cargoes going to Teneriffe, Canary Islands. On December 26, 1940, she was manned by an American crew, with Captain Graham C. Covert as master and Chief Engineer Alvah B. Strout in charge of her engineroom.
On September 15, 1941, the vessel sailed from Curacao with gasoline for Lourenco Marques, Portuguese East Africa. She then proceeded to Abadan, where she loaded, from November, 1941 to April, 1942, five cargoes of gasoline, benzine, and kerosene. These were discharged, in order, at Cochin, India; Beira, Portuguese East Africa; Massawa, North Africa, Durban and Port Elizabeth, South Africa; and Lourenco Marques.
Time chartered to the War Shipping Administration on April 20, 1942, the Beaconhill returned to the Atlantic, loading at Trinidad June 14, 1942, for Barry Docks, Wales, and at Curacao September 24 for Liverpool. After this the tanker sailed on her memorable voyage to the Russian Arctic.
When the Beaconhill left New York on January 4, 1943, General Elsenhower's forces had been in North Africa nearly two months and by the time the tanker reached the Clyde, Tripoli had fallen to the Allies. Before her Murmansk convoy sailed from Loch Ewe, the Germans had capitulated at Stalingrad. By December 3, 1943, when the Beaconhill returned to New York, Italy had surrendered, the Russians were in Kiev, United States Marines had taken Tarawa, and the momentous meeting at Teheran had just ended.
During the rest of the war, the Beaconhill remained in the western Atlantic, lifting cargoes of crude, Diesel, and fuel oil at Ca-ribbean ports and discharging them in South America and at New York, Baltimore, Charleston, Wilmington, Providence, Aruba, Curacao, and the Panama Canal Zone.
Her wartime transportation record was in summary as follows:
The American masters of the Beaconhill during the war were Captains Gunnar Gjertsen, Charles Warner, Graham C. Covert, Ben M. Koerner, Ole A. Faran, Kenneth Wing, Christian C. Quist, and John O'Kelly.
In charge of her engineroom were American Chief Engineers John A. Waite, Alvah B. Strout, Thomas O'Brien, Anton Hogelin, William L. Naughton, Waltel R. Gillam, and Frank J. Burchalewski.
The Danish master of the Beaconhill was Captain Akton Westergaard and her engineroom in this period was in charge of Chief Engineer George V. Gensemann.
Captain Christian C. Quist, master of the Beaconhill from December 7, 1943 to September 30, 1944, was commended by Admiral Emory S. Land, War Shipping Administrator. Admiral Land's letter, which follows, referred to a voyage from Caripito to Santos, Brazil, with a cargo of fuel oil, in March, 1944:
WAR SHIPPING ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON
Captain C. C. Quist
Master—SS Beaconhill
c/o Postmaster
New York, New York
My dear Captain Quist:
We have received advices through Naval channels that you are to be commended for the assistance you rendered in connection with the navigation of the convoy during a recent South Atlantic coastwise voyage.
I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the fine job you are doing. It is through cooperation such as this that we are able to obtain the greatest efficiency in our war effort.
Sincerely yours,
E.S. Land
Administrator
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