This Day, April 28, 1943

This Day, Seventy years ago

Seventy years ago on this day, Wednesday, April 28, 1943 during the Battle of the Atlantic no allied ships.  There were several German and Japanese ships sunk.

There was an epic battle in the North Atlantic involving U-Boats and British Escorts, convoy ONS-5:

"...In the course of a week, ONS 5 had been the subject of attacks by a force of over 40 U-boats. With the loss of 13 ships totalling 63,000 tons, the escorts had inflicted the loss of 6 U-boats, and serious damage on 7 more. This battle demonstrated that the convoy escorts had mastered the art of convoy protection; the weapon and expertise at their disposal meant that henceforth they would be able not only be able to protect their charges and repel attack, but they would also be able to inflict significant losses on the attacker. ONS 5 marked the turning point in the battle of the Atlantic. Following this action, the Allies inflicted a series of defeats and heavy losses on the U-boat Arm, a period known as Black May. This culminated in Dönitz withdrawing his forces from the North Atlantic arena.."

There were 148 U-Boats at Sea (Events this day - U-Boat Net). During the previous month March 1943, 107 merchant ships were lost to U-boats (627,000 gross tons). About two-thirds of the tonnage sunk by U-boats during March was in convoy (a record for the war).

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Since the beginning ot the year, Destroyer Escorts were entering into service at an ever increasing rate.  On April 28, 1943 the USS Griswald (DE-7) was commissioned, Lieutenant Commander Charles M. Lyons in command.