It draws on real elements from the war, such as U-boat threats and treacherous weather, but no historical records document a convoy like SC-102 simply vanishing.
@@DarkLegends0 so my question 🙋♂️ is, is this a factual story or fictional story based on a real event on ww2 and has not mentioned cause governments don’t want more drama about the battle of the North Atlantic!!. This is similar to the disappearance of U-47!!!.
This is a fictional story inspired by the real dangers convoys faced during the Battle of the North Atlantic. While WWII saw many real losses, Convoy SC-102 is not based on a factual event, and there's no cover-up by governments. The disappearance of U-47, however, is a real mystery from WWII! Thanks for your insight!"
There is another story about a lost convoy. We are talking about the death of convoy LW-143, which sailed from the United States to the shores of Great Britain. It was one of hundreds of such convoys that crossed the Atlantic during the war years, and by no means the largest. But you won't find it in the pages of the history books. Moreover, naval officials pretend that such a convoy never took place. I came across it by chance while studying the activities of German submarines during the Second World War. In the spring of 1945, the German U-boats seemed to have nothing to catch in the Atlantic. They were opposed by hundreds of anti-submarine ships and aircraft. Rarely did one of the Dönitz boys manage to get hold of a transport, let alone a warship. And now I stumble across a previously unknown name in the list of American escort aircraft carriers that died escorting convoys. The light escort aircraft carrier Sequoia, which joined the fleet in November 1944, dies on 18 March 1945, as stated in the reference book, ‘as a result of an attack by a German U-boat’. The most interesting thing is that according to other publications, including the official US Department of Defence reference books, this ship is not visible at all. It's as if it didn't even exist! So was the Sequoia or not? To answer this question, I had to dig through a lot of sources and, to make matters worse, fly to the USA, even though I don't particularly like this country. As a result, I can give a very clear answer: Yes, the Sequoia did exist, but for some reason this fact is being hushed up. Which of the German captains sank it? An even more difficult question, because from the German side the destruction of the aircraft carrier is not visible at all! And that's rather strange, because every submarine commander would like to chalk up an aircraft carrier. The probability that someone was not convinced of his success and was modest is negligible. Modesty was not one of the virtues of German submariners. Perhaps the aircraft carrier was sunk by a boat from the ‘Antarctic convoys’? Very unlikely. U-boats travelling to the Antarctic had clear orders to avoid any combat encounter with the enemy. Even if the most powerful battleship in the US fleet appeared in front of one of them with Roosevelt himself on board, the commander had no right to fire. Most of them were not even given torpedoes so as not to be tempted. The secrecy of the Antarctic base was paramount. Perhaps everything is completely banal - there was a mistake and the Sequoia was sunk by its own submarine? Hard to believe. But perhaps I would have decided in favour of this version in the end if it hadn't been for a strange circumstance. The fact is that I switched from the list of aircraft carriers to the lists of other ships and found that the US Navy lost another light cruiser, seven destroyers and a good dozen anti-submarine ships of other classes on 18 March 1945! All were listed as sunk by U-boats, although not a single German captain took responsibility for the deaths of these ships. To be honest, such a massive loss of ships flying the Stars and Stripes flag baffled me. Especially considering the almost complete absence of losses before and after 18 March. There was also something else that puzzled me about this list. When I took a closer look, I realised: the list of sunken ships was actually a complete guard force for a small convoy! I picked up the list of American convoys faster than you read this line. Which convoy was underway on 18 March? There were several, but they all arrived safely at their port of destination. And then I noticed in the list of LW series convoys the absence of number 143. There is also LW-142, LW-144, but for some reason the 143rd is not observed. I wonder why? And then I noticed in the list of convoys of the LW series the absence of the number 143. There is also LW-142, LW-144, but for some reason the 143rd is not observed. I wonder why? The convoys left the states every three days; The 142nd left on 9 March, the 144th left on 15 March. Why was the 143rd cancelled? Or no one cancelled it and he went quietly to sea on the 12th of March? So he was travelling on the 18th? The darker it got outside the window, the darker my suspicions became. Why is the truth about the 143rd convoy being hidden? And above all, what is the truth? Suppose the convoy was destroyed by one of the ‘wolf packs’ - groups of German submarines. But then why are the Germans keeping quiet? They should have been shouting about this success at every turn! Moreover, a thorough and impartial review shows that the Germans would not have been able to assemble a group of U-boats large enough to defeat an entire convoy in March 1945. After all, a dozen warships were supposed to accompany at least 20-30 transports. To melt that many ships, at least fifty submarines had to be assembled. And this was unrealistic for the Dönitz department, especially in conditions when the best submarines were scurrying between Germany and Antarctica. The solution came suddenly. In one of the archives I came across the miraculously preserved memoirs of an old American sailor. In it, he gives a rather long and boring description of his combat path (this sea wolf served on a heavy cruiser in the Atlantic throughout the war, so he never looked the enemy in the eye). I've never seen a more boring read in my life - probably why nobody bothered to finish his memoirs. And there, in the middle of a huge haystack, was a real gem. At the end of March 1945, we were urgently sent to a rather remote area of the Atlantic. This was the so-called ‘reserve route’ - if a storm or large detachments of German U-boats got in the way of the convoys, they followed this special diversion. We rushed as if on fire, travelling at top speed, regardless of fuel consumption. Everyone on board wondered: what awaits us ahead that will send us hurtling into the full? Two days later, we received an answer. About two dozen ships were drifting on the evening ocean. Or rather, no longer ships, but charred skeletons. One of them was recognisable as a destroyer, the other resembled a Liberty carrier. Most of them sent plumes of smoke into the air. We stood on deck, mesmerised by the sight. None of us had ever seen anything like it! It was as if a huge fire had turned a convoy into a flock of ‘flying Dutchmen’, gloomy and lifeless. But we didn't have to argue for long: The unit commander gave the order to drown the appalling ruins. Our destroyers lined up in battle formation and began firing torpedo after torpedo at the dead ships. Not so dead, though: from the deck of one of them, seemingly the least injured, a signal flare went up. Another showed a clumsy human figure trying to wave his hand. It looked strange somehow, so much so that no one dared to examine it through binoculars. Nevertheless, our admiral gave the order to drown everything that was on the surface of the water. Three hours later, it was all over. We tried not to think about what it was and whether there were any people living there. As a result, we never got an explanation for these strange phenomena. The explanation is easy to find if we compare this story with the memories of an eyewitness to the American nuclear tests of 1948. Then the Yankees took a couple of old ships to the deserted atoll and detonated one of their (actually their) bombs. The picture after the explosion looked like this: Abandoned ships were not particularly attractive even before the explosion, but after the tests they were simply terrible. Most of them were burning, the ones closer to the epicentre looked like charred fires. Strange that they were floating at all. If there were people there, they would have no chance of escaping. That was the final touch and reinforced my confidence in what I had long suspected: the Germans had used their atomic bomb. The story most likely unfolded in this scenario. Convoy LW-143 left American ports on 12 March. It consisted of about 30 transport and 15-20 escort warships. After a few days en route, the convoy commander received a message about a storm raging in the middle of the Atlantic (there really was a storm, by the way) and took an alternate route. Here the convoy was spotted by German submarines and transmitted information to the base.
This is complete nonsense, firstly it claims an entire convoy was lost, yet the story states that many ships did survive the storm and even return to port. Also convoy SC-102 in did not lose any ships? Sure, other convoys did lose ships from storms. Some of these ships especially early in the war were rust-buckets that should be scrapped. But press into service, which explains why some couldn't survive storms. This story is fake news and complete utter rubbish, claiming at the start, an entire convoy was lost, then telling halfway through the story many ships survive. Obviously, who is behind this video did nil research at all. Chances they pick a convoy at random and that is about the research done.
This is a fictional story inspired by the real dangers convoys faced during the Battle of the North Atlantic. While WWII saw many real losses, Convoy SC-102 is not based on a factual event,
Thank you for your feedback! I understand the confusion. Just to clarify, this video is a work of fiction, inspired by historical themes but not based on actual events. The initial claim that the entire convoy was lost was a narrative technique to build suspense, similar to how stories often introduce tension and later reveal more information. The goal was to create an intriguing, fictional tale, not a factual recount. I appreciate your attention to detail and will make sure to highlight the fictional nature of the story more clearly in the future to avoid any misunderstanding."
How true is this story. After 30 years of studying the battle of the north Atlantic this is the first I have heard of this convoy.
It draws on real elements from the war, such as U-boat threats and treacherous weather, but no historical records document a convoy like SC-102 simply vanishing.
@@DarkLegends0 so my question 🙋♂️ is, is this a factual story or fictional story based on a real event on ww2 and has not mentioned cause governments don’t want more drama about the battle of the North Atlantic!!. This is similar to the disappearance of U-47!!!.
This is a fictional story inspired by the real dangers convoys faced during the Battle of the North Atlantic. While WWII saw many real losses, Convoy SC-102 is not based on a factual event, and there's no cover-up by governments. The disappearance of U-47, however, is a real mystery from WWII! Thanks for your insight!"
@@DarkLegends0 I am a historian on ww2 when it comes to the Battle of the North Atlantic there are plenty of mysteries!!.
@@MichaelEdwards85399also as i understand it the only time ships were relatively safe from torpedoes was during stormy high seas!
There is another story about a lost convoy. We are talking about the death of convoy LW-143, which sailed from the United States to the shores of Great Britain. It was one of hundreds of such convoys that crossed the Atlantic during the war years, and by no means the largest. But you won't find it in the pages of the history books. Moreover, naval officials pretend that such a convoy never took place.
I came across it by chance while studying the activities of German submarines during the Second World War. In the spring of 1945, the German U-boats seemed to have nothing to catch in the Atlantic. They were opposed by hundreds of anti-submarine ships and aircraft. Rarely did one of the Dönitz boys manage to get hold of a transport, let alone a warship.
And now I stumble across a previously unknown name in the list of American escort aircraft carriers that died escorting convoys. The light escort aircraft carrier Sequoia, which joined the fleet in November 1944, dies on 18 March 1945, as stated in the reference book, ‘as a result of an attack by a German U-boat’. The most interesting thing is that according to other publications, including the official US Department of Defence reference books, this ship is not visible at all. It's as if it didn't even exist!
So was the Sequoia or not? To answer this question, I had to dig through a lot of sources and, to make matters worse, fly to the USA, even though I don't particularly like this country. As a result, I can give a very clear answer: Yes, the Sequoia did exist, but for some reason this fact is being hushed up.
Which of the German captains sank it? An even more difficult question, because from the German side the destruction of the aircraft carrier is not visible at all! And that's rather strange, because every submarine commander would like to chalk up an aircraft carrier. The probability that someone was not convinced of his success and was modest is negligible. Modesty was not one of the virtues of German submariners.
Perhaps the aircraft carrier was sunk by a boat from the ‘Antarctic convoys’? Very unlikely. U-boats travelling to the Antarctic had clear orders to avoid any combat encounter with the enemy. Even if the most powerful battleship in the US fleet appeared in front of one of them with Roosevelt himself on board, the commander had no right to fire. Most of them were not even given torpedoes so as not to be tempted. The secrecy of the Antarctic base was paramount.
Perhaps everything is completely banal - there was a mistake and the Sequoia was sunk by its own submarine?
Hard to believe. But perhaps I would have decided in favour of this version in the end if it hadn't been for a strange circumstance. The fact is that I switched from the list of aircraft carriers to the lists of other ships and found that the US Navy lost another light cruiser, seven destroyers and a good dozen anti-submarine ships of other classes on 18 March 1945! All were listed as sunk by U-boats, although not a single German captain took responsibility for the deaths of these ships.
To be honest, such a massive loss of ships flying the Stars and Stripes flag baffled me. Especially considering the almost complete absence of losses before and after 18 March. There was also something else that puzzled me about this list. When I took a closer look, I realised: the list of sunken ships was actually a complete guard force for a small convoy!
I picked up the list of American convoys faster than you read this line. Which convoy was underway on 18 March? There were several, but they all arrived safely at their port of destination. And then I noticed in the list of LW series convoys the absence of number 143. There is also LW-142, LW-144, but for some reason the 143rd is not observed. I wonder why?
And then I noticed in the list of convoys of the LW series the absence of the number 143. There is also LW-142, LW-144, but for some reason the 143rd is not observed. I wonder why? The convoys left the states every three days; The 142nd left on 9 March, the 144th left on 15 March. Why was the 143rd cancelled? Or no one cancelled it and he went quietly to sea on the 12th of March? So he was travelling on the 18th?
The darker it got outside the window, the darker my suspicions became. Why is the truth about the 143rd convoy being hidden? And above all, what is the truth?
Suppose the convoy was destroyed by one of the ‘wolf packs’ - groups of German submarines. But then why are the Germans keeping quiet? They should have been shouting about this success at every turn! Moreover, a thorough and impartial review shows that the Germans would not have been able to assemble a group of U-boats large enough to defeat an entire convoy in March 1945. After all, a dozen warships were supposed to accompany at least 20-30 transports. To melt that many ships, at least fifty submarines had to be assembled. And this was unrealistic for the Dönitz department, especially in conditions when the best submarines were scurrying between Germany and Antarctica.
The solution came suddenly. In one of the archives I came across the miraculously preserved memoirs of an old American sailor. In it, he gives a rather long and boring description of his combat path (this sea wolf served on a heavy cruiser in the Atlantic throughout the war, so he never looked the enemy in the eye). I've never seen a more boring read in my life - probably why nobody bothered to finish his memoirs. And there, in the middle of a huge haystack, was a real gem.
At the end of March 1945, we were urgently sent to a rather remote area of the Atlantic. This was the so-called ‘reserve route’ - if a storm or large detachments of German U-boats got in the way of the convoys, they followed this special diversion. We rushed as if on fire, travelling at top speed, regardless of fuel consumption. Everyone on board wondered: what awaits us ahead that will send us hurtling into the full? Two days later, we received an answer.
About two dozen ships were drifting on the evening ocean. Or rather, no longer ships, but charred skeletons. One of them was recognisable as a destroyer, the other resembled a Liberty carrier. Most of them sent plumes of smoke into the air.
We stood on deck, mesmerised by the sight. None of us had ever seen anything like it! It was as if a huge fire had turned a convoy into a flock of ‘flying Dutchmen’, gloomy and lifeless. But we didn't have to argue for long: The unit commander gave the order to drown the appalling ruins. Our destroyers lined up in battle formation and began firing torpedo after torpedo at the dead ships.
Not so dead, though: from the deck of one of them, seemingly the least injured, a signal flare went up. Another showed a clumsy human figure trying to wave his hand. It looked strange somehow, so much so that no one dared to examine it through binoculars. Nevertheless, our admiral gave the order to drown everything that was on the surface of the water. Three hours later, it was all over. We tried not to think about what it was and whether there were any people living there. As a result, we never got an explanation for these strange phenomena.
The explanation is easy to find if we compare this story with the memories of an eyewitness to the American nuclear tests of 1948. Then the Yankees took a couple of old ships to the deserted atoll and detonated one of their (actually their) bombs. The picture after the explosion looked like this:
Abandoned ships were not particularly attractive even before the explosion, but after the tests they were simply terrible. Most of them were burning, the ones closer to the epicentre looked like charred fires. Strange that they were floating at all. If there were people there, they would have no chance of escaping.
That was the final touch and reinforced my confidence in what I had long suspected: the Germans had used their atomic bomb. The story most likely unfolded in this scenario.
Convoy LW-143 left American ports on 12 March. It consisted of about 30 transport and 15-20 escort warships. After a few days en route, the convoy commander received a message about a storm raging in the middle of the Atlantic (there really was a storm, by the way) and took an alternate route. Here the convoy was spotted by German submarines and transmitted information to the base.
make the narration a lil more distinctive,
Thanks for the feedback! I’ll definitely work on making the narration more distinctive in future videos.
@@DarkLegends0 ok 👍
This is complete nonsense, firstly it claims an entire convoy was lost, yet the story states that many ships did survive the storm and even return to port. Also convoy SC-102 in did not lose any ships? Sure, other convoys did lose ships from storms. Some of these ships especially early in the war were rust-buckets that should be scrapped. But press into service, which explains why some couldn't survive storms. This story is fake news and complete utter rubbish, claiming at the start, an entire convoy was lost, then telling halfway through the story many ships survive. Obviously, who is behind this video did nil research at all. Chances they pick a convoy at random and that is about the research done.
This is a fictional story inspired by the real dangers convoys faced during the Battle of the North Atlantic. While WWII saw many real losses, Convoy SC-102 is not based on a factual event,
Thank you for your feedback! I understand the confusion. Just to clarify, this video is a work of fiction, inspired by historical themes but not based on actual events. The initial claim that the entire convoy was lost was a narrative technique to build suspense, similar to how stories often introduce tension and later reveal more information. The goal was to create an intriguing, fictional tale, not a factual recount. I appreciate your attention to detail and will make sure to highlight the fictional nature of the story more clearly in the future to avoid any misunderstanding."