Escort Group B7
Introduction '''Escort Group B7''' was a British formation of the Royal Navy which saw action during the Second World War; principally in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Formation Escort Group B7 was one of seven such British naval groups which served with the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF). It provided convoy protection in the most dangerous middle section of the North Atlantic route. The MOEF was originally to be five American, five British and four Canadian groups. B7 was formed in the spring of 1942, following the inability of the USN to form groups A-4 and A-5 due to other commitments. To replace them, two new escort groups, Escort Group B6 and Escort Group B7, were formed.
Service history B-7 Group Leader HMS ''Firedrake''Led by , under the leadership of Commander William Banks, B7 comprised six s;  from the disbanded American group A-5, and , , ,  and. These were joined later by the destroyers HMS ''Chesterfield'' and ''Ripley''.B7's first convoys, in the spring of 1942, were uneventful and as the Battle of the Atlantic increased in intensity in the summer and autumn, the group's charges were escorted without loss. In December, while escorting Convoy ON 153, the convoy came under attack, and three ships were sunk. During this action, on 11 December, ''Firedrake'' was torpedoed by the U-boat  and sank with the loss of 168 of her crew, including her commander and the group's Senior Officer – Escort (SOE), Commander Eric Tilden. Thirty-five survived the torpedoing but only 27 managed to get on board ''Sunflower'', which was under the command of Captain John Treasure Jones.Corvettes of B7 Group moored in Londonderry. ''Alisma'', ''Dianella'', ''Sunflower'' & ''Kingcup''. The white areas are where the official censor has painted out security sensitive materialB7 Group Leader HMS ''Duncan''B7's new SOE was Cdr Peter Gretton, of , a tough and capable leader, who quickly molded the group to his own image. At this point B7 comprised the destroyer ''Duncan'', , the frigate , and the corvettes HMS ''Alisma'', ''Loosestrife'', ''Pink'', ''Sunflower'' and .After several convoys had been escorted without loss, B7 covered Convoy HX 231 in April 1943.This came under attack by the ''Lowenherz'' U-boat wolfpack, which sank six ships, fo the loss of two submarines destroyed and five damaged. In May 1943, B7 escorted Convoy ONS 5, sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Atlantic campaign. In a week long battle against three wolfpacks, ''Star'', ''Amstel'' and later ''Fink'', Convoy ONS 5 lost 13 ships, for the destruction of six U-boats, and the disabling of seven. At least four of these were credited to ships of B7.Later that month returning with Convoy SC 130, B7 saw the destruction of between three and five U-boats (sources vary) for no losses. at least one of these was credited to ships of B7.A series of uneventful convoys followed, as the U-boat Arm withdrew from the North Atlantic after 'Black May', while Gretton lobbied for a chance for B7 to operate as a Support Group. In October 1943 this was given, as the German U-boat Arm launched its autumn offensive.B7 was involved in the battles for convoys ONS 20 and ON 206, Convoy ON 207 and Convoy ON 208, during which period nine U-boats were destroyed. The battle for Convoy ONS20/206 saw six U-boats sunk, of which  was credited to ''Sunflower'' and  was damaged by ''Duncan'', to be destroyed later in an air attack. Convoy ON 207 saw three U-boats destroyed,  by ships of B7, another shared with aircraft.During this period B7 had steamed , crossing the Atlantic five times. The group members had refuelled at sea on six occasions, and had also re-armed with depth charges at sea.Following this B7 returned to escort duty on the North Atlantic route, continuing without major incident until the group was disbanded in the summer of 1944 as part of the preparations for Operation Neptune, the naval contribution to the Normandy invasion.
Losses ===Ships lost===* HMS ''Firedrake'' torpedoed and sunk by ''U-211'' escorting convoy ON 153 on 16 December 1942.===U-boats destroyed===Source:* ''U-192'' depth-charged by ''Pink'' on 5 May 1943. * ''U-638'' depth-charged by ''Loosestrife'' on 5/6 May 1943. * ''U-125'' rammed by HMS ''Oribi'' and finished off with gun-fire by ''Snowflake'' on 6 May 1943. * ''U-531'' depth-charged by ''Snowflake'' and hit by Hedgehog (a new type of anti-submarine mortar) from ''Vidette'' on 6 May 1943. * ''U-381'' depth-charged by ''Snowflake'' and hit by Hedgehog from ''Duncan'' on 19 May 1943. * ''U-631'' depth-charged by ''Sunflower'' on 17 October 1943. * ''U-274'' attacked by aircraft, hit by Hedgehog from ''Duncan'' on 26 October 1943. * ''U-282'' by ''Duncan'' and ''Vidette'' on 29 October 1943.
Commanding officers - Senior Officer Escort +Senior Officer EscortFromToName 4 May 1942 1 September 1942 Cdr William Eric Banks 1 September 1942 17 December 1942 Cdr Eric Henry Tilden December 1942 May 1944 Cdr Peter Gretton
Notes
References * * Peter Gretton : ''Convoy Escort Commander'', (1964). ISBN (none)* * * * * Capt. John Treasure Jones: ''Tramp to Queen'', (2008).
External links * http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4706.html Alisma at uboatnet* http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4386.html Firedrake at uboatnet* http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-23F-Firedrake.htm Firedrake at naval history* http://www.hmsfiredrake.co.uk/ Firedrake Association with survivors' accounts* http://www.carlsen.karoo.net/ Sunflower crewman's website describing his 2nd Drafting* http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-10DD-18D-Duncan.htm Duncan at naval history