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Concept
Escort Group B7
Summary
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.
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 midsection 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, B6 and B7, were formed.
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 pace of the Battle of the Atlantic hotted up in the summer and autumn, the group's charges were escorted without loss. But in December, while escorting 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 current commander, and the group's Senior Officer – Escort (SOE), Commander Eric Tilden. Initially 35 survived the torpedoing, but only 27 managed to get on board Sunflower, which was under the command of Captain John Treasure Jones.
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 destroyers Duncan, , the frigate , and the corvettes HMS Alisma, Loosestrife, Pink, Sunflower and .
After several convoys had been escorted without loss, B7 covered HX 231 in April 1943. This came under attack by the Lowenherz U-boat group, which sank six ships, but saw two submarines destroyed and five damaged. In May 1943, B7 escorted ONS 5, sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Atlantic campaign.
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