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Originally Posted by Jimbuna

1942 U-boats sink and damage 142 allied ships this month (877,774 tons)

NOVEMBER 1942

Atlantic

Allied Convoy Routes - New fast (F) and slow (S) convoys started in October and November between the UK and North African ports - UK out (KMF and KMS) and Home to UK (MKF and MKS). From April 1943 these convoys sailed to and from the Gibraltar area mainly with OS and SL-convoyed ships.

15th - The Germans reacted to the 'Torch' landings on French North Africa by concentrating U-boats off Morocco and to the west of Gibraltar. A number of empty transports were sunk, and on the 15th escort carrier "AVENGER" sailing with return convoy MKF1 was torpedoed by "U-155" and went down off the Strait of Gibraltar. Only 12 men survived. That same day, destroyer "Wrestler" also with MKF1 sank "U-411". Over the next few days US destroyers accounted for "U-173" and the RAF for "U-98".

Attacks on UK/North America Convoy ONS144 - Slow convoy ONS144 was heavily attacked in the mid-Atlantic and lost five ships. Escort was provided by the British B6 group composed largely of Norwegian-manned corvettes. On the 18th the Norwegian "MONTBRETIA" was lost to "U-624" or "U-262", but two days later Norwegian sister-ship "Potentilla sank "U-134".

21st - Aircraft of 817 Squadron from fleet carrier "Victorious" accounted for "U-517" southwest of Ireland.

Arctic Convoys - Archangel to Loch Ewe, Scotland convoy QP15 with 28 ships loses two to U-boat attack.

Battle of the Atlantic - World-wide losses in tonnage due to Axis submarines were the highest of any month of the war - 119 ships of 729,000 tons, mostly in the Atlantic. By year's end, submarines in 1942 accounted for 1,160 ships of 6,266,000 tons or a monthly average of 522,000 tons. Losses in the North and South Atlantic made up most of this total. To deal with this grave threat, a Cabinet Anti-U-boat Warfare Committee (not the 1941 Battle of the Atlantic Committee) was formed under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It saw the first need as closing the mid-Atlantic gap once and for all. Steps were taken to further expand Coastal Command and speed up the introduction of VLR aircraft. Adm Sir Max Horton, commander of home-based submarines since 1940 and a World War 1 submariner himself, succeeded Adm Noble as C-in-C, Western Approaches.

Monthly Loss Summary
- 93 British, Allied and neutral ships of 567,000 tons in the Atlantic from all causes, 1 escort carrier, 1 destroyer and 1 corvette
- 7 U-boats including one by US aircraft off Iceland, and one possibly by the RAF in the North Atlantic

https://www.naval-history.net/WW2CampaignsUboats3.htm