Convoy SL 125
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German cryptographers decoded message traffic containing tactical information about convoy SL 125, and wolf pack Streitaxt (battle axe), consisting of U-103, U-134, U-203, U-409, U-440, U-509, U-510, U-572, U-604, and U-659 was assembled 23 October to intercept the convoy west of the Canary Islands. The only United States merchant ship and escorting sloop HMS Bridgewater, Isles-class trawler HMS Copinsay and Free French corvette Commandant Drogou had been detached by the time U-203 found the convoy on 25 October. U-203 was depth charged and damaged while attempting to attack the straggling British tanker Anglo Maersk. The tanker was subsequently shadowed by U-134 and damaged by U-509.
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27 October
The armed merchant cruiser and troopship HMS Esperance Bay was detached with the Shakespearian-class trawler HMS Juliet, tugboat HMS Salvonia, and repair ship HMNZS Kelantan when U-409 found and reported the main convoy of 37 ships on 27 October. Forty-one merchant ships were left in the care of Flower-class corvettes Petunia, Cowslip, Crocus, HMS Dahlia, and Woodruff. U-659 was depth charged and damaged while attempting to attack the convoy. After moonrise, U-604 sank the damaged Anglo Maersk while U-509 torpedoed the British freighters Pacific Star and Stentor.
28 October
After unsuccessful submerged daylight attacks on 28 October, U-509 sank the British freighter Nagpore and damaged the British freighter Hopecastle after sunset. U-203 sank the damaged Hopecastle before dawn.
29 October
U-509 sank the British freighter Britanny during foul weather on the night of 29–30 October. The British tanker Bullmouth (sailing in ballast) was damaged by U-409 and sunk by U-659. The British freighter Corinaldo was damaged by both U-509 and U-659 before being sunk by U-203.
30 October
Improved weather brought coordinated attacks on the night of 30–31 October. U-409 torpedoed the British freighter Silverwillow while U-604 torpedoed the British transport President Doumer and the British freighter Baron Vernon. The British freighter Tasmania was damaged by U-659 and sunk by U-103. The Norwegian freighter Alaska was damaged by U-510, but reached England safely with the help of newly arriving escorts.
Aftermath
Long-range bombers of RAF Coastal Command arrived over the convoy on 31 October. Admiral Dönitz cancelled operations on the morning of 1 November. The convoy was reinforced with eleven more escorts and reached Liverpool on 9 November. It had suffered the greatest loss of any SL convoy, but its timing focused the available U-boats in the area away from the Operation Torch convoys for the allied invasion of North Africa on 8 November 1942. Some historians have suggested that the trade convoy SL 125 was an intentional tactical diversion to keep U-boats away from the loaded troop transports. Eleven of the ships surviving this convoy sailed two months later with convoy ON 154, in which four of them were sunk.