Monthly
Loss Summary: 34 British, Allied and neutral ships of
86,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - JUNE 1941
Malta - With German
forces now in Greece and Crete, the problems of supplying
Malta were even greater. From airfields in Crete as well
as Libya, the Luftwaffe and Italian Air force were as
close to the eastern convoy routes from Alexandria, as
Sardinia and Sicily were to the western ones through the
Strait of Gibraltar. Nevertheless the men and material
were fought through for the defence of Malta and its use
as an offensive base. In the one month of June alone,
carrier
Ark Royal once on her own, at other
times accompanied by
Furious or
Victorious, flew off more than 140 aircraft
for Malta. Meanwhile submarines carried in urgently
needed fuel and stores.
Middle East -
Concerned about German influence in Vichy French
Lebanon and Syria, British, Dominion and Free
French forces invaded on the 8th from points in
Palestine, Jordan and later from Iraqi territory. The
Free French entered Damascus on the 21st, but strong
resistance continued into July. During the campaign a
Royal Navy cruiser and destroyer force, including
cruisers Australian
Perth and New Zealand
Leander, provided close support on the Army's
flank. They also fought a series of actions with Vichy
French warships as well as German aircraft. A number of
British destroyers were damaged, but a French destroyer
and submarine sunk. 16th - Fleet Air Arm
torpedo-bombers flying from Cyprus sank the large
destroyer "CHEVALIER PAUL". 25th
- Submarine "Parthian" torpedoed submarine
"SOUFFLEUR".
North Africa -
Another unsuccessful British offensive to relieve Tobruk
started from Sollum on the 15th (Operation 'Battleaxe').
Within two days the operation was called off. A heavy
price had to be paid for the supply of besieged Tobruk by
the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships involved.
All trips took place under continual threat of German and
Italian aircraft attack. 24th - Sloop "AUCKLAND" was lost off Tobruk.
30th -
Australian destroyer
"WATERHEN" was bombed and sunk off Bardia.
27th - Submarine
"Triumph" on patrol off the Egyptian coast sank
the Italian submarine "SALPA".
Monthly Loss Summary: 3 British or Allied
merchant ships of 9,000 tons
JULY 1941
ATLANTIC - JULY 1941
Iceland - US forces
landed in Iceland to take over the defence of the island
and surrounding seas from Britain.
Battle
of the Atlantic - Continuous
escort was now being provided for convoys to North
America and from West Africa. Three new convoys were
introduced: (1) UK/North America Fast, ONF, (2) UK/North
America Slow, ONS - the two replacing the Outward Bound,
OB convoys, and (3) UK/Sierra Leone, OS. Air cover from
Ireland, Iceland and Newfoundland was improving, but RAF
Coastal Command lacked the aircraft to cover the
mid-Atlantic gap. It was in this area, some 800 miles
long that U-boats were now concentrating. Between January
and June 1941, North Atlantic merchant shipping losses
had averaged 300,000 tons per month. From July to
December 1941 they were considerably down at an average
level of 104,000 tons. The reasons were varied - evasive
convoy routing and more effective aircraft deployment
from the 'Ultra’ work, introduction of radars and
high frequency direction finding (HF/DF), the
availability of more escorts, and continuous escort.
Losses due to German aircraft were also well down as many
were transferred to the Russian front.
Monthly Loss Summary: 23 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 98,000 tons in the Atlantic from all
causes
EUROPE - JULY 1941
Eastern Front -
German forces advanced in all sectors, and in the Centre
captured Minsk, capital of Byelorussia and surrounded
Smolensk on the road to Moscow. Russian losses in men and
material were immense. On the 12th, an Anglo-Soviet
Mutual Assistance Pact was signed in Moscow. Both
countries agreed not to seek separate peace negotiations
with the Axis powers.
19th - Submarine
"UMPIRE", working up and on passage north
with an East Coast convoy, was rammed and sunk off Cromer
by an armed trawler escorting a southbound convoy.
German Heavy Ships
- RAF Bomber Command badly damaged battlecruiser "Scharnhorst" at La Pallice, France on the 24th.
Heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" was also damaged in July. With
"Gneisenau" in Brest and "Lutzow"
back in Germany, both undergoing repairs, the main big
ship threat was from the new battleship
"Tirpitz".
Monthly Loss Summary: 18 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 15,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - JULY 1941
5th - Submarine
"Torbay" on patrol in the Aegean Sea sank
Italian submarine "JANTINA".
11th - On the
Tobruk Run, destroyer
"DEFENDER" was bombed by
German or Italian aircraft and went down off Sidi
Barrani.
Middle East - An
Allied/Vichy French armistice signed in the middle of the
month brought the fighting in Lebanon and Syria to an
end.
20th - Two more
British submarines fell victim to effective Italian
anti-submarine forces during convoy attacks in July - the
first was "UNION" to torpedo boat "Circe"
off Pantelleria. 30th - The second was
"CACHALOT" while on passage
from Malta to Alexandria, rammed by torpedo boat
"Papa".
21st-24th, Malta Convoy, Operation
'Substance' -
'Substance'
set out from Gibraltar with six transports covered by
Force H with
Ark Royal,
battlecruiser
Renown, cruisers
and destroyers. Battleship Nelson, three cruisers and more destroyers
reinforced Force H from the Home Fleet. On the 23rd,
south of Sardinia, sustained Italian air attacks started.
Cruiser
Manchester was hit and destroyer
"FEARLESS" sunk by aircraft torpedoes. Next
day the transports reached Malta safely. On the 26th
the Italians launched an attack on Grand Harbour with
explosive motor-boats, human torpedoes and aircraft, but
failed to reach the recently arrived ships. By the 27th,
Force H and a return empty convoy were in Gibraltar.
During this operation, Mediterranean Fleet carried out
diversionary manoeuvres in the eastern basin.
Monthly Loss Summary: 2 British or Allied
merchant ships of 8,000 tons
AUGUST 1941
ATLANTIC - AUGUST 1941
United States - Winston Churchill
crossed the Atlantic in battleship
Prince of Wales to meet President Roosevelt
off Argentia, Newfoundland between the 9th and 12th.
Together they drafted the Atlantic Charter setting out their aims for war and
peace. This was signed by Britain, the United States and
13 Allied governments in September. Discussion also took
place on US Navy involvement in the Battle of the
Atlantic, which initially revolved around the supply of
US forces in Iceland.
3rd - Southwest of
Ireland, ships of the 7th Escort Group escorting Sierra
Leone/UK convoy SL81 - destroyers "Wanderer"
and Norwegian "St Albans” and corvette
"Hydrangea", sank "U-401". 12th - Corvette "PICOTEE" with the 4th Escort Group
accompanying convoy ONS4 was detached to search for a
reported U-boat south of Iceland, and disappeared, sunk
without trace by "U-568". 25th - South
of Iceland, armed trawler "Vascama" and a RAF
Catalina of No 209 Squadron sank "U-452".
V & W-class destroyer
HMS Westcott in 1943. Note the cluttered deck and array of aerials (CyberHeritage)
7th - Submarine
"Severn" on patrol for U-boats attacking HG
convoys west of Gibraltar, torpedoed and sank Italian
submarine "BIANCHI".
19th-23rd, Attacks on UK/Gibraltar convoy
OG71 - A total of nine merchantmen were lost. Of the
ships with the 5th Escort Group Norwegian destroyer
"BATH" was sunk on the 19th by
"U-204" or "U-201", and corvette "ZINNIA" by "U-564" to the west
of Portugal on the 23rd.
27th - Capture of German
"U-570" - "U-570" on patrol south of Iceland
surfaced and was damaged by depth charges from an RAF
Hudson of No 269 Squadron, piloted by Sqn Ldr Thompson.
She soon surrendered and was towed into Iceland. After
refitting, "U-570" was commissioned into the
Royal Navy as HMS Graph.
German Raiders -
"Orion" returned to France from the Indian
Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope. In 16 months she had
accounted for 9 1/2 ships of 60,000 tons, some in
co-operation with "Komet".
Russian Convoys - The first Russian convoy,
'Dervish', sailed from Iceland with seven ships and
arrived safely. Carrier
Argus accompanied
them to fly off Hurricanes for Kola.
Monthly Loss Summary: 25 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 84,000 tons in the Atlantic from all
causes, 3 escorts; 3 German and 1 Italian U-boats
EUROPE - AUGUST 1941
Eastern Front - The
attack North on Leningrad continued. In the Centre
Smolensk was taken, but the drive on Moscow halted.
Instead German forces were directed South to help
capture Kiev in the Ukraine.
Monthly Loss
Summary: 11 British, Allied and neutral ships of
20,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - AUGUST 1941
Malta Convoy, Operation 'Style' -
Early in the month, two cruisers,
cruiser-minelayer
Manxman and two destroyers
successfully carried reinforcements and supplies from
Gibraltar to Malta. On the way, cruiser
Hermione rammed and sank Italian submarine "TEMBIEN" southwest of Sicily on the 2nd.
18th - Submarine
"P-32" was lost on mines off Tripoli as
she attempted to attack a convoy entering the port.
"P-33" was also lost around the same time
in the same area, also possibly on mines.
26th - As an
Italian battlefleet returned from a sortie against Force
H, submarine “Triumph” torpedoed and damaged
heavy cruiser "Bolzano" north of Sicily.
27th - Covering the
transport of troops into and out of besieged Tobruk,
cruiser
Phoebe was hit by an aircraft torpedo.
Middle East - The
possibility of a pro-Axis coup d'etat led to Anglo-Soviet
forces going into Persia on the 25th from points
in Iraq, the Persian Gulf and Russia. A cease-fire was
announced within four days, but later violations led to
Teheran being occupied in the middle of September. The
landings in Persia from the Gulf were made from a small
force of British, Australian and Indian warships of the
East ladies Command.
|
Middle East & East
Africa
With the exception
of small parts of Ethiopia, the whole of the
Middle East with its vital oilfields and
pipelines together with East Africa were now
under Allied control. |
Monthly
Loss Summary: 2 British or Allied merchant ships of 6,000
tons
SEPTEMBER 1941
ATLANTIC - SEPTEMBER 1941
8th - As Italian
submarines patrolled to the west of Portugal for HG
convoys, "BARACCA" was depth charged and rammed by destroyer
"Croome". 21st - Destroyer
"Vimy" claimed to have sunk Italian submarine "MALASPINA" during attacks on Gibraltar/UK
convoy HG73. She may in fact have been lost earlier
through unknown causes.
10th-19th, Attacks on Halifax/UK Convoys
- Attacks
southwest of Iceland led to the first success and loss by
Royal Canadian Navy forces in the Battle of the Atlantic.
Against SC42, "U-501" was sunk by Canadian corvettes
"Chambly" and "Moosejaw" on the 10th.
Next day RN destroyers "Leamington" and
"Veteran" of 2nd EG sank "U-207". In exchange, SC42 lost 16 of its
64 merchantmen. A few days later, on the 19th, Canadian
corvette "LEVIS" with SC44 was lost to "U-74"
southeast of Cape Farewell.
Russian Convoys - Russian convoy PQ1 and
return QP1 both set out in September. A total of
24 ships passed through without loss by early October
Battle of the Atlantic - Escort carrier
Audacity
sailed with UK/Gibraltar convoy OG74. Her American-built Martlet fighters shot down the first Kondor to fall
victim to an escort carrier, but U-boats still managed to
sink five merchantmen. The US Navy started to escort HX
and ON convoys between Newfoundland and the Mid Ocean
Meeting Point (MOMP), south of Iceland, where the Royal
Navy took over. Five US destroyers began on the 17th with
HX150 (50 ships). Earlier on the 4th, the first incident
occurred when US destroyer "Greer" on passage
to Iceland was in action with "U-652". There
was no damage to either ship. The increased number of
U-boats available to Adm Doenitz (approaching 200 with 30
operational) allowed him to establish patrol lines in the
Atlantic. It was into these that the two SC convoys 42
and 44 (above), had stumbled with such heavy losses.
Convoys SL87 and HG73 also lost badly and the four
convoys between them saw a total of 36 merchant ships go
down.
Monthly Loss Summary: 53 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 200,000 tons in the Atlantic from
all causes, 1 escort; 2 German and 2 Italian U-boats
EUROPE - SEPTEMBER 1941
Eastern Front - In
the North the siege of Leningrad was about to
start, and would not be lifted completely until early
1944. Kiev in the South was captured and Centre
Army Group released to continue the Moscow offensive. Further
South still, the Crimea was cut off and German forces
drove on towards Rostov-on-Don.
Monthly Loss Summary: 13 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 55,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - SEPTEMBER 1941
Malta - Carriers
Ark Royal and
Furious between
them flew off over 50 Hurricanes for Malta in two
separate operations. The 10th Submarine Flotilla
was formed at Malta with the smaller 'U' class boats
which were more suited to Mediterranean conditions. On
the 18th, Lt-Cdr Wanklyn in Upholder sank the 19,500-ton
transports "Neptunia" and "Oceania".
Between June and the end of September, submarines sank a
total of 49 ships of 150,000 tons. Added to the losses
inflicted by the RAF this represented a high proportion
of Axis shipping bound for Libya.
24th-28th, Malta Convoy, Operation
'Halberd' -
'Halberd'
sailed from Gibraltar with nine transports. Force H (Adm Somerville),
reinforced from the Home Fleet, included
Nelson,
Rodney
and Prince of Wales and the usual air cover from
Ark Royal. On the
26th the Italians sailed to
intercept but returned to base next day. South of
Sardinia on the 27th, "Nelson" was damaged by an Italian aircraft
torpedo, and at the end of the day Force H turned back
for Gibraltar. Convoy and escort (Rear-Adm H. M.
Burrough) went on to reach Malta on the 28th minus one
transport lost to air attack. As Force H returned,
screening destroyers "Gurkha" and
"Legion" sank Italian submarine "ADUA" off the coast of Algeria on the
30th. Since the beginning of 1941, three major convoys
had reached Malta - 'Excess' in January, 'Substance' in
July and now 'Halberd'. Nearly 40 merchantmen had got
through with only one sunk. The cost to the Royal Navy
had been one cruiser and a destroyer sunk, and a
battleship, carrier and two cruisers damaged.
27th - Submarine
"Upright" sank Italian torpedo boat "ALBATROS" off Messina, northeast Sicily.
28th - Corvette
"Hyacinth" on patrol off Jaffa, Palestine, sank
Italian submarine "FISALIA".
Monthly Loss Summary: 4 British or Allied
merchant ships of 16,000 tons
OCTOBER 1941
ATLANTIC - OCTOBER 1941
4th - Supply U-boat
"U-111" returning from the Cape Verde area
was sunk off the Canaries by armed trawler "Lady
Shirley".
14th-27th, Attacks on Gibraltar/UK Convoy
Routes -
Two escorts and two U-boats were lost
in attacks on the UK/Gibraltar convoy routes. In
operations against Gibraltar-bound OG75,
"U-206" sank corvette "FLEUR DE
LYS" off the
Strait of Gibraltar on the 14th. In the same area
on the 19th, "U-204" was lost to patrolling corvette
"Mallow" and sloop "Rochester". Six
days later on the 25th, Italian submarine "FERRARIS" was damaged by a RAF Catalina of
No 202 Squadron and sent to the bottom by the gunfire of
escort destroyer "Lamerton". UK-bound HG75 lost
five ships, and on the 23rd the famous destroyer
"COSSACK" was torpedoed by
"U-563". Struggling in tow for four days she
foundered to the west of Gibraltar.
16th-31st, First US Navy Casualties -
In mid-Atlantic, convoy SC48 of 39 ships and
11 stragglers was reinforced by four US destroyers. On
the 16th corvette "GLADIOLUS" was torpedoed by "U-553"
or "U-568" and went down. There were no
survivors. Next day, the US "Kearny" was damaged by a torpedo from
"U-568", and on the 18th British
destroyer "BROADWATER" was lost to "U-101".
Nine merchantmen were sunk. Convoy HX156 was escorted by
another US group, and on the 31st the destroyer "REUBEN
JAMES" was sunk
by "U-552". This first US loss in the Battle of
the Atlantic came only two weeks after the torpedoing of
"Kearny". The United States was virtually at
war with Germany.
Russian Convoys -
The six merchant ships of Russian
convoy PQ2 got through to Archangel without loss.
Battle
of the Atlantic - By now the pattern of escort in the North Atlantic
with the rapidly growing Royal Canadian Navy and
involvement of the US Navy was becoming established. With
UK-bound convoys, for example, the RCN provided escort
from Halifax to the Western Ocean Meeting Point (WOMP)
south of Newfoundland. From there, as far as the Mid
Ocean Meeting Point (MOMP) at 22°W, the USN escorted HX,
and joint RN/RCN groups the slower SC convoys. RN ships
based in Iceland then took over until the convoys were
met by Western Approaches escorts operating out of
Londonderry, Northern Ireland and the Clyde, Scotland. US
Navy and Army Air Force aircraft were now adding to the
efforts of the RAF and RCAF by flying escort and patrols
from Newfoundland and Iceland. The mid-Atlantic air-gap
was narrowing.
Monthly Loss Summary: 33 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 160,000 tons in the Atlantic from
all causes, 5 escorts including USS Reuben James; 2 German and 1
Italian U-boats
EUROPE - OCTOBER 1941
Eastern Front - As
German forces in the Centre approached Moscow a
state of siege was declared, but the offensive was
temporarily halted at the end of the month. In the South
Kharkov, east of Kiev in the Ukraine, fell.
Monthly Loss Summary: 12 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 83,000 tons in UK waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - OCTOBER 1941
Malta - Force K was
formed at Malta as a Strike Force to add to the offensive
against Axis shipping by submarines and aircraft.
Cruisers
Aurora,
Penelope, and
destroyers "Lance", "Lively" were
under the command of Capt W. G. Agnew.
20th - Mines
previously laid by submarine "Rorqual" in the
Gulf of Athens sank Italian torpedo boats "ALDEBARAN" and "ALTAIR".
25th - Over a
period of 10 days, cruiser-minelayers
Abdiel
and "Latona" transported troops and supplies to
besieged Tobruk and carried out Australian units. On the
last mission
LATONA was bombed and
sunk north of Bardia by Ju87s Stuka divebombers.
Late October -
Submarine "TETRARCH" sailed from Malta for Gibraltar
but failed to arrive, presumed lost on mines in the
Strait of Sicily.
Monthly Loss Summary: 6 British or Allied
merchant ships of 22,000 tons
NOVEMBER 1941
ATLANTIC - NOVEMBER 1941
3rd -
Recently completed fleet carrier
Indomitable
ran aground and was damaged off Kingston, Jamaica. She was due to
accompany capital ships
Prince of Wales
and Repulse to
the Far East as a deterrent to Japanese aggression. Her
absence in December may have proved fatal to the two big
ships.
German Raiders, Indian & Atlantic
Oceans - 19th - Far across the Indian Ocean
off Western Australia, the Australian cruiser
"Sydney" came across German raider
"Kormoran". Apparently caught unawares,
SYDNEY was mortally
damaged and lost without trace. "KORMORAN" also went down. In a cruise
lasting 12 months she had sunk or captured 11 other ships
of 68,000 tons. 22nd - While replenishing "U-126" north of
Ascension Island, raider "ATLANTIS" was surprised and sunk by heavy
cruiser Devonshire. The raider's
operations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans had cost the
Allies 22 merchantmen of 146,000 tons. 24th - On
her way to rescue "Atlantis'" survivors,
"U-124" sighted cruiser
DUNEDIN on patrol off the
St Paul's Rocks, half way between Africa and South
America. The cruiser was sunk with heavy loss of life.
Raider "Komet" returned to Germany through the
Atlantic having reached the Pacific across the top of
Siberia some 17 months earlier. Her score was just 6 1/2
ships, some in operations with "Orion".
German Heavy Warships
- As the completed "Tirpitz", sister-ship to
"Bismarck" prepared for operations, units of
the Home Fleet sailed for Iceland waters to cover any
possible breakout. They were supported by a US Navy
battle squadron.
30th - RAF
aircraft of Coastal Command were now flying regular
patrols in the Bay of Biscay equipped with effective
airborne depth charges and the long wavelength ASV radar.
The first success was by a Whitley of No 502 Squadron. "U-206" on passage to the Mediterranean
was detected and sunk
Russian Convoys -
In November Russian convoys PQ3, 4 and 5 and return convoys
QP2 and 3
with a total of 45 ships set out. Three merchantmen
turned back but the rest got through without loss.
Battle
of the Atlantic - There
was a considerable drop in U-boat sinkings in the North
Atlantic in the last two months of the year. Again the
reasons were varied - the increasing number of escorts,
the help given by the US Navy, and the increasing
effectiveness of land-based aircraft. Escort carrier
"Audacity" was also proving her worth. The
Allies were also helped by Hitler's orders to Adm Doenitz
to transfer large numbers of U-boats to the
Mediterranean. These were needed to shore up the Italians
and help secure the supply lines to the Axis armies in
North Africa. This movement led to a concentration of
U-boats off Gibraltar, and the need to strengthen the
HG/SL convoy escorts. After the attacks on HG75 in
October, the next HG did not sail until December when
"Audacity" was available to close the
Britain/Gibraltar air gap.
Monthly Loss Summary: 11 British, Allied
and neutral ships of 55,000 tons in the Atlantic from all
causes, 1 cruiser; 1 German raider, 1 German U-boat and 1
Italian (cause unknown) plus 1 Australian cruiser and 1 German raider in
Indian Ocean
EUROPE - NOVEMBER 1941
Eastern Front - The
German Centre advance on Moscow was restarted and
troops were soon on the capital's outskirts. In the South
they had driven right into the Crimea. Only Sevastopol
held out and the siege lasted until June 1942. Further
east Rostov-on-Don was captured, but the Russians re-took
the city.
Monthly Loss Summary: 20
British, Allied and neutral ships of 30,000 tons in UK
waters.
MEDITERRANEAN - NOVEMBER 1941
9th,
Action off Cape Spartivento, Southwest Italy - RAF reports of
an Italian convoy in the Ionian Sea making for North
Africa led to Force K sailing from Malta. The convoy
consisted of seven transports escorted by six destroyers,
with a distant cruiser covering force. Early in the
morning every one of the transports and destroyer "FULMINE" were sent to the
bottom. Later, while rescuing survivors, destroyer "LIBECCIO" was sunk by submarine
"Upholder".
13th - As Force H
returned to Gibraltar after flying off more Hurricanes
from "Ark Royal" and
Argus for
Malta, the famous and much 'sunk'
ARK ROYAL was hit by one torpedo from
"U-81". Next day she foundered in tow only a
few miles from home. One man was killed. "U-81"
was one of four U-boats that had just passed into the
Mediterranean. 16th - A second U-boat, "U-433" was sunk in the same area as
"Ark Royal" by corvette "Marigold".
Towards the end of the month, Dutch submarine
"O-21" sank "U-95". Between late September and
December, 26 U-boats broke through into the Mediterranean
and for many months took a heavy toll of Royal Navy
ships.
North Africa -
A major British offensive (Operation 'Crusader)
started on the 18th, again from the Sollum area and by
January had reached El Agheila. Axis forces around Sollum
and Bardia were by-passed in the drive on Tobruk. The
first link-up with the besieged garrison was made by New
Zealand troops on the 27th. 27th - Australian sloop "PARRAMATTA" escorting an ammunition ship on
the Tobruk Run was sunk by "U-559" off the
port. Since the siege started destroyers and other
warships had been carrying in men and supplies almost
nightly. As it came to an end the cost could be counted -
25 warships of all sizes and five merchantmen lost.
25th - Force K
hunted for Italian convoys to North Africa supported by
the Mediterranean Fleet with battleships
"Barham",
Queen
Elizabeth and
Valiant. In the afternoon north of Sidi
Barrani,
BARHAM was hit by three
torpedoes from "U-331" and as she slowly turned
over and capsized, split apart in an almighty explosion.
Recorded on film her apparently calamitous end is often
used in naval films and documentaries. Although over 800
men were lost, a remarkable number were saved. Just
before this tragedy, Force K had sunk two more Axis
supply ships west of Crete. At this stage 60 percent of
Axis North African supplies were being lost to attacks by
British aircraft, submarines and warships.
East Africa - The
last Italian forces surrendered at Gondar in the north of
Ethiopia on the 27th. The Italian East African empire
ceased to exist.
Monthly Loss Summary: 4 British or Allied
merchant ships of 19,000 tons
