Operation ON (i)

'ON' (i) was the designation of British convoys (together with a numerical suffix) plying the route between Methil on the Firth of Forth in eastern Scotland to dispersal in Norwegian waters (November 1939/April 1940).

The first of these 25 'Outbound Norway' convoys was ON.1 of 4/7 November 1939 with five merchant vessels (1,165-ton Folda, 871-ton Glen Tilt, 1,126-ton Majorca, 4,692-ton Treworlas and 4,875-ton Warlaby) and seven British escorts in the form of the light cruiser Edinburgh, light anti-aircraft cruiser Curlew, and destroyers Ashanti, Fame, Punjabi, Somali and Tartar. The last was ON.25 of 5/7 April 1940 with 43 merchant vessels and 10 British escorts in the form of the light cruisers Manchester and Southampton, light anti-aircraft cruiser Calcutta, destroyers Eclipse, Grenade, Janus, Javelin, Juno and Jupiter, and submarineThistle. The convoy in fact proceeded no farther that Kirkwall in the Orkney islands group because of the deteriorating military situation in Norway.