Convoy PQ 17 was the penultimate of the PQ/QP series of arctic convoys, bound from British ports through the Arctic Ocean via Reykjavík to the White Sea ports of the Soviet Union, particularly Murmansk and Archangel. The convoy was heavily defended, but fearing an imminent attack by substantial German surface forces, the Admiralty made the decision to disperse the convoy.
The convoy comprised 35 merchant ships and 6 naval auxiliaries (41 in all) and was defended by a close escort and two distant escort forces, 43 warships in total. It was opposed by a U-boat group, Eisteufel, of first 6, then 8 U-boats, and a surface attack force of 16 warships, in two battle groups. This operation was code-named Rösselsprung. These were assisted by the 234 aircraft of Luftflotte 5.
Before the convoy dispersed, three ships had been lost. After it scattered each ship began its individual journey to the Russian ports. Some ships took refuge along the frozen coast of Novaya Zemlya, landing at Matochkin.[1] The Soviet tanker Azerbaijan had lost her cargo of linseed oil, and much of SS Winston-Salem's cargo had also been jettisoned in Novaya Zemlya.[2]
Of the forty-one ships which left Iceland, three were forced to return, and twenty-four were sunk.[3]Ten merchant ships (one British, six American, one Panamanian and two Russian) and four auxiliaries reached Archangel, and delivered 70,000 tons out of the 200,000 which had started from Iceland. Fourteen American ships in all were sunk.[4]
Allied forces
Merchants
This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk
Escorts
Convoy Close Escort
Commander Broome, RN
Covering Force - Cruiser Squadron 1 (CS1)
Rear Admiral Hamilton, RN
Distant Force - Home Fleet
Admiral Tovey, RN
Axis forces
U-boats
Surface ships
See also
Notes
- ^ Riesenberg, Sea War, Part 773., p. 320
- ^ Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, p. 187
- ^ Helgason, Gudmundur, "PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster", German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net, retrieved 16 April 2009
- ^ Churchill, The Second World War, Volume IV, p. 237
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Disabled by aircraft, sunk later by U-boat
References
- Churchill, Winston S. (1951), The Second World War: Volume IV, The Hinge of Fate, Cassell & Co. Ltd.
- Connell, G. G. (1982), Arctic destroyers: the 17th Flotilla, W. Kimber, ISBN 978-0-7183-0428-7
- Hill, Roger P. (1986), Destroyer Captain, Periscope Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-904381-25-1
- Hinsley F.H., Francis; Eastaway Thomas, Edward (1990), British intelligence in the Second World War: its influence on strategy and operations, vol. II, H.M.S.O, ISBN 978-0-11-630934-1
- Langer, John D. (1979), "The Harriman-Beaverbrook Mission and the Debate over Unconditional Aid for the Soviet Union, 1941", Journal of Contemporary History, 14 (3): 463–482, doi:10.1177/002200947901400306, ISSN 0022-0094, S2CID 159474803
- Moore, Arthur R. (1984), "A careless word-- a needless sinking": a history of the staggering losses suffered by the U.S. Merchant Marine, both in ships and personnel during World War II, American Merchant Marine Museum
- Morison, Samuel E. (2001), History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939-May 1943, Volume 1 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 978-0-252-06963-5
- Riesenberg, Felix (1956), Sea War, Part 773, Rinehart
- Schofield, Bernard (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford. OCLC 923314731
- The Bookseller (1971), Issues 3394-3405, Authors Publishers' Association, Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, ISBN 978-0-340-12512-0
- The London Gazette, Issue 39041 (17 October 1950), Supplement To The London Gazette: Convoys to North Russia:1942
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Frayn Turner, John (2002), Fight for the sea: naval adventures from World War II, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-1-55750-884-3
- Winton, John (1988), Ultra at sea, Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-883-6
- Wynn, Kenneth G. (1997), U-boat Operations of the Second World War: Career histories, U1-U510, Chatham, ISBN 978-1-55750-860-7
External links
- U.S. Naval Historical Center account of PQ-17 Archived 2 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Description of Rösselsprung Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- The Requiem on Convoy PQ-17, Russian novel by Valentin Pikul
- Memoirs of Chief Steward Horace Carswell DSM, MM, BEM during Convoy PQ.17
- Coxswain Sid Kerslake of armed trawler "Northern Gem" in PQ.17
- Convoy PQ.17, a primary source diary and supporting material by Jack Bowman, ERA aboard HMS La Malouine.
- PQ 17 at Convoyweb
- Helgason, Gudmundur. "PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.
