Convoy JW 51A

Convoy JW 51A was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month.

JW 51A was not detected or attacked by German forces and arrived without loss.

Background

JW 51A was the first of the JW/RA convoy series, replacing the previous PQ/QP series which had been suspended during the summer and autumn of 1942. The JW series were organized to sail from Loch Ewe, Scotland rather than Iceland, as previously, and sailed with a substantial destroyer escort to guard against surface attacks, as had proved effective with PQ 18. JW 51A was the first out-bound Arctic convoy of the 1942–43 winter season, and began the practice of sailing smaller convoys twice-monthly during the winter months to reduce the problems of controlling large groups of ships in the gloom of the polar night.

Forces

JW 51A consisted of 16 merchant ships, which departed from Loch Ewe on 15 December 1942.^[1] Close escort was provided by the minesweeper Seagull, two corvettes and two armed trawlers. These were supported by six Home Fleet destroyers led by Faulknor. The convoy was also accompanied initially by a local escort group from Britain.

A cruiser cover force comprising Jamaica and Sheffield, and three destroyers, also followed the convoy to guard against attack by surface units.

Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship King George V, the cruiser Berwick and three escorting destroyers.

JW 51A was opposed by a force of three U-boats in a patrol line in the Norwegian Sea, and the aircraft of Luftflotte V based in Norway.^[2] A surface force comprising the heavy cruisers Hipper, Lützow and six destroyers was also available, stationed at Altenfjord.

Voyage

JW 51A departed Loch Ewe on 15 December 1942, accompanied by its local escort, of three destroyers, and its close escort. Three days later, on 18 December, it was joined by the ocean escort, while the local escort departed. At the same time the Cruiser Force and the Distant Cover Force from Scapa Flow also put to sea, taking station in the Norwegian Sea.

The convoy was not sighted by German reconnaissance aircraft, nor by any of the patrolling U-boats, and crossed the Norwegian and Barents Seas without incident.

On 25 December JW 51A arrived safely at Kola Inlet.

Conclusion

JW 51A was a successful start to JW convoy series and to the 1942–43 winter convoy season, with the safe arrival of 16 merchant ships and the war materiel they carried.

Ships involved

Allied Ships

Merchant ships

Beauregard Briarwood Dynastic El Almirante El Oceano Empire Meteor Gateway City Greylock

JLM Curry Oligarch Oremar 52 Richard Basset Richard Bland San Cipriano West Gotomska Wind Rush

Close escort Seagull edit] Axis ships U-boat force Surface force Hipper Lützow Friedrich Eckholdt Richard Beitzen Theodor Riedel Z29 Z30 Z31 Notes ^ Ruegg, Hague p48 ^ Blair p152 References Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War Vol II (1998) ISBN 0-304-35261-7 Paul Kemp : Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters (1993) ISBN 1-85409-130-1 Paul Kemp  : U-Boats Destroyed ( 1997) . ISBN 1-85409-515-3 Axel Neistle  : German U-Boat Losses during World War II (1998). ISBN 1-85367-352-8 Bob Ruegg, Arnold Hague : Convoys to Russia (1992) ISBN 0-905617-66-5 Bernard Schofield : (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford ISBN (none) JW 51A at Convoyweb Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую Convoy HX 90 Convoy JW 51B Look at other dictionaries: Convoy HX 300 — was the 300th of the numbered series of World War II HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax to Liverpool. These HX convoys had been established shortly after declaration of war; and the first sailed on 16 September 1939.[1] Ships in convoy… …   Wikipedia Convoy JW 51B — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943. JW 51B came under attack by German surface… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 17 — Part of World War II, Atlantic Campaign Escorts and merchant ships at Hv …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 18 — under attack Convoy PQ 18 was one of the Arctic convoys sent from Britain to aid the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942 and arrived in Arkhangelsk on 21 September 1942.… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 16 — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in May 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports after five days of air attacks that left eight ships sunk and two damaged.… …   Wikipedia Convoy JW 55B — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely. During the… …   Wikipedia Convoy JW 56A — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in January 1944, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. Twelve ships arrived safely. During the voyage… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 15 — was an Arctic convoy sent from Iceland by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late April 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports after air attacks that sank three ships. Twenty two ships arrived safely.… …   Wikipedia Convoy JW 54B — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late November 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely. Contents 1… …   Wikipedia Convoy JW 55A — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely. Contents 1 Ships 2… …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”