Convoy JW 54B

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.

Forces

The convoy consisted of 15 merchant ships which departed from Loch Ewe on 22 November 1943. Close escort was led by the destroyer Beagle and comprised three corvettes and a minesweeper. These were supported by an Ocean escort of eight Home Fleet destroyers led by Hardy. The convoy was also accompanied initially by a local escort group from Britain. A cruiser cover force comprising Kent, Jamaica and Bermuda also followed the convoy, to guard against attack by surface units. Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship Anson, the cruiser Belfast and four destroyers.

JW 54B was opposed by a U-boat force of five boats in a patrol line, code-named Eisenbart, in the Norwegian Sea. A surface force comprising the battleship Scharnhorst and five destroyers was also available, stationed at Altenfjord.

Voyage

JW 54B departed Loch Ewe on 22 November 1943, accompanied by its local escort, of three destroyers and a minesweeper, and its close escort. Three days later, on 25 November, it was joined by the ocean escort, while the local escort departed. At the same time the Cruiser Force and the Distant Cover Force, which were already at sea covering convoy JW 54A, were on station in the Norwegian Sea.

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

On 3 December the Ocean escort destroyers departed, to make independent passage home, while JW 54B arrived safely at Archangel later the same day.

Conclusion

JW 54B saw the safe arrival of 15 merchant ships and the war materiel they carried. Together with the 19 ships of JW 54A, which had arrived at Murmansk the previous week, thes was a successful start to the 1943-44 convoy season.

Ships involved

Allied ships

Merchant ships

Arthur L Perry Daldorich Empire Lionel Empire Stalwart Eugene Field Fort Columbia Fort McMurray

Fort Poplar Horace Gray John Fitch Ocean Strength Rathlin San Adolfo Thomas Kearns William L Marcy

Close escort Beagle edit] Axis ships U-boat force edit] Notes 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 54B at Convoyweb Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Convoy JW 54A Convoy JW 55A Look at other dictionaries: 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 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… …   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 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 Convoy JW 58 — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in March 1944, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early April. All ships arrived safely. JW 58 was attacked by German U… …   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”