- Order of battle for Convoy PQ 17
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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]
Contents
Allied forces
Merchants
This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk
Name Nationality Cargo Tonnage Fate Date of attack Survivors Dead Notes American Steel, armour plates,
flour, tanks5,116 Sunk by U-255* 7 July 40 0 Aldersdale British Fleet oiler 8,402 Damaged by aircraft
Sunk by Soviet6,114 Damaged; reached port safely Panamanian Machinery, food, leather,
ammunition, tanks5,255 Damaged by aircraft
Sunk by CAM ship6,978 Reached port safely Fleet oiler 3,313 Damaged by ice; reached port safely Dutch Goods, ammunition,
tanks, aircraft, trucks7,168 Damaged by aircraft
Sunk by U-255*5 July
13 July76 0 Rescue ship 1,600 Reached port safely arrived Archangel on 9 July Convoy Commodore's ship Rescue ship 1,559 Sunk by aircraft* 5 July Rescue ship 1,567 Reached port safely Escorts
Name Class Navy Date joined Date departed Notes HMS Ashanti Tribal class destroyer Royal Navy 1 July 4 July ASW trawler Royal Navy 27 June 4 July Hunt class destroyer Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Britomart Halcyon class minesweeper Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Cumberland County class heavy cruiser Royal Navy 29 June 4 July Flower class corvette Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS Duke of York King George V class battleship Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Escapade E class destroyer Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Faulknor F class destroyer Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Fury F class destroyer Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS Halcyon Halcyon class minesweeper Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Keppel Shakespeare class destroyer Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS La Malouine Flower class corvette Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS Leamington Town class destroyer Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS Ledbury Hunt class destroyer Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS London Town class light cruiser Royal Navy 1 July 4 July Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Lotus Flower class corvette Royal Navy 30 June 4 July HMS Marne M class destroyer Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Martin M class destroyer Royal Navy 29 June 4 July USS Mayrant Benham class destroyer US Navy 1 July 4 July HMS Middleton Hunt class destroyer Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Nigeria Crown Colony class light cruiser Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Norfolk County class heavy cruiser Royal Navy 1 July 4 July Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Offa O class destroyer Royal Navy 30 June 4 July Royal Navy 29 June 4 July HMS Onslow O class destroyer Royal Navy 1 July 4 July submarine Royal Navy 30 June 4 July Royal Navy 27 June 4 July HMS Palomares Anti-aircraft ship Royal Navy 27 June 4 July Royal Navy 30 June 4 July Royal Navy 27 June 4 July USS Rhind Benham class destroyer US Navy 1 July 4 July USS Rowan Benham class destroyer US Navy 1 July 4 July Royal Navy 27 June 4 July USS Tuscaloosa New Orleans class heavy cruiser US Navy 1 July 4 July HMS Victorious Illustrious class aircraft carrier Royal Navy 29 June 4 July USS Wainwright Sims class destroyer US Navy 1 July 4 July USS Washington North Carolina class battleship US Navy 29 June 4 July Royal Navy 29 June 4 July USS Wichita Wichita class heavy cruiser US Navy 1 July 4 July Royal Navy 30 June 4 July Axis forces
U-boats
Name Commander Ships sunk Ships damaged Notes U-88 Heino Bohmann 2 0 Heinrich Timm 1 0 U-255 Reinhart Reche 4 0 Hilmar Siemon 2 0 U-355 Günter La Baume 1 0 U-376 Friedrich-Karl Marks 1 0 Max-Martin Teichert 1 0 Karl Brandenburg 2 0 U-703 Heinz Bielfeld 2 0 Surface ships
Name Class 1st
departureFate 2nd
departureNotes Tirpitz Bismarck class battleship 2 July 1942 5 July 1942 Admiral Hipper Admiral Hipper class cruiser 2 July 1942 5 July 1942 Freidrich Ihn Type 1934A Destroyer 2 July 1942 5 July 1942 Hans Lody Type 1934A Destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A Karl Galster Type 1936 Destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A Theodore Reidel Type 1934A Destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A Richard Beitzen Type 1934 Destroyer ? 5 July 1942 joined later T7 Type 35 Torpedoboat 2 July 1942 5 July 1942 T15 Type 37 Torpedoboat 2 July 1942 5 July 1942 Lützow Deutschland class cruiser 3 July 1942 ran aground N/A Scheer Deutschland class cruiser 3 July 5 July 1942 Z24 Type 1936A Destroyer 3 July 1942 5 July 1942 Z27 Type 1936A Destroyer 3 July 1942 5 July 1942 Z28 Type 1936A Destroyer 3 July 1942 5 July 1942 Z29 Type 1936A Destroyer 3 July 1942 5 July 1942 Z30 Type 1936A Destroyer 3 July 1942 5 July 1942 Dithmarschen Oiler 3 July 1942 N/A 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, http://www.uboat.net/ops/convoys/pq-17.htm, retrieved 2009-04-16
- ^ Churchill, The Second World War, Volume IV, p. 237
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 9780718304287
- Hill, Roger P. (1986), Destroyer Captain, Periscope Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1904381251
- Hinsley F.H., Francis; Eastaway Thomas, Edward (1990), British intelligence in the Second World War: its influence on strategy and operations, Volume II, H.M.S.O, ISBN 9780116309341
- Langer, John D. (1979), The Harriman-Beaverbrook Mission and the Debate over Unconditional Aid for the Soviet Union, 1941, Journal of Contemporary History, ISSN 0022-0094
- 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 9780252069635
- Riesenberg, Felix (1956), Sea War, Part 773, Rinehart
- Schofield, Bernard (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford ISBN (none)
- The Bookseller (1971), Issues 3394-3405, Authors Publishers' Association, Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, ISBN 9780340125120
- The London Gazzette, Issue 39041 (Tuesday, 17 October 1950), Supplement To The London Gazette: Convoys to North Russia:1942
- Frayn Turner, John (2002), Fight for the sea: naval adventures from World War II, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 9781557508843
- Winton, John (1988), Ultra at sea, Leo Cooper, ISBN 0850528836
- Wynn, Kenneth G. (1997), U-boat Operations of the Second World War: Career histories, U1-U510, Chatham, ISBN 9781557508607
External links
- U.S. Naval Historical Center account of PQ-17
- Description of Rösselsprung
- 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
- PQ 17 at uboatnet
- PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster at uboatnet
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