Arctic Convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the USA and the United Kingdom to the northern ports of the USSR - Archangel and Murmansk.
There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945 (although there were two gaps with no sailings between July and September of 1942 and March and November of 1943). At first the convoys sailed from Iceland but after September 1942 they assembled and sailed from Loch Ewe in Scotland. The route was around occupied Norway to the Russian ports. The route was particularly dangerous due to the proximity of German air, submarine and surface forces and also because of the severe weather.
Each convoy had two name-number identifiers: PQ <number> or JW <number> for the journey to Russia, and QP <number> or RA <number> for the return journey.
Three particular convoys are notable:
As a result of the Commando raid on Vaagso Tirpitz was sent to spend most of World War II in Norwegian fjords, offering a serious threat to the Arctic convoys and tying down Royal Navy resources but not venturing forth. The threat was sufficient that the Royal Navy attempted to sink her twice, once with X class midget submarines which planted explosive charges beneath Tirpitz in September 1943 and with carrier-borne aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, which only did superficial damage. She was finally sunk in Tromsø fjord on 11 November 1944 by Avro Lancasters of RAF 617 and 9 Squadrons equipped with the Barnes Wallis tallboy bombs on their third attempt, the first of which had been launched from Russia.
The cracking of the Enigma code machine at Bletchley Park played an important part in the eventual success of these convoys. Pre-emptive action was not always possible, but the intelligence did allow convoys to be given appropriate escorting forces.
In summary, about 1400 merchant ships delivered vital supplies to Russia. 85 merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships were lost. The Germans lost a number of vessels including one battlecruiser and at least 30 U-boats as well as a large number of aircraft. The material significance of the supplies was probably not as great as the symbolic value hence the continuation - at Stalin's insistence - of these convoys long after the Russians had turned the German land offensive.
See also
