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]
^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
and 22 Related for: Order of battle for Convoy PQ 17 information
ConvoyPQ17 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...
PQ17 was the code name for an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the...
ConvoyPQ 18 was the last of the PQ/QP series of arctic convoys during World War II, bound from US and British ports via Reykjavík in Iceland to the Barents...
1942, convoyPQ17 suffered the worst losses of any convoy in the Second World War. Under attack from German aircraft and U-boats, the convoy was ordered...
ConvoyPQ 18 was an Arctic convoyof forty Allied freighters from Scotland and Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany...
PQ 13 was a British Arctic convoy that delivered war supplies from the Western Allies to the USSR during World War II. The convoy was subject to attack...
in Onslow). The convoy sailed in the dead of winter to preclude attacks by German aircraft, like those that devastated ConvoyPQ17. Force R (Rear-Admiral...
ConvoyPQ 8 (8–17 January 1942) was an Arctic convoyof the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The convoy left Iceland...
augment supplies delivered by PQconvoys. 4 July 1942: A He 115 sank Liberty ship Christopher Newport from convoyPQ17; and KG 26 He 111s sank 4841-ton...
ConvoyPQ 16 (21–30 May 1942) was an Arctic convoyof British, United States and Allied ships from Iceland to Murmansk and Archangelsk in the Soviet Union...
the British HQ for the Battleof the Atlantic in Liverpool, said, "Some of their most successful U-boat pack attacks on our convoys were based on information...
Battleof mid-August), known in Malta as Il-Konvoj ta' Santa Marija (Santa Maria Convoy), was a British operation to carry supplies to the island of Malta...
against ConvoyPQ17 in July 1942 to attack convoyPQ 18 the next Arctic convoyof the Western Allies. Following the victory over ConvoyPQ17, the Kriegsmarine...
attacks British convoy, sinking five merchant ships. 2–4 July ConvoyPQ17 – 24 ships sunk from Arctic convoy to Soviet Union 5 July Action of 5 July 1942...
and his dismissal of Admiral Dudley North in 1940. His order in July 1942 to disperse ConvoyPQ17 and withdraw its covering forces, to counter a threat...
The Battlesof Narvik were fought from 9 April to 8 June 1940, as a naval battle in Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north...
provide sufficient escorts for the next Arctic convoy and the sailing ofconvoyPQ-18 was delayed until September. The convoy was located on 8 September...
from the disaster ofConvoyPQ17 into Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union. Gradwell was born in New Brighton, Cheshire, England, the son of solicitor Joseph Gradwell...
Electrotechnical University "LETI" Soviet ship Stary Bolshevik, for the courage in ConvoyPQ 16 (World War II). Sergey Afanasyev (Soviet "Space Minister"...
commissioned. The Philippine city of Bacolod was occupied by the Japanese. Allied convoyPQ 16 departed Iceland for the Soviet Union. The Mexican oil...
for a large Allied convoy in the Second World War comprising 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia, for Liverpool...
list of orders ofbattle, which list the known military units that were located within the field of operations for a battle or campaign. The battles are...