Dervish Convoy
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Operation Dervish was the first of the Arctic Convoys of World War II by which the Western Allies supplied material aid to the Soviet Union in its fight with Nazi Germany. The convoy sailed from Hvalfiourdur, Iceland on 21 August 1941 and arrived at Archangelsk on 31 August 1941. The Convoy Commodore was Captain JCK Dowding RNR. As evidence of Winston S. Churchill's astute mastery of propaganda, on board Llanstephan Castle were two journalists and the artist, Felix Topolski.
[edit] Ships
This convoy consisted of 6 merchant ships loaded with raw materials and crated Hawker Hurricane fighter planes: Lancastrian Prince, New Westminster City, Esneh, Trehata, the elderly Llanstephan Castle, the fleet oiler Aldersdale, and the Dutch freighter Alchiba. This convoy was escorted by the Destroyers HMS Electra, HMS Active, and HMS Impulsive; the 3 Algerine-class minesweepers HMS Halcyon, HMS Salamander, and HMS Harrier, and the 3 anti-submarine Shakespearian class trawlers HMS Hamlet, HMS Macbeth, and HMS Ophelia. Distant cover consisted of the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire and destroyers HMS Matabele, HMS Punjabi, and HMS Somali. At the same time the aircraft carrier HMS Argus, delivered some Hurricanes to Murmansk. All ships arrived safely.
[edit] References
- Richard Woodman, Arctic Convoys 1941-1945, 1994, ISBN 0-7195-5752-6
- Convoy web
- Cain, Lieutenant-Commander Timothy J. HMS Electra (Frederick Miller Ltd, London, 1959), ISBN 0-86007-330-0. Lieutenant-Commander Cain (then a Warrant Officer Gunner, "Guns") was the senior surviving officer of Electra.
