Operation FB

Operation FB was part of the Arctic Convoys of World War II. This operation consisted of independent sailings by unescorted transport ships between Iceland and Murmansk in the Autumn of 1942.

Background

Due to the severe losses to Convoy PQ 17 and Convoy PQ 18, and demands for Allied shipping and escort vessels for Operation Torch and other activity, the United States and Britain suspended supply convoys from Iceland to the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1942. At that time Soviet forces were fighting fiercely on the Eastern Front, and the suspension of the convoys caused a great deal of ill feeling among the Soviet leadership.^[1] The U.S and Britain decided to sail single ships independently until convoys could resume. After PQ 17 in July 1942, two Soviet vessels, Frederich Engels and Belamorkanal, sailed in late August; both reached the USSR safely. Stalin demanded more supplies and the return of Soviet vessels in western ports. After PQ 18 in September, the U.S. and Britain decided to let a number of ships sail independently, against normal Allied naval practice. This was Operation FB.

A total of 13 ships sailed independently from Iceland, leaving at roughly twelve-hour intervals from 29 October to 2 November 1942. Seven British and five American vessels took part, departing alternately. A Soviet ship also sailed in the same operation. No escort was provided, though a number of warships were involved. Four ASW trawlers from Iceland were stationed along the route, and a further three from Murmansk covered the eastern end of the voyage. This was a reversion to the "patrol and independent sailing" strategy of World War I. Three ships were forced to turn back, five ships were sunk, and five arrived safely.

Independent sailings

Following Operation FB a further series of independent sailings were staged by the Soviets, involving their own ships. These were separate from the Allied effort and overlapped with the resumption of the convoy cycle in December.

Between the end of October 1942 and January 1943 twenty-three Soviet ships sailed independently, relying on the darkness of the polar night. All but one arrived safely; one ship was sunk by a German warship in November.

In January 1943, again separate to the convoys of that month (JW 52 and RA 52), a further six Soviet ships were sailed independently. Four of these were west-bound, to Iceland; two were sunk and two arrived safely. Two others were east-bound to the Soviet Union; both arrived safely, though both were subsequently damaged in air raids.

Ships list

Operation FB, November 1942

Chulmleigh (British) First aground on 5 November, bombed by Junkers Ju 88 and Heinkel He 111 bombers, then torpedoed and shelled by German submarine U-625 on 6 November 1942 (the ship was already grounded on South Cape of Spitzbergen and abandoned)
Dekabrist (USSR) bombed on 4 November 1942
Empire Gilbert (British) - sunk by U-586 on 2 November 1942
William Clark (USA) sunk by U-354 on 4 November 1942
Empire Sky (British) sunk by U-625 on 6 November 1942

Soviet independents 1942

Donbass (USSR) sunk by German destroyer Z27 on 7 November 1942

Independents 1943

Krasnyy Partizan (USSR) - sunk by U-255 29 January 1943
Ufa (USSR) - sunk by U-255 26 January 1943

Notes

↑ Woodman p

References

Bob Ruegg, Arnold Hague Convoys to Russia (1992) ISBN 0-905617-66-5
Richard Woodman, Arctic Convoys 1941-1945 (1994) ISBN 0-7195-5752-6
Convoy web

Arctic convoys of World War II

1941

Outbound	Dervish PQ 1 PQ 2 PQ 3 PQ 4 PQ 5 PQ 6
Homebound	QP 1 QP 2 QP 3

1942

Outbound	PQ 7a PQ 7b PQ 8 PQ 9 PQ 10 PQ 11 PQ 12 PQ 13 PQ 14 PQ 15 PQ 16 PQ 17 PQ 18 Operation FB JW 51A JW 51B
Homebound	QP 4 QP 5 QP 6 QP 7 QP 8 QP 9 QP 10 QP 11 QP 12 QP 13 QP 14 QP 15 RA 51

1943

Outbound	JW 52 JW 53 JW 54A JW 54B JW 55A JW 55B
Homebound	RA 52 RA 53 RA 54A RA 54B RA 55A RA 55B

1944

Outbound	JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58 JW 59 JW 60 JW 61 JW 61A JW 62 JW 63
Homebound	RA 56 RA 57 RA 58 RA 59 RA 59A RA 60 RA 61 RA 61A RA 62 RA 63

1945

Outbound	JW 64 JW 65 JW 66 JW 67
Homebound	RA 64 RA 65 RA 66 RA 67

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