Order of battle for Convoy PQ 17

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]

Allied forces

Merchants

  This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk

Escorts

NameClassNavyDate joinedDate departedNotes
HMS AshantiTribal-class destroyer Royal Navy1 July4 July
HMT AyrshireASW trawler Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS BlankneyHunt-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS BritomartHalcyon-class minesweeper Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS CumberlandCounty-class heavy cruiser Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS DianellaFlower-class corvette Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS Duke of YorkKing George V-class battleship Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS EscapadeE-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS FaulknorF-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS FuryF-class destroyer Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS HalcyonHalcyon-class minesweeper Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS KeppelShakespeare-class destroyer leader Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS La MalouineFlower-class corvette Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS LeamingtonTown-class destroyer Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS LedburyHunt-class destroyer Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS LondonCounty-class heavy cruiser Royal Navy1 July4 July
HMT Lord AustinASW trawler Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS LotusFlower-class corvette Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS MarneM-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS MartinM-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
USS MayrantBenham-class destroyer United States1 July4 July
HMS MiddletonHunt-class destroyer Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS NigeriaCrown Colony-class light cruiser Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS NorfolkCounty-class heavy cruiser Royal Navy1 July4 July
HMT Northern GemASW trawler Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS OffaO-class destroyer Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS OnslaughtO-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
HMS OnslowO-class destroyer Royal Navy1 July4 July
HMS P614P611-class submarine Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS P615P611-class submarine Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS PalomaresAnti-aircraft ship Royal Navy27 June4 July
HMS PoppyFlower-class corvette Royal Navy30 June4 July
HMS PozaricaAnti-aircraft ship Royal Navy27 June4 July
USS RhindBenham-class destroyer United States1 July4 July
USS RowanBenham-class destroyer United States1 July4 July
HMS SalamanderHalcyon-class minesweeper Royal Navy27 June4 July
USS TuscaloosaNew Orleans-class heavy cruiser United States1 July4 July
HMS VictoriousIllustrious-class aircraft carrier Royal Navy29 June4 July
USS WainwrightSims-class destroyer United States1 July4 July
USS WashingtonNorth Carolina-class battleship United States29 June4 July
HMS WheatlandHunt-class destroyer Royal Navy29 June4 July
USS WichitaWichita-class heavy cruiser United States1 July4 July
HMS WiltonHunt-class destroyer Royal Navy30 June4 July

Axis forces

U-boats

NameCommanderShips sunkShips damagedNotes
U-88Heino Bohmann20
U-251Heinrich Timm10
U-255Reinhart Reche40
U-334Hilmar Siemon20
U-355Günter La Baume10
U-376Friedrich-Karl Marks10
U-456Max-Martin Teichert10
U-457Karl Brandenburg20
U-703Heinz Bielfeld20

Surface ships

NameClass1st
departure		Fate2nd
departure		Notes
Tirpitz Bismarck-class battleship 2 July 1942 5 July 1942
Admiral Hipper Admiral Hipper-class cruiser 2 July 1942 5 July 1942
Z14 Friedrich Ihn Type 1934A destroyer 2 July 1942 5 July 1942
Z10 Hans Lody Type 1934A destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A
Z20 Karl Galster Type 1936 destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A
Z6 Theodor Riedel Type 1934A destroyer 2 July 1942 ran aground N/A
Z4 Richard Beitzen Type 1934 destroyer ? 5 July 1942 joined later
T7 Type 35 torpedo boat 2 July 1942 5 July 1942
T15 Type 37 torpedo boat 2 July 1942 5 July 1942
Lützow Deutschland-class cruiser 3 July 1942 ran aground N/A
Admiral Scheer Deutschland-class cruiser 3 July 1942 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

  1. ↑ Riesenberg, Sea War, Part 773., p. 320
  2. ↑ Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, p. 187
  3. ↑ Helgason, Gudmundur, "PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster", German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net, retrieved 2009-04-16
  4. ↑ 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 978-0-7183-0428-7 
  • Hill, Roger P. (1986), Destroyer Captain, Periscope Publishing Ltd., ISBN 1-904381-25-1 
  • 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 978-0-11-630934-1 
  • 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 978-0-252-06963-5 
  • 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 978-0-340-12512-0 
  • The London Gazette, Issue 39041 (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 978-1-55750-884-3 
  • Winton, John (1988), Ultra at sea, Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-883-6 
  • Wynn, Kenneth G. (1997), U-boat Operations of the Second World War: Career histories, U1-U510, Chatham, ISBN 978-1-55750-860-7 
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