This year marks seventy-five years since the day when military supplies began to arrive in Murmansk, supplied by America and Great Britain to fight a common enemy - Nazi Germany. Their delivery was an unusually difficult task, but it was urgently needed by the front, and the first Arctic convoy, which went down in history under the name "Dervish", laid the foundation for it.
The experience of past centuries in demand again
The Arctic convoys of World War II were a continuation of a tradition begun by the Spaniards in the 16th century. In those bygone days, they escorted galleons that carried tons of gold and silver looted from South America across the Atlantic. Since it was very dangerous to travel with such a cargo, the ships gathered in the roadstead of Havana, and already under the cover of Spanish guns, they went through the expanses teeming with English pirates.
And so, when in July 1941 Moscow and London signed an agreement on mutual action in the fight against Germany, and Churchill promised to help Stalin, in everything that was in his power, the British remembered the method by whichfour hundred years ago, sea carriers were on the defensive against their aggressive compatriots.
This turned out to be very handy, because literally two weeks later the Soviet Union concluded an agreement with America on military supplies, the congress of which adopted a state program for supplying allied troops with ammunition, equipment, food and medicine, which went down in history under the name Lend-Lease. In this regard, the question arose in full - how to deliver the goods of the allies to the Soviet ports.
Ways to solve the problem
There were three options for solving this problem. One route ran across the Pacific Ocean, but of all the Soviet Far Eastern ports, only Vladivostok was connected by rail to the front-line regions. Allied ships regularly moored at its berths, and despite the fact that the Trans-Siberian Railway had a relatively low throughput capacity, 47% of military cargo was delivered through it during the war years. But, the problem was that this route took a very long time.
The second and safest route was through the Persian Gulf and Iran. However, due to technical difficulties, they were able to use them only in the middle of 1942, while the front needed help immediately. Therefore, the northern Arctic convoys, which were the third option for cargo delivery considered by the allied command, had a number of advantages over the other two.
First of all, it took relatively little time. The Arctic convoy could deliver the cargo in just ten to twelve days, and secondly,Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, where the unloading was carried out, were quite close to the area of military operations and to the center of the country.
However, this route was fraught with dangers arising from the fact that the ships were forced to move along the coast of Norway, occupied by the Germans. They had to overcome a significant part of the way in the immediate vicinity of enemy airfields and naval bases. However, in spite of everything, this route was indispensable, and the Arctic allied convoys of 1941-1945 made a significant contribution to the defeat of the enemy. Their role was especially great in the first war year.
Method of guiding transport ships
To repel possible enemy attacks, the allied command developed a tactic, thanks to which the Arctic convoy could secure the transported cargo as much as possible. The transports were not lined up in a single caravan, but in short wake columns, moving in front at a considerable distance from each other, and often changing course. This not only made it possible to manage them more effectively, but created additional difficulties for the German submarines.
For the fight against submarines, a small ship escort was intended, consisting of minesweepers, frigates and destroyers. They were at some distance from the ships they were escorting. In addition to them, the combat mission was carried out by larger ships, moving closer to the coast, and designed to repel the surface forces of the enemy and his aircraft.
All the way up to Bear Island, locatedin the western part of the Barents Sea, the northern Arctic convoys were under the protection of the British fleet and air force. At the final stage, this responsibility fell on the Soviet sailors and pilots.
Arctic allied convoys of 1941-1945 were formed and took cargo into their holds in the Scottish port located in Loch Yu Bay. Further, their path lay in Reykjavik, where the ships refueled their tanks with fuel, after which they proceeded to their destination. Taking into account the ice conditions, the course was laid as far north as possible. This was done to maximize the distance from the coast occupied by the enemy.
Two different points of view
It is curious to note one detail, which in those years was the cause of certain friction between the Soviet command and their British counterparts. According to the instructions issued by Her Majesty's Admir alty, and applicable to all warships, and not just those that were part of the Arctic sea convoys, from transports damaged or lost control in combat conditions, the crews switched to other ships, and they themselves achieved torpedoes and went to the bottom.
This was done because the lives of sailors were put incomparably higher than material values, and any attempt to save a sinking ship exposed them to mortal risk. Even on the practical side, the British believed that preparing a first-class crew was much more difficult than building a ship. This approach was absolutely incomprehensible to the Soviet side, and often gave reason to accuse the allies of trying to deliver as little cargo as possible to the port of destination.
The luck that accompanied the "Dervish"
The first Arctic convoy, codenamed "Dervish", left the port of Reykjavik on August 21, 1941. It consisted of six British transport ships and one Soviet. Their safety was provided by seven minesweepers and two destroyers. Having safely reached Arkhangelsk, on August 31, the transports unloaded fifteen Hurricane fighters, about four thousand depth charges, several dozen trucks, as well as tons of rubber, wool and all kinds of uniforms ashore.
Arctic allied convoys 1941-1945 in command reports they had a code name that began with the letters PQ. These were the first letters of the name of the British Admir alty officer Peter Quelyn, who was responsible for organizing the protection of transport ships. Following the letters was the serial number of the next convoy. The caravans traveling in the opposite direction were designated QP, and also had a serial number.
The first Arctic convoy, which went down in history as PQ-0, reached Arkhangelsk without much difficulty, mainly because the German command, focused on "blitzkrieg" - lightning war, expected to end the Eastern campaign before the onset of winter, and did not pay due attention to what was happening in the Arctic. However, when it became obvious that the war would be long, the fight against the Arctic convoys took on special significance.
Concentration of enemy forces to fight allied convoys
It is worth noting that after the British werethe flagship of the German fleet, the battleship Bismarck, was sunk; Hitler generally forbade the crews of his surface ships to engage in open battles with the British. The reason was the simplest - he was afraid once again to give the enemy a reason to triumph. Now the picture has changed.
At the beginning of the winter of 1942, three heavy cruisers and one light cruiser were urgently transferred to the area where British convoys might appear. In addition, they were to be supported by five destroyers and fifteen submarines. In parallel with this, the number of aircraft based at Norwegian airfields was increased to five hundred units, which made it possible to start regular air raids on Murmansk in April of the same year.
Such measures had an effect, and the relative calm, in which the first convoys made their passage, was replaced by a real combat situation. The Allies suffered their first loss in January 1942, when the Germans sank the British transport ship Waziristan, which was part of the PQ-7 convoy.
Allied losses and retaliatory measures
Developing success, the German command organized a real hunt for the next PQ-8 convoy. The battleship Tirpitz, which was an exact copy of the previously sunk Bismarck, as well as three destroyers and several submarines, came out to intercept it. However, despite all efforts, they failed to detect the Arctic convoy in time, and their only, but very unfortunate victim for us, was the Soviet transport ship Izhora, which fell behind the main group for technical reasons.
Unfortunately, in the future, the losses of the allies increased significantly. According to the reports of those days, in March 1942 the Germans managed to sink five British transports, and the following month, they were joined by nine more ships that were part of four convoys heading to Murmansk.
The main military failure befell the British on April 30, when a torpedo fired from a German submarine sank the cruiser Edinburgh, returning to the shores of Britain. Together with him, five and a half tons of gold, which were in his artillery cellars, went to the bottom, received from the Soviet government in payment for military supplies, which were by no means free for us.
Subsequently, this gold was raised during the rescue operations that took place between 1961 and 1968. In accordance with an earlier agreement, all of it was divided between the Soviet Union, Britain, as well as firms that carried out underwater work.
Then in 1942, due to the complicated situation, the Allies took emergency measures. The American fleet sent a fairly impressive squadron to guard the convoys, consisting of two battleships, two cruisers and six destroyers. The Soviet command did not stand aside either. Previously, the Northern Fleet escorted transport ships only by ships specially assigned for this purpose, but now all available forces were sent to meet them without exception.
Feat of the crew of the "Old Bolshevik"
Even in conditions when participation in each flight required courage andheroism, situations arose in which these qualities became especially necessary. An example of this is the rescue by Soviet sailors of the transport ship "Old Bolshevik", which left Reykjavik along with convoy PQ-16. On May 27, 1942, it was attacked by German aircraft, and as a result of an air bomb hit, a fire started on board.
Despite the fact that there were dozens of tons of explosives on board, the sailors refused the offer of their English colleagues to board one of their ships, and the entire crew fought the fire. Eight hours later, the fire, which constantly threatened with an explosion, was extinguished, and the "Old Bolshevik" safely caught up with the rest of the ships, with which they continued on their way to Murmansk.
Disaster of the Arctic convoy PQ-17
The fate of this convoy, which left Hval Fjord on June 27, 1942, was the biggest tragedy in the entire period of delivery of allied cargo along the Arctic route. It happened, as was later unanimously noted by military experts, solely through the fault of the head of the British Admir alty, Admiral Pound.
It all started with the fact that four days later, the convoy was discovered by German aircraft, which controlled the waters of the Norwegian Sea. Significant naval and air forces were immediately sent to intercept him, the attacks of which the British repelled for three days, while losing three transport ships. It is possible that the remaining ships would have reached their destination, but on July 4it became known that the largest ship of the German fleet at that time, the battleship Tirpitz, had departed from the pier and was approaching them.
This giant, equipped with eight fifteen-inch guns, was capable of single-handedly destroying not only all allied transport ships, but also guard ships along with them. Upon learning of this, Admiral Pound made a fatal decision. He ordered the guard ships not to engage the battleship, but to retreat a considerable distance. The transport ships were supposed to disperse and go one by one to Murmansk.
As a result, the Tirpitz, having not found the accumulation of the enemy, returned to the base, and the transports, scattered according to the admiral's order over the sea, became easy prey for enemy aircraft and submarines. The statistics of this tragedy are terrible. Of the thirty-six Allied transport ships, twenty-three were sunk, and with them went to the bottom, transported in their holds, three and a half thousand vehicles, four hundred and forty tanks, two hundred aircraft and about one hundred thousand tons of other cargo. Two ships turned back and only eleven reached their destination port. One hundred and fifty-three people died, and three hundred lives were saved only by Soviet sailors who arrived in time.
The consequences of the tragedy
This tragedy almost caused the cessation of military supplies to the Soviet Union, and only under pressure from Moscow, the British were forced to continue fulfilling their earlier obligations. However, after the next convoy lost three ships torpedoed by German submarines, further shipments were delayed.before the beginning of the polar night.
After the tragically lost convoy, the British command changed the unfortunate, in their opinion, code name PQ to YW and RA. An attempt was also made to transport cargo by single transport vessels, but it also did not bring the desired result, also ending in their loss and death of people.
It wasn't until December 1942 that military fortune smiled on the British. Within a month, two of their convoys managed to reach Murmansk without loss. There is evidence that this led Hitler into an indescribable rage, and cost the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Gross Admiral Raeder.
Fortune turned against the Nazis
However, by that time the course of the war had come to a clear turning point. Most of the German surface ships were transferred to other areas, and during the period 1943-1945, almost exclusively submarines operated against allied convoys. Their number decreased due to combat losses, and the German industry by that time was no longer able to make up for them.
In late December 1943, the German Navy lost one of its best warships, the cruiser Scharnhorst, sunk by the British while trying to attack an Arctic convoy called YP-55. An equally sad fate was shared by the flagship of the German naval forces, the battleship Tirpitz. Never having joined the battle, he was destroyed by British aircraft right at the pier.
The contribution of the sailors of the allied powers to the common victory
During the war years, the Arctic convoys, photos of which are presented in the article, were delivered to ourcountry four and a half million tons of various military supplies and food, which amounted to about thirty percent of the total allied assistance. As for the weapons themselves, at least half of the total amount provided to the Soviet Union by England and America was delivered by the northern route. In total, 1398 transport ships were carried out by Arctic convoys in the immediate vicinity of the German-occupied shores.
This year, the public of our country, as well as the United States and Great Britain, celebrated the anniversary of the first Arctic convoy. It was a very significant date. Former allies celebrated his 75th birthday. The Arctic convoys had a chance to play such an important role in the course of the defeat of fascist Germany that its importance can hardly be overestimated, and therefore the celebrations organized on this occasion in Pomorie took on the proper scope. Delegations from nine countries participated in them.
In addition to Severodvinsk and Arkhangelsk, events dedicated to this celebration were also held in Murmansk and St. Petersburg, where a monument to Arctic convoys was erected two years ago. Earlier, a monument in memory of the participants of those heroic events was erected in Murmansk.
During the celebrations, Russian television showed a documentary film "Arctic Allied Convoys 1941-1945" shot by American filmmakers in 2001. Thanks to this film, our compatriots were able to learn a lot about the events that unfolded during the war years in the seas of the northernlatitude.
