Convoy PQ 15

Convoy PQ 15
Part of Arctic Convoys of the Second World War
HMS Punjabi, sunk after a collision
Date 26 April – 5 May 1942 Location Arctic Ocean Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  United States  Soviet Union	Germany

Convoy PQ 15 was an Arctic convoy sent from Iceland by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The convoy sailed in late April 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports after air attacks that sank three ships out of twenty-five.

Ships

The convoy consisted of 25 merchant ships and was accompanied by one auxiliary, the oiler RFA Gray Ranger, which travelled with a destroyer escort.

The Close Escort was led by Commander John Crombie in the minesweeper HMS Bramble and consisted of two other minesweepers and four trawlers, joined later by four destroyers and the anti-aircraft ship HMS Ulster Queen.

A Cruiser Cover Force (Rear Admiral Harold Burrough) in the light cruiser HMS Nigeria, with the heavy cruiser HMS London and two destroyers and a Distant Covering Force (Admiral John Tovey), comprising the battleships HMS King George V and USS Washington, (Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, USN, commanding), the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, the heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa and Wichita, the light cruiser Kenya and ten destroyers. The convoy was also covered by a patrol of four submarines off Norway, guarding against a sortie by German warships.

Action

PQ 15 sailed from Reykjavík, Iceland, on 26 April 1942 with its local escort. This was joined on 28 April by the ocean escort, giving the convoy an immediate total escort of 12 warships.

German aircraft sighted the convoy on 28 April while it was 250 nmi (290 mi; 460 km)south-west of Bear Island. No attack developed for two days as the German forces were busy with the reciprocal Convoy QP 11, which left Murmansk in the Soviet Union on 28 April.

On 1 May the Luftwaffe made its first attack on PQ 15, by six Junkers Ju 88s. The German bombers failed to inflict any damage and lost one of their number. The Distant Cover Force suffered two losses when King George V and the destroyer HMS Punjabi collided in fog. Punjabi sank and King George V was forced to return to port. Her place in the group was taken by the battleship HMS Duke of York, which steamed from Scapa Flow to reinforce the escorts.

The escorts made an asdic contact on 2 May, which the destroyer HMS St. Albans and minesweeper HMS Seagull attacked. When the submarine was damaged and forced to the surface it was found to be the Polish Jastrzab, which was assigned to patrol off Norway but was some way out of position. Jastrzab was too badly damaged to continue and was scuttled.

On 3 May at 01:30 in the half light of the Arctic summer nights, six Heinkel He 111 bombers of I. Gruppe, Kampfgeschwader 26, the Luftwaffe's new torpedo bomber force, made the first German torpedo bomber attack of the war.^[1] Three ships were hit, two were sunk and one was damaged, later to be sunk by the German submarine U-251. Two aircraft were shot down and a third damaged, which subsequently crashed. A further attack by German high-level bombers at dusk was unsuccessful.

Deteriorating weather on 4 May prevented further attacks, an Arctic gale quickly turning into a snowstorm. PQ 15 arrived at the Kola Inlet at 21:00 on 5 May with no further losses.

Aftermath

Botavon and Cape Corso had been sunk by torpedo bombers; Jutland was damaged by torpedo bombers and later sunk by U-251. Of the escorting warships, the submarine Jastrzab and destroyer Punjabi had been sunk and the battleship King George V had been damaged. However, 22 fully laden merchant ships had arrived safely in Murmansk, the largest Allied convoy yet to arrive in the Soviet Union. The convoy was regarded by the Allies as a success, although it gave them a taste of the difficulties to come on the Arctic convoy run.

Allied order of battle

Merchant ships

Ships convoyed^[2]

Name	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
Alcoa Cadet	1919	United States	4,823	Lost in N.Russia after arrival
Alcoa Rambler	1919	United States	5,500	At Reykjavik 15–26 April
Bayou Chico	1920	United States	5,401
Botavon	1912	United Kingdom	5,848	Convoy Commodore H. J. Anchor; torpedoed, scuttled
Cape Corso	1929	United Kingdom	3,807	Sunk by torpedo-bomber
Cape Race	1930	United Kingdom	3,807	At Reykjavik 15–26 April; vice convoy commodore
Capira	1920	Panama	5,625
Deer Lodge	1919	United States	6,187	At Reykjavik 16–26 April
Empire Bard	1942	United Kingdom	3,114	Joined From Reykjavik. Heavy-lift crane ship N. Russia
Empire Morn	1941	United Kingdom	7,092	CAM ship at Reykjavik 16–26 April
Expositor	1919	United States	4,959	Reykjavik 15–26 April
Francis Scott Key	1941	United States	7,191
Gray Ranger	1941	United Kingdom	3,313	Replenishment oiler, detached, arrived Lerwick 8 May
Hegira	1919	United States	7,588
Jutland	1928	United Kingdom	6,153	Bombed, wreck sunk by U-251
Krassin	1917	Soviet Union	4,902	Icebreaker on passage
Lancaster	1918	United States	7,516
Montcalm	1904	United Kingdom	1,432	Icebreaker on passage
Mormacrey	1919	United States	5,946
Mormacrio	1919	United States	5,940
Paul Luckenbach	1913	United States	6,606
Seattle Spirit	1919	United States	5,627
Southgate	1926	United Kingdom	4,862	At Reykjavik 16–26 April
Texas	1919	United States	5,638
Topa Topa	1920	United States	5,356
Zebulon B Vance	1942	United States	7,177

Escorts

Convoy escorts^[3]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS London	Royal Navy	County-class cruiser	30 April – 1 May
HMS Nigeria	Royal Navy	Fiji-class cruiser	28 April – 2 May
HMS Ulster Queen	Royal Navy	Auxiliary AA Cruiser	28 April – 5 May
HMS Somali	Royal Navy	Tribal-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HMS Boadicea	Royal Navy	B-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HMS Matchless	Royal Navy	M-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HNoMS St. Albans	Royal Norwegian Navy	Wickes-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HMS Venomous	Royal Navy	Modified W-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HMS Ledbury	Royal Navy	Hunt-class destroyer	26 April – 27 May
HMS Middleton	Royal Navy	Hunt-class destroyer	28 April – 4 May
HMS Bramble	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	26 April – 5 May
HMS Leda	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	26 April – 5 May
HMS Seagull	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	26 April – 5 May
HMT Cape Palliser	Royal Navy	ASW Trawler	26 April – 5 May
HMS Chiltern	Royal Navy	ASW Trawler	26 April – 5 May
HMT Northern Pride	Royal Navy	ASW Trawler	26 Apr – 5 May
HMT Vizalma	Royal Navy	ASW Trawler	26 April – 5 May

Heavy cover

Home Fleet^[3]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS Duke of York	Royal Navy	King George V-class battleship	2–5 May
HMS King George V	Royal Navy	King George V-class battleship	28 April – 2 May
USS Washington	United States	North Carolina-class battleship	28 April – 6 May
USS Tuscaloosa	United States	New Orleans-class cruiser	28 April – 6 May
USS Wichita	United States	Heavy cruiser	28 April – 6 May
HMS Kenya	Royal Navy	Fiji-class cruiser	28 April – 5 May
HMS Punjabi	Royal Navy	Tribal-class destroyer	29 April – 1 May rammed, King George V, sunk
USS Wilson	United States	Benham-class destroyer	28 April – 6 May
USS Madison	United States	Benson-class destroyer	28 April – 6 May
HMS Escapade	Royal Navy	E-class destroyer	2–5 May
HMS Faulknor	Royal Navy	F-class destroyers	2–5 May
USS Plunkett	United States	Gleaves-class destroyer	28 April – 6 May
HMS Inglefield	Royal Navy	I-class destroyer	28 April – 5 May
HMS Marne	Royal Navy	M-class destroyer	29 April – 5 May
HMS Martin	Royal Navy	M-class destroyer	29 April – 5 May
HMS Oribi	Royal Navy	O-class destroyer	29 April – 5 May
USS Wainwright	United States	Sims-class destroyer	28 April – 6 May
HMS Belvoir	Royal Navy	Hunt-class destroyer	28 April
HMS Hursley	Royal Navy	Hunt-class destroyer	28 April
HMS Lamerton	Royal Navy	Hunt-class destroyer	28 April – 4 May
HMS Victorious	Royal Navy	ASW Trawler	28 April – 5 May

Submarine patrols

Covering patrols^[4]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
ORP Jastrząb	Polish Navy	S-class submarine	2 May, 5 killed, 6 injured St. Albans, Seagull
Minerve	Free French Naval Forces	Minerve-class submarine	1–5 May
HMS Sturgeon	Royal Navy	S-class submarine	28 April – 1 May with convoy, then covering patrol
HNoMS Uredd	Royal Norwegian Navy	U-class submarine	1–5 May
HMS Unison	Royal Navy	U-class submarine	1–5 May

See also

• List of shipwrecks in May 1942

Footnotes

1. Macintyre 1971, p. 270.
2. Ruegg & Hague 1993, p. 33.
3. Ruegg & Hague 1993, pp. 33–35.
4. Ruegg & Hague 1993, p. 34.

References

• Macintyre, Donald (1971). The Naval War Against Hitler. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-684-12375-2.
• Ruegg, Bob; Hague, Arnold (1993) [1992]. Convoys to Russia (2nd rev. exp. pbk. ed.). Kendal: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-905617-66-4.

Further reading

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–42. Vol. I. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Kemp, Paul (1993). Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-130-1 – via Archive Foundation.
• Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-257-7.
• Schofield, Bernard (1964). The Russian Convoys. London: BT Batsford. OCLC 906102591 – via Archive Foundation.
• Woodman, Richard (2004) [1994]. Arctic Convoys 1941–1945. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5752-1.

External links

• Convoy PQ 15
• PQ 15 at Convoyweb