Arms and Armour

Arctic convoys of World War II

The Arctic convoys of World War II were 78 convoys that sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland and North America, most to Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in the northern Soviet Union. The first convoy series was Convoy PQ 1 to Convoy PQ 18 (outbound) and Convoy QP 1 to Convoy QP 15 (inbound). The second series was Convoy JW 51 to Convoy JW 67 (outbound) and Convoy RA 51 to Convoy RA 67 (inbound). The convoys began in August 1941 and ended in May 1945, with suspensions during several months in 1942 and in the summers of 1943 and 1944. About 1,400 merchant ships sailed in the convoys, under the Anglo-Soviet Agreement and US Lend-Lease, mainly escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, with support from the Royal Canadian Navy and the US Navy. The convoys lost 85 merchant vessels and 16 British warships, including two cruisers. The Kriegsmarine lost the battleship Scharnhorst, three destroyers, and 30 U-boats; the Luftwaffe lost many aircraft. The convoys demonstrated the Western Allied commitment to the Soviet Union before the Operation Overlord, the invasion of France and tied up substantial German naval and air forces.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Fort Davis, County Cork
• ▸Demetrius of Thessaloniki
• ▸Castel Gandolfo

Uncatalogued shelf

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