Convoy PQ 12
 | This article includes a list of generalreferences,butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations.(August 2010) |
Convoy PQ 12was anArctic convoysent from Great Britain by theWestern Alliesto aid theSoviet UnionduringWorld War II.It sailed in March 1942, reachingMurmanskdespite a sortie against it by theGerman battleshipTirpitz. All ships arrived safely.
Ships
[edit]PQ 12 consisted of 16 ships under the command of the Convoy Commodore,Hubert Hudson.The Close Escort comprised the minesweeperHMSGossamerand five whalers. These were joined on 5 March by the Ocean Escort of two destroyers,HMSOribi,commanded by Commander J. E. H. McBeath who took over as Senior Officer Escort andOffa,supported by the cruiserHMSKenya.
Distant cover was provided by two Heavy Cover Forces; one comprising the battleshipHMSDuke of York(Vice AdmiralAlban Curteiscommanding), the battlecruiserHMSRenownand six destroyers, sailing fromReykjavíkand another led by AdmiralJohn Toveycomprising the battleshipHMSKing George V,the carrierHMSVictorious,the cruiserHMSBerwickand six destroyers, sailing fromScapa Flow.
Action
[edit]PQ 12 sailed from Reykjavík on 1 March 1942 with its Close Escort.[1]It was joined on 5 March by the Ocean Escort and on 6 March by the cruiserKenya.Also at sea were the Heavy Cover Forces, Curteis from Reykjavík sailing on 3 March and Tovey from Scapa Flow on 4 March. On 5 March the convoy was sighted by a German reconnaissance aircraft and on 6 March, after obtaining permission fromHitlerto do so,Tirpitzsortied fromTrondheimwith three destroyers as escort. This wasOperation Sportpalast,and was intended to find and destroy PQ 12 and its reciprocal, QP 8, which was also at sea.
Shortly after sailingTirpitzwas sighted by the patrolling submarineHMSSeawolfand the Heavy Cover Forces, now joined, sought to bringTirpitzto action. Over the next two days these groups of ships manoeuvred around each other without coming into contact, though on two occasions they were 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) apart.Tirpitzhad no success, though her destroyers encountered one straggler from QP 8, the freighterIjora,and sank her. Finally on 9 March asTirpitzheaded for home, she was sighted by aircraft fromVictoriousand attacked, though also without success.
PQ 12 arrived atMurmanskon 12 March.[1]No ships were lost, though the escort suffered one whaler lost,Shera,capsized by ice buildup andOribi,damaged by pack ice. On 24 March,Lancaster Castlewas dive-bombed alongside the quay in Murmansk and ten men were killed.[2]It was towed out and moored in the river, the crew remaining on board. A few days later it was dive-bombed again and received five hits. There were no casualties but the crew moved to shore. PQ 12 provided valuable military equipment and other materials for the Soviet war effort. The distribution of equipment and supplies delivered with PQ 12 was the subject of a Soviet State Defence Committee decree.[3]
Ships in the convoy
[edit]Allied merchant ships
[edit]The ships of the convoy arrived at Reykjavík on 27 February.[4][5]
| Name | Flag | Tonnage(GRT) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artigas(1920) |  Panama
|
5,613 | |
| Ballot(1922) | Panama
|
6,131 | Dynamo defects, did not sail with PQ 12 |
| Bateau(1926) | Panama
|
4,687 | Returned |
| Beaconstreet(1927) |  United Kingdom
|
7,467 | |
| Belomorcanal(1936) |  Soviet Union
|
2,900 | |
| Capulin(1920) | Panama
|
4,977 | |
| Dneprostroi(1919) | Soviet Union
|
4,756 | |
| Earlston(1941) | United Kingdom
|
7,195 | |
| El Coston(1924) | Panama
|
7,286 | |
| El Occidente(1910) | Panama
|
6,008 | |
| Empire Byron(1941) | United Kingdom
|
6,645 | Convoy Vice Commodore'sship |
| Kiev(1917) | Soviet Union
|
5,823 | Position probable but not definite |
| Lancaster Castle(1937) | United Kingdom
|
5,172 | Sunk byLuftwaffein Murmansk roads, 9 killed, 48 survivors[6] |
| Llandaff(1937) | United Kingdom
|
4,825 | Convoy Commodore'sship, Captain Hubert Hudson RD RNR |
| Navarino(1937) | United Kingdom
|
4,825 | |
| Sevzaples(1932) | Soviet Union
|
3,974 | |
| Stone Street(1922) | Panama
|
6,131 | |
| Temple Arch(1940) | United Kingdom
|
5,138 |
Convoy escorts
[edit]The smaller RN escorts operated in relays.[5]
Notes
[edit]- ^abHague 2000,p. 188.
- ^Hague 2000,p. 190.
- ^Hill 2006,pp. 727–738.
- ^"Convoy PQ.12".Arnold Hague Convoy Database.Retrieved15 October2013.
- ^ab"Convoy HG.73".Arnold Hague Convoy Database.Retrieved6 November2013.
- ^Jordan 2006,p. 502.
- ^"HMS Gossamer 1942".HALCYON CLASS - MINESWEEPERS AND SURVEY SHIPS OF WORLD WAR TWO.Retrieved15 October2013.
References
[edit]- Hague, Arnold (2000).The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945.London: Chatham.ISBN978-1-55125-033-5.
- Hill, Alexander (2006). "The Allocation of Allied" Lend-Lease "Aid to the Soviet Union arriving with Convoy PQ 12, March 1942 — A State Defense Committee Decree".The Journal of Slavic Military Studies.19(4).doi:10.1080/13518040601028545.S2CID144712146.
- Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999].The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships(2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal.ISBN978-1-86176-293-1.
Further reading
[edit]- Blair, Clay (1996).Hitler's U-Boat War.Vol. I.ISBN0-304-35260-8.
- Kemp, Paul (1993).Convoy: Drama in Arctic Waters.London: Arms and Armour.ISBN978-1-85409-130-7.
- 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.ISBN978-1-86176-257-3.
- Ruegg, R.; Hague, A. (1993) [1992].Convoys to Russia: Allied Convoys and Naval Surface Operations in Arctic Waters 1941–1945(2nd rev. enl. ed.). Kendal: World Ship Society.ISBN0-905617-66-5.
- Schofield, B. B. (1964).The Russian Convoys.London: BT Batsford.OCLC923314731.
- Woodman, Richard (2004) [1994].Arctic Convoys 1941–1945.London: John Murray.ISBN978-0-7195-5752-1.