Convoy PQ 15

HMS Punjabi sunk after collision

Arctic naval operations of World War II

Weserübung Norwegian Campaign Convoys Claymore Gauntlet PQ 7 PQ 8 PQ 12 Sportpalast PQ 13 PQ 14 QP 10 PQ 15 QP 11 PQ 16 PQ 17 Rösselsprung QP 13 Wunderland PQ 18 QP 14 Doppelschlag QP 15 JW 51A JW 51B Regenbogen Barents Sea JW 55B Ostfront North Cape JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58

Convoy PQ 15 was an Arctic convoy sent from Iceland by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late April 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports after air attacks that sank three ships. Twenty-two ships arrived safely.

Ships

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

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

There were two support groups: a Cruiser Cover Force led by Rear Admiral H. M. Burrough in the light cruiser HMS Nigeria, with the heavy cruiser HMS London and two destroyers; and a Distant Covering Force led by Admiral John Tovey, comprising the battleships HMS King George V and USS Washington (BB-56), (Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, USN, commanding), the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, the heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37), and USS Wichita (CA-45), the light cruiser HMS Kenya, and 10 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 nautical miles (463 km) southwest of Bear Island. However no attack developed for two days as the attention of German forces focused on the reciprocal Convoy QP 11, which left Murmansk in the Soviet Union on 28 April.

On 1 May the German Luftwaffe made its first attack on PQ 15, by six Junkers Ju 88s. The German bombers were unsuccessful, and lost one of their number.

Also on 1 May, 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 task force.

The escorts made an asdic contact on 2 May, which the destroyer HMS St. Albans and minesweeper HMS Seagull attacked. 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 abandoned and 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, attacked the convoy, making the first German torpedo bomber attack of World War II.^[1] Three ships were hit. Two were sunk, and one was damaged and later 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 any German further attacks; an Arctic gale quickly turning into a snowstorm. PQ 15 arrived at the Kola Inlet at 2100 on 5 May with no further losses.

Aftermath

Three of PQ 15's ships had been sunk, Botavon and Cape Corso by torpedo bombers and Jutland 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.

Ships in the convoy^[2]

Name	Flag	Tonnage (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 Apr
HMS Badsworth (L03)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Rescued survivors from Jutland
Bayou Chico (1920)	United States	5,401
HMS Belvoir	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 28 Apr
HMS Boadicea (H65)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
Botavon (1912)	United Kingdom	5,848	Torpedoed and sunk later by convoy escort Capt H J Anchor OBE RD RNR (Commodore)
HMS Bramble (J11)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May
Cape Corso (1929)	United Kingdom	3,807	Sunk by aircraft torpedo
HMS Cape Palliser (FY256)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May ASW trawler
Cape Race (1930)	United Kingdom	3,807	At Reykjavik 15-26 Apr Vice-Commodore
Capira (1920)	Panama	5,625
HMS Chiltern	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May
Deer Lodge (1919)	United States	6,187	At Reykjavik 16-26 Apr
HMS Duke of York (17)	Royal Navy		Escort 2 May - 5 May
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 Apr
HMS Escapade (H17)	Royal Navy		Escort 2 May - 5 May
Expositor (1919)	United States	4,959	Reykjavik 15-26 Apr
HMS Faulknor (H62)	Royal Navy		Escort 2 May - 5 May
Francis Scott Key (1941)	United States	7,191
Gray Ranger (1941)	United Kingdom	3,313	Detached, Arrived Lerwick 8 May Replenishment oiler
Hegira (1919)	United States	7,588
HMS Hursley (L84)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 28 Apr
HMS Inglefield (D02)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May
Jutland (1928)	United Kingdom	6,153	Bombed, Wreck Sunk By U-251
HMS Kenya (14)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Cruiser
HMS King George V (41)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 2 May Battleship
Krassin (1917)	Soviet Union	4,902	Icebreaker on passage
HMS Lamerton (L88)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 4 May Destroyer
Lancaster (1918)	United States	7,516
HMS Leda (J93)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May
HMS Ledbury (L90)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 27 May
HMS London (69)	Royal Navy		Escort 30 Apr - 1 May Heavy cruiser
HMS Marne (G35)	Royal Navy		Escort 29 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
HMS Martin (G44)	Royal Navy		Escort 29 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
HMS Matchless (G52)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
HMS Middleton (L74)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 4 May Destroyer
Minerve	Free French Naval Forces		Escort 1 May - 5 May Submarine
Montcalm (1904)	United Kingdom	1,432	Icebreaker on passage
Mormacrey (1919)	United States	5,946
Mormacrio (1919)	United States	5,940
HMS Nigeria (60)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 2 May
HMS Northern Pride (FY105)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May ASW trawler
HMS Oribi (G66)	Royal Navy		Escort 29 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
HMS Unison (P43)	Royal Navy		Escort 1 May - 5 May Submarine
ORP Jastrząb (P551)	Polish Navy		Escort 1 May - 5 May Submarine 2 May 1942 was mistakenly engaged by HNoMS St. Albans and HMS Seagull. She was attacked with depth charges and made to surface, there she was strafed with the loss of 5 crew (including British liaison officer) and 6 injured, including the commander. The ship was badly damaged and had to be scuttled, near 71°30′N 12°32′E / 71.500°N 12.533°E / 71.500; 12.533
Paul Luckenbach (1913)	United States	6,606
HMS Punjabi	Royal Navy		Escort 29 Apr - 1 May Destroyer Lost in collision with HMS King George V
HMS Seagull (J85)	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May
Seattle Spirit (1919)	United States	5,627
HMS Somali (F33)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
Southgate (1926)	United Kingdom	4,862	At Reykjavik 16-26 Apr
HNoMS St. Albans (I15)	Royal Norwegian Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May
HMS Sturgeon (73S)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 1 May Submarine
Texas (1919)	United States	5,638
Topa Topa (1920)	United States	5,356
HMS Ulster Queen	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May
HNoMS Uredd (P-41)	Royal Norwegian Navy		Escort 1 May - 5 May Submarine
USS Madison (DD-425)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May
USS Plunkett (DD-431)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May
USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May Heavy cruiser
USS Wainwright (DD-419)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May Destroyer
USS Washington (BB-56)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May Battleship
USS Wichita (CA-45)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May Heavy cruiser
USS Wilson (DD-408)	United States		Escort 28 Apr - 6 May Destroyer
HMS Venomous (D75)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Destroyer
HMS Victorious (R38)	Royal Navy		Escort 28 Apr - 5 May Aircraft carrier
HMT Vizalma	Royal Navy		Escort 26 Apr - 5 May ASW trawler
Zebulon B Vance (1942)	United States	7,177

Notes

↑ Macintyre, p. 270.
↑ "Convoy PQ.15". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 16 October 2013.

References

Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-Boat War Vol I. (1996) ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
Kemp, Paul. Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters (1993) ISBN 1-85409-130-1.
Macintyre, Donald. The Naval War Against Hitler. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971. No ISBN number.
Schofield, Bernard. The Russian Convoys BT Batsford, 1964. ISBN (none)
PQ 15 at Convoyweb

External links

http://www.sunymaritime.edu/stephenblucelibrary/pdfs/Convoy%20to%20Murmansk%20-%20PQ%2015.pdf

Arctic convoys of World War II

1941

Outbound	Dervish PQ 1 PQ 2 PQ 3 PQ 4 PQ 5 PQ 6

Homebound	QP 1 QP 2 QP 3

1942

Outbound	PQ 7a PQ 7b PQ 8 PQ 9 PQ 10 PQ 11 PQ 12 PQ 13 PQ 14 PQ 15 PQ 16 PQ 17 PQ 18 Operation FB JW 51A JW 51B

Homebound	QP 4 QP 5 QP 6 QP 7 QP 8 QP 9 QP 10 QP 11 QP 12 QP 13 QP 14 QP 15 RA 51

1943

Outbound	JW 52 JW 53 JW 54A JW 54B JW 55A JW 55B

Homebound	RA 52 RA 53 RA 54A RA 54B RA 55A RA 55B

1944

Outbound	JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58 JW 59 JW 60 JW 61 JW 61A JW 62 JW 63

Homebound	RA 56 RA 57 RA 58 RA 59 RA 59A RA 60 RA 61 RA 61A RA 62 RA 63

1945

Outbound	JW 64 JW 65 JW 66 JW 67

Homebound	RA 64 RA 65 RA 66 RA 67

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