Order of battle for Convoy PQ 17 explained

Convoy PQ 17 was the penultimate of the PQ/QP series of arctic convoys, bound from British ports through the Arctic Ocean via Reykjavík to the White Sea ports of the Soviet Union, particularly Murmansk and Archangel. The convoy was heavily defended, but fearing an imminent attack by substantial German surface forces, the Admiralty made the decision to disperse the convoy.

The convoy comprised 35 merchant ships and 6 naval auxiliaries (41 in all) and was defended by a close escort and two distant escort forces, 43 warships in total. It was opposed by a U-boat group, Eisteufel, of first 6, then 8 U-boats, and a surface attack force of 16 warships, in two battle groups. This operation was code-named Rösselsprung. These were assisted by the 234 aircraft of Luftflotte 5.

Before the convoy dispersed, three ships had been lost. After it scattered each ship began its individual journey to the Russian ports. Some ships took refuge along the frozen coast of Novaya Zemlya, landing at Matochkin. The Soviet tanker Azerbaijan had lost her cargo of linseed oil, and much of SS Winston-Salems cargo had also been jettisoned in Novaya Zemlya.

Of the forty-one ships which left Iceland, three were forced to return, and twenty-four were sunk.Ten merchant ships (one British, six American, one Panamanian and two Russian) and four auxiliaries reached Archangel, and delivered 70,000 tons out of the 200,000 which had started from Iceland. Fourteen American ships in all were sunk.

Allied forces

Merchants

Name	Nationality	Cargo	Tonnage	Fate	Date of attack	Survivors	Dead	Notes
Alcoa Ranger		Steel, armour plates, flour, tanks	5,116	Sunk by *	7 July	40	0
		Fleet oiler	8,402	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	5 July 7 July	54	0
			6,114	Damaged; reached port safely
			5,345	Reached port safely
			7,191	Reached port safely
Bolton Castle			5,203	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Carlton		Tanks, ammunition, fuel, food	5,127	Sunk by *	5 July	42	3
		War material	7,191	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	4 July	47	3
Daniel Morgan		Steel, food, explosives, tanks	7,177	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	5 July	51	3
			7,925	Reached port safely
Earlston		Military stores, vehicles, aircraft, steam launch	7,195	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	5 July
El Capitan		Machinery, food, leather, ammunition, tanks	5,255	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	9 July 10 July	67	0
		Military stores, vehicles, tanks, aircraft	6,645	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	4 July 5 July	63	7
		CAM ship	6,978	Reached port safely
			4,969	Damaged by ice, turned back
Fairfield City			5,686	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
		Fleet oiler	3,313	Damaged by ice; reached port safely
		Vehicles, tanks, aircraft, military stores	5,082	Sunk by *	7 July	20	38
Honomu		Food, steel, ammunition and tanks	6,977	Sunk by *	5 July	28	13
Hoosier		Machinery, explosives, tanks	5,060	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	9 July 10 July	53	0
			5,685	Reached port safely
		Ammunition, tanks	7,191	Sunk by *	6 July	49	1
Navarino			4,841	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
			7,173	Reached port safely
Olopana		Explosives, petroleum and trucks	6,069	Sunk by *	8 July	34	7
Pan Atlantic			5,411	Sunk by aircraft*	6 July
			5,644	Sunk by aircraft*	7 July
Paulus Potter		Goods, ammunition, tanks, aircraft, trucks	7,168	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	5 July 13 July	76	0
Peter Kerr			6,476	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
		Rescue ship	1,600	Reached port safely				Arrived Archangel on 9 July
			7,191	Ran aground, towed back to port
		Military stores, tanks, vehicles, aircraft	5,479	Sunk by *	5 July	38	26	Convoy Commodore's ship
			7,191	Reached port safely
			4,937	Reached port safely
			6,428	Reached port safely
Washington			5,564	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
			5,728	Developed engine trouble, returned to port
William Hooper		military stores, trucks, ammunition, tanks	7,177	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by *	4 July
			6,223	Ran aground, abandoned later recovered				Reached port 28 July
Zaafaran		Rescue ship	1,559	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
		Rescue ship	1,567	Reached port safely

Escorts

Convoy Close Escort
Commander Broome, RN

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
	ASW trawler		27 June	4 July
			27 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
	E-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
	F-class destroyer		30 June	4 July
			27 June	4 July
	Shakespeare-class destroyer leader		30 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
	ASW trawler		27 June	4 July
	ASW trawler		27 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
	ASW trawler		27 June	4 July
	O-class destroyer		30 June	4 July
	P611-class submarine		30 June	4 July
	P611-class submarine		27 June	4 July
	Anti-aircraft ship		27 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July
	Anti-aircraft ship		27 June	4 July
			27 June	4 July
			30 June	4 July

Covering Force - Cruiser Squadron 1 (CS1)
Rear Admiral Hamilton, RN

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
	heavy cruiser		1 July	4 July
	heavy cruiser		1 July	4 July
			1 July	4 July
	destroyer		1 July	4 July
	heavy cruiser		1 July	4 July
			1 July	4 July
	heavy cruiser		1 July	4 July

Distant Force - Home Fleet
Admiral Tovey, RN

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
	destroyer		1 July	4 July
			29 June	4 July
	heavy cruiser		29 June	4 July
	battleship		29 June	4 July
	E-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
	F-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
	M-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
	M-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
			1 July	4 July
			27 June	4 July
	light cruiser		29 June	4 July
	O-class destroyer		29 June	4 July
	O-class destroyer		1 July	4 July
			1 July	4 July
			29 June	4 July
			29 June	4 July
			29 June	4 July

Axis forces

U-boats

Name	Type	Ships sunk	Ships damaged	Notes
	VIIC	Carlton, Daniel Morgan^[1]	0
	VIIC	El Capitan	0
	VIIC	John Witherspoon, Alcoa Ranger, Olopana, Paulus Potter	0
	VIIC	William Hooper, Earlston,	0
	VIIC	Hartlebury	0
	VIIC	Hoosier	0
	VIIC	Honomu	0
	VIIC	Christopher Newport, Aldersdale	0
	VIIC	Empire Byron, River Afton	0

Surface ships

Name	Class	1st departure	Fate	2nd departure	Notes
		2 July 1942		5 July 1942
		2 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1934A destroyer	2 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1934A destroyer	2 July 1942	ran aground	N/A
	Type 1936 destroyer	2 July 1942	ran aground	N/A
Z06	Type 1934A destroyer	2 July 1942	ran aground	N/A
Z04	Type 1934 destroyer	?		5 July 1942	joined later
T07T7	Type 35 torpedo boat	2 July 1942		5 July 1942
T15	Type 37 torpedo boat	2 July 1942		5 July 1942
		3 July 1942	ran aground	N/A
		3 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1936A destroyer	3 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1936A destroyer	3 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1936A destroyer	3 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1936A destroyer	3 July 1942		5 July 1942
	Type 1936A destroyer	3 July 1942		5 July 1942
		3 July 1942		N/A

See also

• Arctic convoys of World War II
  • Operation Rösselsprung Operation Wunderland

References

• Schofield, Bernard (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford.

External links

• U.S. Naval Historical Center account of PQ-17
• Description of Rösselsprung
• The Requiem on Convoy PQ-17, Russian novel by Valentin Pikul
• Memoirs of Chief Steward Horace Carswell DSM, MM, BEM during Convoy PQ.17
• Coxswain Sid Kerslake of armed trawler "Northern Gem" in PQ.17
• Convoy PQ.17, a primary source diary and supporting material by Jack Bowman, ERA aboard HMS La Malouine.
• PQ 17 at Convoyweb
• Web site: PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster. Helgason. Gudmundur. German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.

Notes and References

1. Disabled by aircraft, sunk later by U-boat