Convoy PQ 18 order of battle explained

See also: Convoy PQ 18.

Conflict:	Convoy PQ 18
Partof:	Arctic Convoys of the Second World War
Date:	2–21 September 1942
Place:	Arctic Ocean
Coordinates:	(Barents Sea)
Result:	Allied victory
Combatant1:	United Kingdom United States
Commander1:	Robert Burnett
Commander2:	Rolf Carls
Strength1:	40 merchant ships 40–50 escorts (in relays) 2 submarines 1 escort carrier (12 fighters, 3 reconnaissance aircraft)
Strength2:	12 U-boats 92 torpedo-bombers 120 bombers long-range reconnaissance aircraft
Casualties1:	550+ survivors rescued 13 merchant ships 4 Sea Hurricane fighters
Casualties2:	4 U-boats, 22–44 aircraft
Notes:	A Sea Hurricane was washed overboard

Convoy PQ 18 (2–21 September 1942) was an Arctic convoy of forty Allied freighters from Scotland and Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942, rendezvoused with more ships and escorts at Iceland and arrived at Arkhangelsk on 21 September. An exceptionally large number of escorts were provided by the Royal Navy in Operation EV, including the first escort carrier to accompany an Arctic convoy. Detailed information on German intentions was provided by the code breakers at Bletchley Park and elsewhere, through Ultra signals decrypts and eavesdropping on Luftwaffe wireless communications. The German German: [[B-Dienst]] code-breakers read some British signals and the Luftwaffe used the lull in convoys after Convoy PQ 17 (27 June – 10 July) to prepare a maximum effort with the Kriegsmarine.

From 12 to 21 September Convoy PQ 18 was attacked by bombers, torpedo-bombers, U-boats and mines, which sank thirteen ships at a cost of forty-four aircraft and four U-boats. The convoy was defended by escort ships and the aircraft of the escort carrier which used signals intelligence gleaned from Ultra and Luftwaffe wireless frequencies to provide early warning of some air attacks and to attempt evasive routeing of the convoy around concentrations of U-boats. United States Navy Armed Guard and British Naval and Royal Artillery Maritime Regiment gunners were embarked on the freighters to operate anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons, which made air attacks more difficult and because of inexperience, occasionally wounded men and damaged ships and cargo, with wild shooting.

The convoy handed over its distant escorts and Avenger to the homeward bound Convoy QP 14 near Archangelsk on 16 September and continued with the close escort and local escorts, riding out a storm in the Northern Dvina estuary and the last attacks by the Luftwaffe, before reaching Archangelsk on 21 September. Several ships ran aground in the storm but all were eventually refloated; unloading the convoy took a month. Because of its losses and the transfer in November of its most effective remaining aircraft to the Mediterranean to oppose Operation Torch, the Luftwaffe effort could never be repeated.

Aftermath

Analysis

In the official history (1956 [1962]) Stephen Roskill called Convoy PQ 18 an Allied success. The convoy operation brought 28 ships safely to their destinations and the Arctic convoy route, which had been suspended since the loss of Convoy PQ 17, was open again. In 2001, Werner Rahn wrote that the German: [[Seekriegsleitung]] (SKL, Naval War Staff) had called the results "dearly bought and unsatisfactory". In 2004, Richard Woodman referred to Convoy PQ 18 as a Pyrrhic victory. The Luftwaffe torpedo-bomber attacks, while costly, had been highly effective and would have inflicted more losses had not the British Headache operators not given early warning of some attacks, which enabled Sea Hurricanes to be scrambled in time. The Germans failed to prevent the convoy reaching Russia and their losses, particularly in trained pilots, were severe, reducing the ability of the Luftwaffe to repeat its anti-convoy operation. Attacks on Avenger had been defeated and the depth of the escort screen made torpedo attacks on the centre of the convoy extravagantly risky. Coastal Command operations in support of Convoy PQ 18 and the returning convoy QP 14, involved 111 aircraft from 14 squadrons, which flew 279 sorties and logged 2,290 flying hours, most being taken up by the fights to and from the convoy. In November, Luftflotte 5, the German air command in Norway and Finland, was ordered to transfer its Ju 88 and He 111 torpedo-bombers to the Mediterranean against Operation Torch, a decision which the British received through Ultra intercepts. Only the Heinkel 115 floatplanes, suitable for torpedo attacks on stragglers and some Ju 87 dive-bombers remained in Norway, along with a few long-range reconnaissance aircraft to observe for the surface and U-boat forces.

Casualties

Roskill in 1962 and Woodman in 2004 wrote that the Germans managed to sink thirteen merchant ships for a loss of four U-boats and 44 aircraft, 38 torpedo-bombers and six long-range bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Michael Howard, in 1972, recorded that the Allies lost 38 aircraft from 309, 126 tanks from 448 and 85 of the 106 lorries carried in the convoy. Convoy PQ 19 was assembled at Loch Ewe but not dispatched, a net loss to the Allied war effort.

Allied order of battle

Convoy, Loch Ewe to Archangel

Name! scope="col" width="25px"

Year	Flag	GRT		Notes
SS Africander	1921		5,441	Sunk in air attack
	1930		8,992	Damaged by Sunk by, 16 casualties
SS Beauregard	1920		5,976	Engine trouble, returned Loch Ewe
SS Campfire	1919		5,671
SS Charles R. McCormick	1920		6,027
SS Copeland	1923		1,526	Rescue ship
SS Dan-y-Bryn	1940		5,117	Vice-Convoy Commodore
	1941		6,978
	1942		7,044	Sunk in air attack
	1941		7,092	CAM ship
SS Empire Snow	1941		6,327
SS Empire Stevenson	1941		6,209	Sunk in air attack
SS Empire Tristram	1942		7,167
SS Esek Hopkins	1942		7,191
SS Goolistan	1929		5,851
SS Hollywood	1920		5,498
SS John Penn	1942		7,177	Sunk in air attack
SS Kentucky	1921		5,446	Sunk in air attack
SS Lafayette	1919		5,887
SS Macbeth	1920		4,941	Sunk in air attack
	1919		5,049	Sunk in air attack
SS Meanticut	1921		6,061
SS Nathanael Greene	1942		7,177
SS Ocean Faith	1942		7,174
RFA Oligarch	1918		6,894	Fleet oiler Joined from Spitzbergen group
	1942		7,191	Sunk by 1 casualty
SS Oregonian	1917		4,862	Sunk in air attack
	1941		7,191
SS Sahale	1919		5,028
SS Schoharie	1919		4,971
SS St. Olaf	1942		7,191
SS Temple Arch	1940		5,138	Flagship Convoy Commodore E. K. Boddam-Whetham
SS Virginia Dare	1942		7,177
SS Wacosta	1920		5,432	Sunk in air attack
SS White Clover	1920		5,462
SS William Moultrie	1942		7,177
	—		—	7–21 September 1942, rescue ship
	—		—	7–21 September 1942, rescue ship
	—		—	7–21 September 1942, rescue ship

Force Q

Name! scope="col" width="25px"

Year	Flag	GRT	Type		Notes
	1941		3,417		Fleet oiler, sailed in convoy
	1941		3,313		Fleet oiler, sailed in convoy

Convoy, Loch Ewe to Reykjavík

Name! scope="col" width="25px"

Year	Flag	GRT		Notes
SS Gateway City	1920		5,432	Loch Ewe to Reykjavík only
SS Oremar	1919		6,854
SS San Zotico	1919		5,582

Convoy, Reykjavík to Arkhangelsk

Name! scope="col" width="25px"

Year	Flag	GRT		Notes
SS Andre Marti	1918		2,352	Joined from Reykjavík
SS Exford	1919		4,969
SS Komiles	1932		3,966
SS Petrovski	1921		3,771
SS Richard Bassett	1942		7,191	Joined from, returned to, Reykjavík (engine trouble)
	1931		3,559	Joined from Reykjavík, sunk by, 21 casualties
SS Sukhona	1918		3,124	Sunk in air attack
SS Tbilisi	1912		7,169

Convoy formation

Convoy formation, * = ship sunk

style=width:33%	column 1	style=width:33%	column 2	style=width:33%	column 3	style=width:33%	column 4	style=width:33%	column 5	style=width:33%	column 6	style=width:33%	column 7	style=width:33%	column 8	style=width:33%	column 9	style=width:33%	column 10

The Motor Minesweepers MMS 90, MMS 203 and MMS 212 were being delivered to the Soviet Northern Fleet and were to act as rescue ships en route, receiving no position number.

Operation EV

Loch Ewe to Iceland

Local escort!Name!!Navy!!Class!!Dates!!Notes

			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942	Joined Heavy Cover Force
			2–8 September 1942	Joined Heavy Cover Force
			2–8 September 1942	Joined Heavy Cover Force
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942	To Reykjavík as escort
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942
			2–8 September 1942

Escorts, Iceland to Archangelsk

Notes

			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942	Cdr A. B. Russell SOE
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942
			7–21 September 1942

Carrier group

Avenger and escorts!Name!!Navy!!Class!!Date!!Notes

			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942

Fighting Destroyer Escort

Force A

Notes

			9–17 September 1942	Flagship Rear Admiral Robert "Bullshit Bob" Burnett
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942

Force B

Notes

			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942
			9–17 September 1942	Captain (D) Ian Campbell

Eastern Local Escort

Notes

			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942
			17–22 September 1942

Cruiser Covering Force

Cruiser Covering Force!Name!!Flag!!Class!!Dates!!Notes

			14–22 September 1942
			14–22 September 1942	Flagship Vice-Admiral Stuart Bonham Carter
			14–22 September 1942
			14–22 September 1942
			14–22 September 1942

Distant cover

Distant cover (Home Fleet)!Name!!Flag!!Class!!Dates!!Notes

			11–14 September 1942	Flagship, Vice-Admiral Bruce Fraser
			11–14 September 1942
			11–14 September 1942
			11–14 September 1942	Joined from local escort group
			11–14 September 1942	Joined from local escort group
			11–14 September 1942	Joined from local escort group
			11–14 September 1942
			11–14 September 1942	Commander Jack Broome
			11–14 September 1942

Spitzbergen fuelling base

Spitzbergen fuelling base!Name!!Flag!!Class!!Dates!!Notes

			9–21 September 1942
			9–21 September 1942
			9–21 September 1942
			9–21 September 1942
			9–21 September 1942
			9–21 September 1942

Operation Gearbox II

See main article: Operation Gearbox II.

Gearbox II (Spitzbergen supply run)!Name!!Flag!!Class!!Dates!!Notes

			14 September 1942
			14 September 1942
			14 September 1942

Submarine patrols

Name! scope="col" width="160px"

Flag	Type	Patrol	Notes
			7–23 September	Off Norwegian coast
			2–6 September	Patrol force, returned port
				Minelayer
			2 September – 1 October	Patrol force
			2 September – 1 October	Patrol force
			7 September – 1 October	Off Norwegian coast
			7 September – 1 October	Off Norwegian coast
			2 September – 1 October	Patrol force
			2 September – 1 October	Patrol force
				Patrol
				Patrol
				Patrol
				Patrol
				Patrol

RAF

See main article: Operation Orator.

Search and Strike Force based in Russia

Sqn	Type	No.	Role	Notes
		3	Reconnaissance	1 written off 9 September, 1 shot down 27 September
		16	torpedo-bomber	6 lost in transit 4–5 September 1942
		9	Reconnaissance/ASW	No losses
		16	torpedo-bomber	3 lost in transit 4–5 September 1942

Axis order of battle

U-boats

German: Gruppe Trägertod!Name!!Flag!!Commander!!Class!!Notes

				Sunk, Faulknor
				Sank
				Damaged, sunk
				Sank, sunk

Surface ships

+Sortie, 9 September 1942	Name	Flag	Type	Notes
			Flagship Vice Admiral Kummetz
			Flag German: [[Kapitän zur See]]

Aircraft involved

Luftflotte 5

Unit	Type	No.	Role	Notes
	Heinkel He 111 H6	42–46	Torpedo-bomber	Banak
	Junkers Ju 88 A17	27–35	Torpedo-bomber
		60	Bomber/dive-bomber	Banak
		—	Long-range reconnaissance
		15	torpedo-bomber
		—	Weather reconnaissance	Sørreisa, Billefjord, Tromsø
		30	Dive-bomber	Kirkenes Insufficient range

German: Luftflotte 5

+Luftflotte 5, order of battle, 1 June 1942	Command	Units
Luftflotte 5 HQ	Wettererkundungsstaffel 5 (Weather reconnaissance squadron)
Fliegerführer Nord (Ost)	I. und II./Kampfgeschwader 30; II. and 13./Jagdgeschwader 5; I./Sturzkampfgeschwader 5 (Dive-Bomber Wing); 3./Kampfgeschwader 26; 1./Seeaufklärungsgruppe 125 (Maritime Reconnaissance Wing); 1./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 22; 1./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 124 (Long-Range Reconnaissance Wing)
Fliegerführer Nord (West)	I./Kampfgeschwader 26; I./Kampfgeschwader 40; 2./Küstenfliegergruppe 906 (Coastal Reconnaissance Wing); Bordfliegerstaffel Tirpitz; 1./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 120
Fliegerführer Lofoten	III./Kampfgeschwader 30; III./Jagdgeschwader 5; 2./Kampfgeschwader 26; 4./Sturzkampfgeschwader 5; Kette 1./Fernaufklärungsgruppe 124
Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen	I./Jagdgeschwader 5; Jagdgruppe Drontheim (Fighter Wing)
Seenotdienstführer Norwegen	Seenotbereichskommando VIII (Maritime Rescue Area Command); Seenotbereichskommando IX

References

• Book: Blair, Clay . Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945 . II . 2000 . Cassell . 1998 . UK pbk. . 0-304-35261-6.
• Book: Boog . H. . Rahn . W. . Stumpf . R. . Wegner . B. . Ewald . Osers . Brownjohn . John . Crampton . Patricia . Willmot . Louise . Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (Germany and the Second World War) . Der globale Krieg: Die Ausweitung zum Weltkrieg und der Wechsel zur Initiative 1941 bis 1943 . VI . Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943 . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt for the Militärgeschichtlichen Forschungsamt . Stuttgart . 2001 . 1990 . eng. trans. Cambridge University Press, London . 0-19-822888-0.
  • • Book: Budiansky, S. . Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II . 2000 . The Free Press (Simon & Schuster) . New York . registration . Archive Foundation . 0-684-85932-7.
• Book: Hague, Arnold . The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945: Its Organisation, Defence and Operation . 2000 . Chatham . London . 978-1-55125-033-5.
• Book: Hinsley, F. H. . History of the Second World War . British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations . London . . 1994 . 1993 . 2nd rev. abr. . 978-0-11-630961-7.
• Book: Howard, M. . Grand Strategy: August 1942 – September 1943 . IV . History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series . Michael Howard (historian) . 1972 . . London . 978-0-11-630075-1.
• Book: Kahn, D. . The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing . 1973 . 1967 . Macmillan . New York . 10th abr. Signet, Chicago . 78083316 . 63-16109.
• Web site: Niehorster . Leo . German Air Force, Order of Battle, 5th Air Fleet, 1 June 1942 . www.niehorster.org . 5 May 2015 . 10 November 2024.
• Book: Richards . Denis . Saunders . H. St G. . Royal Air Force 1939–1945: The Fight Avails . History of the Second World War, Military Series . II . London . . 1975 . 1954 . pbk. . Hyperwar . 978-0-11-771593-6.
• Book: Jürgen . Rohwer . Gerhard . Hümmelchen . Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two . 2005 . 1972 . Chatham Publishing . London . 3rd rev. . 1-86176-257-7.
• Book: Roskill, S. W. . History of the Second World War

  The War at Sea 1939–1945

  . The Period of Balance . II . . London . 1962 . 1956 . 3rd impr. . Hyperwar . 174453986.
• Book: Ruegg . R. . Hague . A. . Convoys to Russia: Allied Convoys and Naval Surface Operations in Arctic Waters 1941–1945 . 1993 . 1992 . World Ship Society . Kendal . 2nd rev. enl. . 0-905617-66-5.
• Book: Ernest . Schofield . Roy Conyers . Nesbit . Arctic Airmen: The RAF in Spitsbergen and North Russia 1942 . 1987 . W. Kimber . London . 978-0-7183-0660-1.
• Book: Smith, Peter . 1975 . Convoy PQ18: Arctic Victory . William Kimber . London . 978-0-7183-0074-6.
• Book: . The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force . Air 41/10 . 248 . . 2001 . 1948 . Air Ministry . Richmond, Surrey . repr. Public Record Office War Histories . 978-1-903365-30-4.
• Book: Thiele, Harold . Luftwaffe Aerial Torpedo Aircraft and Operations in World War II . 2004 . Hikoki . Crowborough . 978-1-90-210942-8.
• Book: Woodman, Richard . 2004 . 1994 . Arctic Convoys 1941–1945 . John Murray . London . 978-0-7195-5752-1.

Further reading

• Book: Claasen, A. R. A. . Hitler's Northern War: The Luftwaffe's Ill-fated Campaign, 1940–1945 . 2001 . University Press of Kansas . Lawrence, KS . 0-7006-1050-2.
• Book: Kington . J. A. . Selinger . F. . 2006 . Wekusta: Luftwaffe Meteorological Reconnaissance Units & Operations 1938–1945 . Flight Recorder Publications . Ottringham . 978-0-9545605-8-4.
• Book: Llewellyn-Jones . Malcolm . Naval Staff Histories . The Royal Navy and the Arctic Convoys: A Naval Staff History . 2014 . 2007 . Routledge . London . 978-0-415-86177-9.

External links

• Arnold Hague: PQ 18 at convoyweb