Arctic Convoys - John Ramsay

Wed, Mar 21st 2018 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

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John Ramsay gave a very interesting talk on the Arctic convoys which ran from Iceland to Russian ports during World War 2. These ran in two series, the first running from September 1941 until September 1942. The convoys were described as PQ (outbound) and QP (inbound) and were suspended in the Summer of 1942 after the disaster of convoy PQ17. The PQ17 was described as the “worst journey in the world.”

The convoys consisted of 35 merchant ships and 3 rescue ships and were escorted by corvettes, armed trawlers and destroyers. In the background was a cruiser force and Royal Navy battleships.

The German ship Tirpitz was greatly feared whilst it was deployed to attack the convoys heading for Russian ports. It had a crew of 2,000 men and was heavily armed. Many attempts were made by the Allies to destroy the ship whilst it was being built but all failed. On 27th June 1942 the PQ17 left Iceland and was located by the Germans on 1st July due to good intelligence. Heavy enemy attacks using submarines and aircraft resulted in the loss of 24 of its 35 merchant ships. It was thought that the Tirpitz was on its way to attack the convoy so orders were given for it to scatter. This information was subsequently discovered to be false. The result of the ships scattering made them more vulnerable to enemy attacks and the whole episode has been described as a complete disaster which at the highest level soured relations between the West and Russia, the latter furious that only a small number of merchant ships made it to the Russian ports. In spite of this many Russians appreciated the efforts made by the Allies and families of deceased sailors received packages of items including whisky and rugs.


The talk ended with the answering of some questions and the vote of thanks being delivered by Andy Howard.


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