Convoy PQ 13

PQ-13 was a British Arctic convoy which delivered war supplies from the Western Allies to the USSR during World War II. The convoy was subject to attack by German air, U-boat and surface forces and suffered the loss of five ships, plus one escort vessel. Fifteen ships arrived safely.

Ships

PQ 13 comprised 19 merchant ships; seven British, four American, one Polish, four of Panamanian and one of Honduran registry. It was commanded by Commodore D.A. Casey in River Afton. The convoy was escorted for the first stage of its voyage, from Scotland to Iceland, by a Local Escort Group, of two destroyers and an ASW Trawler. For the second stage, from Iceland to the Soviet Union, the Ocean escort was two destroyers, and two trawlers, augmented by three whalers being transferred to the Soviet Navy. The Ocean escort was commanded by Capt. LS Saunders, in the cruiser Trinidad. In support of the convoy escort, and guarding against a sortie by the German battleship Tirpitz, was a Heavy Cover Force, comprising the battleships Duke of York (V. Adm. ATB Curteis commanding), King George V, the battlecruiser Renown, the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious, two cruisers, Kent and Edinburgh, and sixteen destroyers. (Ashanti, Bedouin, Echo, Escapade, Eskimo, Faulknor, Foresight, Icarus, Inglefield, Ledbury, Marne, Middleton, Onslow, Punjabi, Tartar and Bear Island.

Action

The convoy sailed from Loch Ewe in Scotland on 10 March 1942 and arrived in Reykjavík on the 16th March, 1942. After dropping out a contingent of three ships, bound from Loch Ewe to Reykjavík only, and the first stage escort, and collecting a further three bound from Reykjavík to Murmansk and the close escort for the voyage, PQ 13 left Reykjavík on the 20th March, 1942.

The voyage was uneventful until 24 March, when the convoy was struck by a violent four day storm, which left the convoy scattered and in disarray. The ships were dispersed over a distance of 150 miles. Over the next few days the ships coalesced into two groups, of eight and four, with four others proceeding independently.

On 28 March the ships were sighted by German aircraft, and attacked. Two ships were sunk, Raceland and Empire Ranger. Also on the 28th a German force of three Narvik class destroyers, Z24, Z25 and Z26, under the command of KzS G Ponitz, sortied from Kirkenes. They intercepted Bateau, which was sunk, in the evening of 28/29 March, before falling in with Trinidad and Fury in the early hours of 29 March. Z26 was badly damaged by HMS Trinidad, sinking later, but in the course of the action Trinidad was hit by her own torpedo (the torpedo's gyroscope froze). The remaining German ships broke of the action, and Trinidad, escorted by Fury and Eclipse, limped into Kola, arriving midday on 30 March.

In the meanwhile the ships of PQ 13 came under U-boat attack. Two ships were found and sunk by U-boats, Induna by U-376, and Effingham by asdic contact and was credited with the destruction of whaler, (edit] Ship list

The convoy to Russia consisted of 19 freighters, a Fleet Oiler, and 3 whalers,

PQ13 main body: Loch Ewe to Murmansk

Ship	Captain	Tonnage	Flag	Total Crew	Armed Guard or DEMS
	46	11
	43	8
SS El Estero	Ivo Beatovic	4,219		39	none
	50	13
SS Empire Cowper	J.H. Wigham	7,164		57	11
	50	7
	67	14
	39	none
	52	8
	60	10
	52	6
	45	None
SS River Afton	Harold W. Charlton	5,479		62	7
SS Tobruk	Bronislaw Harko	7,048		47	None

Reykjavík to Murmansk group

Ship	Captain	Tonnage	Flag	Total Crew	Armed Guard or DEMS
	42	none
	48	none
	44	6

Loch Ewe to Reykjavík group

Ship	Captain	Tonnage	Flag	Total Crew	Armed Guard or DEMS
	e	f
	e	f

PQ13: Fleet replenishment oiler

Ship	Captain	Tonnage	Flag	Total Crew	Armed Guard or DEMS
RFA Oligarch	A.V. Barton	6,897		e	f

PQ13 Whalers

Ship	Captain	Tonnage	Flag	Total Crew	Armed Guard or DEMS

• Loch Ewe to Iceland, but didn't sail to the Soviet Union.
• Ballot, Bateau and Scottish American joined the convoy in Iceland.
• All other ships departed from Loch Ewe, for Murmansk.

• Three whalers: HMS Silja, HMS Sulla and HMS Sumba were under transfer to the Soviet Navy and would become magnetic mine minesweepers.

In Russia, HMS Silja was renamed T-107 and the HMS Sumba was renamed T-106.

Convoy Escorts

For the first stage, from Loch Ewe to Reykjavík, PQ 13 had a local escort of two destroyers and an ASW Trawler.

From Iceland to Murmansk the close escort consisted of the cruiser HMS Trinidad and the destroyers HMS Fury and HMS Eclipse, two armed trawlers and three minesweepers.

For the final leg the convoy was supported by the local escort based at Kola; two Soviet destroyers and four RN minesweepers.

Loch Ewe - Reykjavík: 10–16 March.
Leaving Loch Ewe in the afternoon of the 10th, the convoy was escorted by:

• Destroyer ORP Błyskawica (H34) (left the convoy on the 13th)
• Destroyer Lamerton
• ASW Trawler Destroyers Gremyashchi and Sokrushitelney

On 28 March the convoy was assisted by the involvement of the Sixth Minesweeping Flotilla operating here.
whaler. Escorted by two Russian destroyers and a trawler. Oribi sighted the whaler Silja who had run out of fuel. Oribi was ordered to go to the aid of River Afton which was reported to have been hit by a U-boat. Harrier took Silja in tow and Speedwell escorted them.

On the 1st of April, Niger (also of the Sixth Minesweeping Flotilla) sailed to search for Sulla, but returned on the 3rd of April, having failed to find her.

Total convoy losses

After an attack on the 28 March 1942, 16 crewmembers of the Ballot left the ship in a lifeboat. These men were picked up by Silja and put on board Induna.

Merchant ships lost from the convoy

Date	Ship	Tonnage	Flag	Sunk by	Position	Crew	POW	Died
28 March	Raceland	4,815		Luftwaffe	72° 40'N - 20° 20'E	45	13	32
28 March	Empire Ranger	7,008		Luftwaffe	72° 10'N - 30° 00'E	55	55	0
29 March	Bateau	4,687		Z-26	72° 30'N - 27° 00'E	47	6	41
30 March	Induna	5,086		U-376	70° 55'N - 37° 18'E	66	0	42*
30 March	Effingham	6,421			Icing		21	0	21

Aftermath

New Westminster City and Empire Starlight were bombed in Murmansk port on the 3rd of April.
New Westminster City was lost, Empire Starlight was salvaged post war and renamed Murmansk.
Harpalion and Empire Cowper were lost on the return convoy, Convoy QP 10.

Merchant ships lost in harbour or return convoy

Date	Ship	Tonnage	Flag	Sunk by	Crew	POW	Died
3 April	New Westminster City	4,747		Luftwaffe	52	0	2
3 April	Empire Starlight	6,850		Luftwaffe	68	0	1
11 April	Empire Cowper	7,164		Luftwaffe	68	0	19*
13 April	Harpalion	5,486		edit] References Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War Vol I (1996) ISBN 0-304-35260-8 Bernard Edwards. The road to Russia, arctic convoys 1942. (2002) ISBN 1-59114-732-8 Paul Kemp : Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters (1993) ISBN 1-85409-130-1 Morris O. Mills. Convoy PQ13 - Unlucky for some. ISBN 0-9535670-2-8 John L. Haynes. Frozen Fury, The Murmansk run of Convoy PQ-13. ISBN 9781451201567 Bernard Schofield : (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford ISBN (none) Richard Woodman. Arctic Convoys 1941-1945. (1994) ISBN 0-7195-5752-6 PQ 13 at Convoyweb Order of Battle-PQ13 PQ 13 at uboatnet SS Raceland Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат? Convoy PQ 12 Convoy PQ 15 Look at other dictionaries: Convoy PQ 17 — Part of World War II, Atlantic Campaign Escorts and merchant ships at Hv …   Wikipedia Convoy SC 94 — was the 94th of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool.[1] Ships departed Sydney on 31 July 1942[2] and were met by Mid Ocean Escort Force Group C 1 consisting …   Wikipedia Convoy SC 42 — Convoy Part of World War II Date 9 12 September 1941 Location North Atlantic Result German victory …   Wikipedia Convoy SC-42 — was the 42nd of the numbered series of World War II Slow Convoys of merchant ships from Sydney, Cape Breton Island to Liverpool. [Hague 2000 p.133] Sixty five ships departed Sydney on 30 August 1941; [Hague 2000 p.135] and a week later were met… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 18 — under attack Convoy PQ 18 was one of the Arctic convoys sent from Britain to aid the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942 and arrived in Arkhangelsk on 21 September 1942.… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ 16 — was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in May 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports after five days of air attacks that left eight ships sunk and two damaged.… …   Wikipedia Convoy PQ-18 — was one of the Arctic convoys sent from Great Britain to aid the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942 and arrived in Arkhangelsk on 21 September 1942. Following the disastrous… …   Wikipedia Convoy HX 72 — Convoy Part of World War II Date 20 22 September 1940 Location Western Approaches Result Germa …   Wikipedia 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.… …   Wikipedia Convoy HX 90 — Convoy Part of World War II Date 1 3 December 1940 Location Western Approaches Result German v …   Wikipedia Convoy SC 26 — Part of World War II Date 2 5 April 1941 Location North Atlantic Result German victory …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”