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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-Salem's 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

  This along with the * indicates that the ship was sunk

Name	Nationality	Cargo	Tonnage	Fate	Date of attack	Survivors	Dead	Notes
Alcoa Ranger	United States	Steel, armour plates, flour, tanks	5,116	Sunk by U-255*	7 July	40	0
Aldersdale	Royal Navy	Fleet oiler	8,402	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-457*	5 July 7 July	54	0
Azerbaidjan	Soviet Union		6,114	Damaged; reached port safely
Bellingham	United States		5,345	Reached port safely
Benjamin Harrison	United States		7,191	Reached port safely
Bolton Castle	United Kingdom		5,203	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Carlton	United States	Tanks, ammunition, fuel, food	5,127	Sunk by U-88*	5 July	42	3
Christopher Newport	United States	War material	7,191	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-457*	4 July	47	3
Daniel Morgan	United States	Steel, food, explosives, tanks	7,177	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-88*	5 July	51	3
Donbass	Soviet Union		7,925	Reached port safely
Earlston	United Kingdom	Military stores, vehicles, aircraft, steam launch	7,195	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-334*	5 July
El Capitan	Panama	Machinery, food, leather, ammunition, tanks	5,255	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-251*	9 July 10 July	67	0
Empire Byron	United Kingdom	Military stores, vehicles, tanks, aircraft	6,645	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-703*	4 July 5 July	63	7
Empire Tide	United Kingdom	CAM ship	6,978	Reached port safely
Exford	United States		4,969	Damaged by ice, turned back
Fairfield City	United States		5,686	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Grey Ranger	Royal Navy	Fleet oiler	3,313	Damaged by ice; reached port safely
Hartlebury	United Kingdom	Vehicles, tanks, aircraft, military stores	5,082	Sunk by U-355*	7 July	20	38
Honomu	United States	Food, steel, ammunition and tanks	6,977	Sunk by U-456*	5 July	28	13
Hoosier	United States	Machinery, explosives, tanks	5,060	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-376*	9 July 10 July	53	0
Ironclad	United States		5,685	Reached port safely
John Witherspoon	United States	Ammunition, tanks	7,191	Sunk by U-255*	6 July	49	1
Navarino	United Kingdom		4,841	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Ocean Freedom	United Kingdom		7,173	Reached port safely
Olopana	United States	Explosives, petroleum and trucks	6,069	Sunk by U-255*	8 July	34	7
Pan Atlantic	United States		5,411	Sunk by aircraft*	6 July
Pan Kraft	United States		5,644	Sunk by aircraft*	7 July
Paulus Potter	Netherlands	Goods, ammunition, tanks, aircraft, trucks	7,168	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-255*	5 July 13 July	76	0
Peter Kerr	United States		6,476	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Rathlin	United Kingdom	Rescue ship	1,600	Reached port safely				Arrived Archangel on 9 July
Richard Bland	United States		7,191	Ran aground, towed back to port
River Afton	United Kingdom	Military stores, tanks, vehicles, aircraft	5,479	Sunk by U-703*	5 July	38	26	Convoy Commodore's ship
Samuel Chase	United States		7,191	Reached port safely
Silver Sword	United States		4,937	Reached port safely
Troubador	Panama		6,428	Reached port safely
Washington	United States		5,564	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
West Gotomska	United States		5,728	Developed engine trouble, returned to port
William Hooper	United States	military stores, trucks, ammunition, tanks	7,177	Damaged by aircraft Sunk by U-334*	4 July
Winston-Salem	United States		6,223	Ran aground, abandoned later recovered				Reached port 28 July
Zaafaran	United Kingdom	Rescue ship	1,559	Sunk by aircraft*	5 July
Zamalek	United Kingdom	Rescue ship	1,567	Reached port safely

Escorts

Convoy Close Escort
Commander Broome, RN

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
HMT Ayrshire	ASW trawler	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Britomart	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Dianella	Flower-class corvette	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS Escapade	E-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Fury	F-class destroyer	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS Halcyon	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Keppel	Shakespeare-class destroyer leader	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS La Malouine	Flower-class corvette	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS Leamington	Town-class destroyer	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS Ledbury	Hunt-class destroyer	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMT Lord Austin	ASW trawler	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Lord Middleton	ASW trawler	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Lotus	Flower-class corvette	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMT Northern Gem	ASW trawler	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Offa	O-class destroyer	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS P614	P611-class submarine	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS P615	P611-class submarine	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Palomares	Anti-aircraft ship	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Poppy	Flower-class corvette	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July
HMS Pozarica	Anti-aircraft ship	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Salamander	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Wilton	Hunt-class destroyer	Royal Navy	30 June	4 July

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

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
HMS London	County-class heavy cruiser	Royal Navy	1 July	4 July
HMS Norfolk	County-class heavy cruiser	Royal Navy	1 July	4 July
USS Rowan	Benham-class destroyer	United States	1 July	4 July
HMS Somali	Tribal-class destroyer	Royal Navy	1 July	4 July
USS Tuscaloosa	New Orleans-class heavy cruiser	United States	1 July	4 July
USS Wainwright	Sims-class destroyer	United States	1 July	4 July
USS Wichita	Wichita-class heavy cruiser	United States	1 July	4 July

Distant Force - Home Fleet
Admiral Tovey, RN

Name	Class	Navy	Date joined	Date departed	Notes
HMS Ashanti	Tribal-class destroyer	Royal Navy	1 July	4 July
HMS Blankney	Hunt-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Cumberland	County-class heavy cruiser	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Duke of York	King George V-class battleship	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Escapade	E-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Faulknor	F-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Marne	M-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Martin	M-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
USS Mayrant	Benham-class destroyer	United States	1 July	4 July
HMS Middleton	Hunt-class destroyer	Royal Navy	27 June	4 July
HMS Nigeria	Fiji-class light cruiser	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Onslaught	O-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
HMS Onslow	O-class destroyer	Royal Navy	1 July	4 July
USS Rhind	Benham-class destroyer	United States	1 July	4 July
HMS Victorious	Illustrious-class aircraft carrier	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July
USS Washington	North Carolina-class battleship	United States	29 June	4 July
HMS Wheatland	Hunt-class destroyer	Royal Navy	29 June	4 July

Axis forces

U-boats

Surface ships

See also

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

Notes

1. Riesenberg, Sea War, Part 773., p. 320
2. Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, p. 187
3. Helgason, Gudmundur, "PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster", German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net, retrieved 16 April 2009
4. Churchill, The Second World War, Volume IV, p. 237
5. ^ Disabled by aircraft, sunk later by U-boat

References

• Churchill, Winston S. (1951), The Second World War: Volume IV, The Hinge of Fate, Cassell & Co. Ltd.
• Connell, G. G. (1982), Arctic destroyers: the 17th Flotilla, W. Kimber, ISBN 978-0-7183-0428-7
• Hill, Roger P. (1986), Destroyer Captain, Periscope Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-904381-25-1
• Hinsley F.H., Francis; Eastaway Thomas, Edward (1990), British intelligence in the Second World War: its influence on strategy and operations, vol. II, H.M.S.O, ISBN 978-0-11-630934-1
• Langer, John D. (1979), "The Harriman-Beaverbrook Mission and the Debate over Unconditional Aid for the Soviet Union, 1941", Journal of Contemporary History, 14 (3): 463–482, doi:10.1177/002200947901400306, ISSN 0022-0094, S2CID 159474803
• Moore, Arthur R. (1984), "A careless word-- a needless sinking": a history of the staggering losses suffered by the U.S. Merchant Marine, both in ships and personnel during World War II, American Merchant Marine Museum
• Morison, Samuel E. (2001), History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939-May 1943, Volume 1 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 978-0-252-06963-5
• Riesenberg, Felix (1956), Sea War, Part 773, Rinehart
• Schofield, Bernard (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford. OCLC 923314731
• The Bookseller (1971), Issues 3394-3405, Authors Publishers' Association, Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland, ISBN 978-0-340-12512-0
• The London Gazette, Issue 39041 (17 October 1950), Supplement To The London Gazette: Convoys to North Russia:1942{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
• Frayn Turner, John (2002), Fight for the sea: naval adventures from World War II, Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-1-55750-884-3
• Winton, John (1988), Ultra at sea, Leo Cooper, ISBN 0-85052-883-6
• Wynn, Kenneth G. (1997), U-boat Operations of the Second World War: Career histories, U1-U510, Chatham, ISBN 978-1-55750-860-7

External links

• U.S. Naval Historical Center account of PQ-17 Archived 2 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Description of Rösselsprung Archived 15 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• 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
• Helgason, Gudmundur. "PQ-17 The Greatest Convoy Disaster". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net.

• Arctic convoys of World War II
• World War II orders of battle