Convoy QP 1
Part ofArctic Convoys of theSecond World War
The Norwegian and the Barents seas, site of the Arctic convoys
Date 28 September – 19 October 1941 Location Arctic Ocean Result British victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy  Merchant Navy	Luftwaffe  Kriegsmarine
Commanders and leaders
Escorts:Jack Borrett Convoy:John Dowding	Hans-Jürgen Stumpff Hermann Böhm

Convoy QP 1 (28 September – 19 October 1941) was the firstArctic Convoy of theSecond World War by which theAllies brought back the ships ofOperation Dervish that had carried supplies to theSoviet Union afterOperation Barbarossa, the German invasion of 22 June 1941. The convoy sailed fromMurmansk on 28 September 1941 and arrived safely atScapa Flow inOrkney on 19 October.

From Operation Dervish, at the end of August 1941 to 20 December, six more convoys (Convoy PQ 1 toConvoy PQ 6) sent 45 ships, all of which reached Arkhangelsk or Murmansk. German awareness of these and the reciprocal westbound convoys (Convoy QP 1 toConvoy QP 4) was too vague to plan attacks by theKriegsmarine or theLuftwaffe.

On 13 November 1941, the commander-in-chief of theKriegsmarine,Großadmiral (Grand Admiral)Erich Raeder, told Hitler that, owing to the extreme weather and the lack of air reconnaissance, the prospects of the small number of U-boats in the Arctic Ocean were poor.

AfterOperation Barbarossa, the German invasion of theUSSR, began on 22 June 1941, the UK and USSR signed an agreement in July that they would "render each other assistance and support of all kinds in the present war against Hitlerite Germany".^[1] Before September 1941 the British had dispatched 450 aircraft, 22,000 long tons (22,000 t) of rubber, 3,000,000 pairs of boots and stocks of tin, aluminium, jute, lead and wool. In September British and US representatives travelled to Moscow to study Soviet requirements and their ability to meet them. The representatives of the three countries drew up a protocol in October 1941 to last until June 1942.^[2]

The BritishGovernment Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) based atBletchley Park housed a small industry of code-breakers andtraffic analysts. By June 1941, the GermanEnigma machine Home Waters (Heimish) settings used by surface ships and U-boats could quickly be read. On 1 February 1942, the Enigma machines used in U-boats in the Atlantic and Mediterranean were changed but German ships and the U-boats in Arctic waters continued with the olderHeimishHomeHydra from 1942,Dolphin to the British). By mid-1941, BritishY-stations were able to receive and readLuftwaffeW/T transmissions and give advance warning ofLuftwaffe operations. In 1941, navalHeadache personnel with receivers to eavesdrop onLuftwaffe wireless transmissions were embarked on warships.^[3]

The rival GermanBeobachtungsdienst (B-Dienst, Observation Service) of theKriegsmarineMarinenachrichtendienst (MND, Naval Intelligence Service) had broken several Admiralty codes and cyphers by 1939, which were used to helpKriegsmarine ships elude British forces and provide opportunities for surprise attacks. From June to August 1940, six British submarines were sunk in theSkaggerak using information gleaned from British wireless signals. In 1941,B-Dienst read signals from the Commander in Chief Western Approaches informing convoys of areas patrolled by U-boats, enabling the submarines to move into "safe" zones.^[4]

Between Greenland and Norway are some of the most stormy waters of the world's oceans, 890 mi (1,440 km) of water under gales full of snow, sleet and hail.^[5] The cold Arctic water was met by theGulf Stream, warm water from theGulf of Mexico, which became theNorth Atlantic Drift. Arriving at the south-west of England the drift moves between Scotland and Iceland; north of Norway the drift splits. One stream bears north ofBear Island toSvalbard and a southern stream follows the coast of Murmansk into the Barents Sea. The mingling of cold Arctic water and warmer water of higher salinity generates thick banks of fog for convoys to hide in but the waters drastically reduced the effectiveness ofASDIC as U-boats moved in waters of differing temperatures and density.^[5]

In winter, polar ice can form as far south as 50 mi (80 km) off the North Cape and in summer it can recede to Svalbard. The area is in perpetual darkness in winter and permanent daylight in the summer and can make air reconnaissance almost impossible.^[5] Around theNorth Cape and in theBarents Sea the sea temperature rarely rises about 4 °C (39 °F) and a man in the water will die unless rescued immediately.^[5] The cold water and air makes spray freeze on the superstructure of ships, which has to be removed quickly to avoid the ship becoming top-heavy. Conditions in U-boats were, if anything, worse the boats having to submerge in warmer water to rid the superstructure of ice. Crewmen on watch were exposed to the elements, oil lost its viscosity and nuts froze and sheared off bolts. Heaters in the hull were too demanding of current and could not be run continuously.^[6]

German naval forces in Norway were commanded byHermann Böhm, theKommandierender Admiral Norwegen. Two U-boats were based in Norway in July 1941, four in September, five in December and four in January 1942.^[7] By mid-February twenty U-boats were anticipated in the region, with six based in Norway, two inNarvik orTromsø, two atTrondheim and two atBergen. Hitler contemplated establishing a unified command but decided against it. The German battleshipTirpitz arrived at Trondheim on 16 January, the first ship of a general move of surface ships to Norway. British convoys to Russia had received little attention since they averaged only eight ships each and the long Arctic winter nights negated even the limitedLuftwaffe effort that was available.^[8]

In mid-1941,Luftflotte 5 (Air Fleet 5) had been re-organised for Operation Barbarossa withLuftgau Norwegen (Air Region Norway) headquartered inOslo.Fliegerführer Stavanger (Air CommanderStavanger) the centre and north of Norway,Jagdfliegerführer Norwegen (Fighter Leader Norway) commanded the fighter force andFliegerführer Kerkenes (Oberst [colonel] Andreas Nielsen) in the far north had airfields atKirkenes andBanak. The Air Fleet had 180 aircraft, sixty of which were reserved for operations on theKarelian Front against theRed Army.^[9]

The distance from Banak toArkhangelsk was 560 mi (900 km) andFliegerführer Kerkenes had only tenJunkers Ju 88 bombers ofKampfgeschwader 30, thirtyJunkers Ju 87Stuka dive-bombers tenMesserschmitt Bf 109 fighters ofJagdgeschwader 77, fiveMesserschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters ofZerstörergeschwader 76, ten reconnaissance aircraft and an anti-aircraft battalion. Sixty aircraft were far from adequate in such a climate and terrain where

...there is no favourable season for operations. (Earl Ziemke [1959] in Claasen [2001])^[10]

The emphasis of air operations changed from army support to anti-shipping operations only after March 1942, when Allied Arctic convoys becoming larger and more frequent coincided with the reinforcement of Norway with ships and aircraft and the less extreme climatic conditions of the Arctic summer.^[9]

A convoy was defined as at least one merchant ship sailing under the protection of at least one warship.^[11] At first the British had intended to run convoys to Russia on a forty-day cycle (the number of days between convoy departures) during the winter of 1941–1942 but this was shortened to a ten-day cycle. The round trip to Murmansk for warships was three weeks and each convoy needed a cruiser and two destroyers, which severely depleted theHome Fleet. Convoys left port and rendezvoused with the escorts at sea. A cruiser provided distant cover from a position to the west of Bear Island. Air support was limited to330 Squadron and269 Squadron,RAF Coastal Command fromIceland, with some help from anti-submarine patrols along the coast of Norway fromRAF Sullom Voe inShetland.Anti-submarine trawlers escorted the convoys on the first part of the outbound journey. Built for Arctic conditions, the trawlers were coal-burning ships with sufficient endurance. The trawlers were commanded by their peacetime crews and captains with the rank ofSkipper,Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), who were used to Arctic conditions, supplemented by anti-submarine specialists of theRoyal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR).^[12] British minesweepers based at Arkhangelsk met the convoys to join the escort for the remainder of the voyage.^[13]

The heavy cruiser,HMS London, escorted by the destroyerActive, had carried RAF personnel and a British–American diplomatic mission withLord Beaverbrook andAverell Harriman, for talks in Moscow, to Arkhangelsk from 22 to 27 September 1941. The cruiser joined Convoy QP 1 for the first part of the return journey, which on departing from Arkhangelsk, was escorted in theWhite Sea by Russian SKRs (patrol ships,storoshevy korabi) of theWhite Sea Flotilla.^[16] The convoy comprised 14 merchant ships, the one Dutch and six British freighters fromOperation Dervish, the first Arctic convoy, sailed in ballast with seven Soviet ships carrying trade goods (mainly timber) for the western Allies. TheConvoy Commodore wasCapainJohn Dowding (RNR) inLlanstephan Castle. The ocean escort comprised the destroyerElectra and theASWtrawlersHamlet,Macbeth andOphelia which had escorted the Dervish ships. Local escort was provided by the Royal NavyHalcyon-classminesweepersHalcyon,Harrier andSalamander that had escorted the Dervish convoy and were to stay in North Russia to sweep convoys in and out of port. With a speed and armament comparable toFlower-classcorvettes the minesweepers were effective anti-submarine vessels.^[17][18] Distant cover was provided by units of the Home Fleet, which were engaged inOperation EJ, air attacks on ships off the Norwegian coast.^[19]

QP 1 departed Arkhangelsk on 28 September 1941, accompanied by the local escort, which returned to Arkhangelsk after two days. On 2 October, the cruiser,London, detached from the convoy for a fast independent transit to Scapa Flow and was replaced by the cruiserShropshire. On 4 October theoilerBlack Ranger joined the convoy, escorted by the destroyerAnthony. On 5 October, the trawlerOphelia had engine trouble and had to be towed by to port in IcelandActive. Two Soviet freighters, one of which,Sukhona, was over 20 years old and referred to byElectra's crew as 'Dirty Joe', were unable to keep up and dropped out of the convoy; both arrived safely after an independent voyage.^[20] There was no interference by German forces and Convoy QP 1 arrived inScapa Flow inOrkney without harm on 10 October.^[17]

The aircraft carrierHMS Victorious, protected by the battleshipHMS King George V, the light cruiserHMS Penelope and their destroyer escorts, sailed early in October 1941. Shipping was to be attacked along the coast betweenGlomfjord andVestfjord nearBodø.Victorious rendezvoused withKing George V offSeidisfjord on the evening of 6 October and the force was west ofLofoten at dawn on 9 October. FiveAlbacores of the thirteen from817 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) and832 NAS were damaged in stormy weather and only the eight undamaged Albacores took off, three with torpedoes and five carrying six 250 lb (110 kg)General-purpose bombs each. The crews were to attack shipping but the poor weather forced five to return early.Victorious was pitching in the stormy seas and an Albacore was severely damaged, landing with its torpedo; the crew escaped unhurt.^[21]

Three Albacores found a merchant ship in Glomfjord and hit it with two bombs, setting it on fire. The Albacores bombed overhead cable pylons on Grond Island, damaging them and bombed a ship in Bodø to no effect. There was some light anti-aircraft fire and all the aircraft returned safely. Later in the morning, eight Albacores took off carrying bombs and found two large merchant ships escorted by twoflak ships. Aircraft from 817 NAS attacked, 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) north of Bodø, combining low-altitude and low dive-bombing for no loss. One ship was sunk and two Albacores crashed on landing, one having been damaged by anti-aircraft fire wounding the Telegraphist Air Gunner. NoLuftwaffe aircraft were seen, bearing out intelligence reports thatLuftflotte 5 in Norway had been depleted by the campaign against the USSR. The ships reached Scapa Flow late on 10 October.^[22]

Convoy QP 1 arrived without loss on 19 October 1941. The Germans paid little attention to the British convoys before March 1942, which averaged only eight outbound ships each.^[23][b] In the winter darkness theLuftwaffe had great difficulty in finding Allied convoys, which made attacks on Murmansk and the railway south more practical. As the Allied supply effort increased in 1942, the Arctic route carrying 1.2 million tons of supplies of the total of 2.3 million tons, the reinforcement of theLuftwaffe andKriegsmarine led to German countermeasures growing in extent and effect.^[23]

To protect return convoys and sweep for mines, the commander of the Home Fleet,John Tovey, established a force of ocean-going, Halcyon-class minesweepers at the Kola naval base, which had the speed, armament and anti-submarine capacity similar to that ofFlower-class corvettes. As specialist vessels, the minesweepers usually had experienced career officers. Thefleet oilerRFA Aldersdale had arrived with Operation Dervish (21–31 August 1941), to stay at Kola to fuel ships for the return journey. Soviet destroyers atPolyarnoe were available to reinforce convoy escorts for the last part of the journey.^[18]

From Operation Dervish, at the end of August 1941, the first convoy which comprised seven ships, to 20 December, six more convoys (Convoy PQ 1 to Convoy PQ 6) sent 45 ships, all of which reached Arkhangelsk or Murmansk. German awareness of these and the reciprocal westbound convoys (Convoy QP 1 toConvoy QP 4) was too vague to plan attacks on the convoys by theKriegsmarine or theLuftwaffe. On 13 November 1941, the commander-in-chief of theKriegsmarine,Großadmiral (Grand Admiral)Erich Raeder, told Hitler that, owing to the extreme weather and the lack of air reconnaissance, the prospects of the small number of U-boats in the Arctic Ocean were poor.^[24]

Merchant ships, Arkhangelsk to Orkney^[14]

Name	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
Alchiba	1920	Netherlands	4,427	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Alma-Ata	1920	Soviet Union	3,611	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Budyonny	1923	Soviet Union	2,482	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Esneh	1919	United Kingdom	1,931	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Lancastrian Prince	1940	United Kingdom	1,914	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Llanstephan Castle	1914	United Kingdom	11,348	Convoy Commodore, arr. Orkney 10 October
Mossovet	1935	Soviet Union	2,981	Straggler, arr. Orkney 10 October
New Westminster City	1929	United Kingdom	4,747	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Rodina	1922	Soviet Union	4,441	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Sevzaples	1932	Soviet Union	3,974	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Stary Bolshevik	1933	Soviet Union	3,974	Arr. Orkney 10 October
Sukhona	1918	Soviet Union	3,124	Straggler, arr. Orkney 10 October
Trehata	1928	United Kingdom	4,817	Vice-Convoy Commodore, arr. Orkney 10 October

• White Sea Flotilla

Off Kola Inlet^[14]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS Halcyon	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Local escort, 28–30 September
HMS Harrier	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Local escort, 28–30 September
HMS Salamander	Royal Navy	Halcyon-class minesweeper	Local escort, 28–30 September

Ocean escort^[14]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS London	Royal Navy	County-class cruiser	Cruiser cover, 28 September – 2 October, replaced byShropshire
HMS Shropshire	Royal Navy	County-class cruiser	Cruiser cover, 2–10 October
HMS Active	Royal Navy	A-class destroyer	Ocean escort, 28 September – 5 October
HMS Electra	Royal Navy	E-class destroyer	Ocean escort, 28 September – 5 October
HMT Hamlet	Royal Navy	Shakespearian-class trawler	Ocean escort, 28 September – 9 October
HMT Macbeth	Royal Navy	Shakespearian-class trawler	Ocean escort, 28 September – 9 October
HMT Ophelia	Royal Navy	Shakespearian-class trawler	Ocean escort, defects,Active towed to Akureyri 10 October

Fleet Oiler from Convoy PQ 1^[14]

Name	Flag	Type	Notes
HMS Anthony	Royal Navy	A-class destroyer	Joined 4 October from Convoy PQ 1, 4–9 October
RFA Black Ranger	Royal Fleet Auxiliary	Ranger-class tanker	8,402 GRT, joined 4 October from Convoy PQ 1, 4–9 October

• Hague, Arnold (2000).The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945: Its Organisation, Defence and Operation. London: Chatham.ISBN 1-86176-147-3.

• QP 1 at Convoyweb

• Arctic convoys of World War II
• Naval battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom
• Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union

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