The Soviet Union and Germany each deployed smaller coastal convoys: to maintain the flow of supplies to the Soviet Arctic coast, to transport strategic metal ores fromScandinavia to Germany, and to sustain troops on the northern flank of the Eastern Front. Soviet convoys hugged the coast to avoid ice, while German convoys used fjords to evade Royal Navy patrols. Both sides engaged inminelaying and minesweeping of these shallow, confined routes – vulnerable tomine warfare and to submarine ambushes.Minesweepers andsubmarine chasers typically screened German convoys, while Soviet convoys were often protected by minesweepingtrawlers and torpedo cutters.[5]
A branch of thePacific Route began carryingLend-Lease goods through the Bering Strait to the Soviet Arctic coast in June 1942. The number of westbound cargo-ship voyages along this route was 23 in 1942, 32 in 1943, 34 in 1944 and 31 after Germany surrendered in May 1945. Westbound tonnage through the Bering Strait totaled approximately 10% of North American wartime goods sent to Soviet Arctic ports.[6] A large portion of tonnage though the Bering Strait was fuel for Siberian airfields on theAlaska-Siberia air route.[7]
8 June 1940: With some of the longest range naval gunnery hits ever documented,Scharnhorst andGneisenau sank the British aircraft carrierHMS Glorious and her escorting destroyersHMS Acasta andArdent duringOperation Juno.[14]
9 July 1940: RaiderKomet sailed north fromBergen and waited nearNovaya Zemlya until 13 August 1940 for ice conditions to allow passage through theMatochkin Strait into the Kara Sea.Komet proceeded east with the assistance of three Soviet icebreakers to enter thePacific Ocean through the Bering Strait on 5 September 1940.[15] Soviet submarineShch-423 made a similar trip from Murmansk toVladivostok from 5 August to 17 October.[16]
25 June 1941: The Soviet troopshipMossovet brought reinforcements toTitovka; and Soviet destroyersKuibishev andUritski landed additional reinforcements on 30 June.[24]
1 July 1941:U-451 andU-652 are the first U-boats stationed in the Arctic.[25]
23 July 1941:Kriegsmarine destroyersRichard Beitzen,Hermann Schoemann,Friedrich Eckoldt andKarl Galster sank the Soviet survey shipMeridian nearTeriberka.[28]
30 July 1941: HMSFurious andVictorious launched airstrikes on Petsamo andKirkenes.Victorious launched an airstrike on Tromsø on 31 July. These airstrikes turned back a patrol ofKriegsmarine destroyers.[28]
31 July 1941: HMSNigeria,Aurora,Punjabi andTartar destroyed a weather station on Bear Island.[29]
August 1941: British submarinesHMS Tigris andTrident were transferred to Murmansk.[30]
26 August 1941:U-571 sank 3870-tonMariya Ulyanova.[33]
31 August 1941: TheDervish Convoy arrived in Arkhangelsk initiating transport of Allied war materials around Norway to the Soviet Union. The convoy was escorted byHMS Devonshire,Suffolk andVictorious, which launched airstrikes against Tromsø.[31]
12 September 1941: Soviet submarineShch-422 sank 1459-tonOttar Jarl off Tanafjord.[34]
28 November 1941:Convoy PQ 3 andconvoy PQ 4 arrived in Arkhangelsk. Return convoy QP 3 departed on 27 November.[41]
3 December 1941: Soviet submarineK-3 was forced to surface after damages caused by German sub chasersUJ 1403,UJ 1416 andUJ 1708. Submarine engaged the Germans in gunfire battle and UJ 1708 was sunk, while the others retreated.[42]
7 December 1941:Anthony Eden arrived in Murmansk aboard HMSKent.[43]
11 January 1942:Convoy PQ 7 arrived in Murmansk afterU-134 sank 5135-tonWaziristan.[48]
Tirpitz waiting in Norway for another Allied convoy
14 January 1942: Soviet submarineS-102 sank 1877-tonTurkheim off Sytlefjord.[49]
17 January 1942:U-454 damaged 5395-tonHarmatris and sankHMS Matabele fromconvoy PQ 8 as the convoy reached Kola Bay.[50] The German battleshipTirpitz was based atTrondheim, where its presence required the Home Fleet to retain at least one modern battleship which might have otherwise been used in the Mediterranean or Pacific.[51]
5 February 1942: Soviet submarineShch-421 sank 2975-tonKonsul Schulte off Porsangerfjorden.[52]
10 February 1942: Combined convoysPQ 9 and 10 arrived in Murmansk escorted by HMSNigeria,Faulknor andIntrepid. The escort departed with return convoy QP 7 on 12 February.[53]
15 February 1942: Soviet submarineS-101 sank 1147-tonMimona offTanafjord.[54]
5 March 1942: AFocke-Wulf Fw 200 locatedConvoy PQ 12 south of Jan Mayen. As part ofOperation Sportpalast,Tirpitz sailed on 6 March with destroyersHermann Schoemann,Friedrich Ihn andZ25. The convoy covering force ofHMS Duke of York,Renown,Kenya,Faulknor,Eskimo,Punjabi,Fury,Echo andEclipse failed to locateTirpitz; andIhn sank the 2815-tonIjora straggling from convoy QP 8. An unsuccessful airstrike from HMSVictorious on 9 March causedTirpitz to seek refuge in Narvik.[56]
27 March 1942: A Bv 138 located storm-scatteredConvoy PQ 13 escorted byHMS Trinidad,Eclipse andFury. KG 30Junkers Ju 88s sank 4815-tonRaceland and 7007-tonEmpire Ranger asKriegsmarine destroyersZ24,Z25 andZ26 sailed.Z26 sank 4687-tonBateau before being sunk byTrinidad.Trinidad andEclipse were damaged in the engagement.U-376 sank 5086-tonInduna, andU-435 sank 6421-tonEffingham.[58]
1 April 1942: Soviet submarineShch-404 sank 2318-tonMichael off Tanafjord.[57]
10 April 1942:Convoy QP 10 departed Kola Bay escorted byHMS Liverpool,Oribi,Punjabi,Marne,Fury andEclipse. KG 30 Ju 88s sank 7164-tonEmpire Cowper and 5486-tonHarpalion.U-435 sank 6008-tonOccidente and 5823-tonKiev.[59]
28 April 1942:Convoy QP 11 departed Murmansk escorted by HMSEdinburgh,Foresight,Forester,Bulldog,Amazon,Beagle andBeverley.U-456 torpedoedEdinburgh.Kriegsmarine destroyersHermann Schoemann,Z24 andZ25 sank 2847-tonTsiolkovski and damagedAmazon.Schoemann was sunk byEdinburgh while the German destroyers crippledEdinburgh and damagedForester andForesight.[60]
29 April 1942: Soviet submarineM-171 sank 4969-tonCurityba off Varangerfjord.[61]
5 May 1942:Convoy PQ 15 arrived in Murmansk after KG 26Heinkel He 111s sank 5848-tonBotavon and 3807-tonCape Corso and damaged 6153-tonJutland which was then sunk byU-251.St Albans of the convoy escort accidentally sank supporting Polish submarineORP Jastrząb.[60] In the covering force,King George V collided withPunjabi, and explodingdepth charges on the sinking destroyer damaged the battleship.[62]
HMSKing George V with bow damage from collision with HMSPunjabi
10 May 1942:Scheer moved from Trondheim to Narvik.[63]
14 May 1942: A KG 30 Ju 88 dive bomber sank HMSTrinidad.[64]
15 May 1942: The11th U-boat Flotilla was established and based at Bergen for Arctic Ocean patrols.[65]Sturzkampfgeschwader 5 (StG 5) Ju 87s attacked Murmansk, damaging 6187-tonYaka and Soviet submarineShch-403.[66]
1 June 1942: StG 5 Ju 87s sank 7850-tonEmpire Starlight and damaged Soviet submarineShch-404 in Murmansk.[68]
24 June 1942: A StG 5 Ju 87 sankHMSGossamer in Kola Bay.[69]
KG 26 He 111 torpedo planes attacked convoys PQ 15, 16 and 17.
June 1942: Shiploads of strategic materials begin moving westbound from North America through the Bering Strait over the Northern Sea Route taking advantage of Soviet neutrality in thePacific War to augment supplies delivered by PQ convoys.[6]
4 July 1942: A He 115 sankLiberty shipChristopher Newport fromconvoy PQ 17; and KG 26 He 111s sank 4841-tonNavarino and damaged Liberty shipWilliam Hooper and 6114-tonAzerbaidzhan. Twenty-two more ships were sunk by aircraft and U-boats after the convoy scattered on 5 July to avoid attacks by German surface ships.[70]
U-255, painted white for arctic camouflage, returning to base after attacking convoy PQ 17
12 September 1942:Convoy PQ 18 escort HMSFaulknor sankU-88 near Bear Island.U-405 andU-589 sank Liberty shipOliver Ellsworth and 3559-tonStalingrad on 13 September; while KG 26 and KG 30 bombers sank 5432-tonWacosta, 4826-tonOregonian, 6131-tonMacbeth, 5441-tonAfricander, 6209-tonEmpire Stevenson, 7044-tonEmpire Beaumont and 3124-tonSukhona.U-457 sank 8992-tonAtheltemplar on 14 September; andHMS Onslow sankU-589.HMS Impulsive sankU-457 on 16 September. The 5446-tonKentucky was sunk and 6458-tonTroubador damaged before the convoy reached Murmansk.[75]
13 September 1942: Convoy QP 14 sailed from Arkhangelsk. On 20 SeptemberU-435 sankHMSLeda,U-255 sank 4937-tonSilver Sword, andU-703 sankHMS Somali.U-435 sank 5345-tonBellingham, 7174-tonOcean Voice and 3313-tonGrey Ranger on 22 September.[76]
29 October 1942:Operation FB attempted independent routing of Allied merchant ships.U-586 sank 6640-tonEmpire Gilbert on 2 November. KG 30 Ju 88s sank 7363-tonDekabrist and damaged Liberty shipWilliam Clark and 5445-tonChulmleigh which were sunk byU-354 andU-625.U-625 also sank 7455-tonEmpire Sky; andZ27 sank 7925-tonDonbass on 7 November.[77]
17 November 1942: Convoy QP 15 departed Kola Bay. A storm dispersed the convoy and sank escorting Soviet destroyerSokrushitelny on 22 November.[79]U-625 sank 5851-tonGoolistan, andU-601 sank 3974-tonKuznets Lesov.[80]
29 January 1943: Soviet submarinesL-20 sank 7007-tonOthmarschen offCape Nordkinn andM-171 sank 3243-tonIlona Siemers off Kongsfjorden.U-255 sank the Soviet icebreakerMalygin and 1892-tonUfa.U-255 then sank 7460-tonGreylock from convoy RA 52 on 3 February.[83]
12 February 1943: Soviet submarineK-3 sank 8116-tonFechenheim.[84]
26 February 1943: Convoy JW 53 arrived in Kola Bay with one ship damaged by KG 30Ju 88s. StG 5Ju 87s damaged three more ships from the convoy on 27 and 28 February; air attacks on 6 and 13 March damaged another ship and sank 7173-tonOcean Freedom.[85]
5 March 1943:U-255 sank Liberty shipRichard Bland and 4978-tonExecutive from convoy RA 53.U-586 sank 6076-tonPuerto Rican on 9 March.[86]
11 March 1943: The German weather stationHolzauge at Hansa Bay stationed on the northern coast of Sabine Island was discovered by theSirius Dog Sled Patrol. The Germans realized they had been discovered, and gave chase, forcing the patrol to abandon their equipment and run back toEskimonæs.
12 March 1943:Tipitz,Scharnhorst andLützow assembled in Narvik causing cancellation of Allied convoys through the summer.[85]
16 March 1943: Soviet submarineM-122 sank 4533-tonJohannisberger off Varangerfjord.[87]
29 March 1943: Soviet submarineS-55 sank 2297-tonAjax.[88] AlsoS-101 is said to have sunk her.[89]
29 April 1943: Soviet submarineS-55 sank 708-tonSturzsee off Nordkyn[91]
17 May 1943: Soviet submarineS-56 sank tanker 1118-tonEurostadt off Kongsfjord. 3676-tonWartheland was lightly damaged by dud hit from the same salvo.[92]
June 1943: The13th U-boat Flotilla was established at Trondheim to reduce U-boat losses to Allied bombers patrolling approaches to U-boat bases on the French Atlantic coast.[93]
17 July 1943: Soviet submarineS-56 sank minesweeperM-346.[92]
July–September 1943: German U-boatsoperated in Kara Sea against Soviet shipping:U-255 operated near Novaya Zemlya as a refueling station for aBV 138. The BV 138 searched for Kara Sea convoys to be attacked byLützow and theWiking Gruppe ofU-302,U-354 andU-711. The U-boats torpedoed 3771-tonPetrovski and sank 2900-tonDikson, 7169-tonsTbilisi, 2480-tonsArkhangel´sk and 4169-tonsSergej Kirov in addition to 3 minesweepers and 3 other auxiliary vessels. HoweverU-639 was lost after being intercepted and torpedoed bySoviet submarine S-101 .[95]
8 September 1943:Scharnhorst,Tirpitz and ten destroyers bombarded Spitsbergen asOperation Zitronella.[96]
26 January 1944:Isegrim gruppe U-boats damaged HMSObdurate and sank Liberty shipsPenelope Barker,Andrew G. Curtin andFort Bellingham fromconvoy JW 56A near Bear Island. On 30 JanuaryU-278 sankHMS Hardy with aG7es torpedo; and the convoy escort sankU-314.[100]
28 January 1944: Soviet submarineS-56 sank 5056-tonHenrietta Schulte.[101]
24 February 1944: HMSFurious of theconvoy JW 57 covering force conducted Operation Bayleaf airstrikes against the Norwegian coast. Convoy escortHMS Keppel sankU-713.[102]U-956 sankHMS Mahratta with a G7es torpedo on 25 February.[103]
30 April 1944:U-711 sank Liberty shipWilliam S. Thayer from convoy RA 59. Convoy escorts sankU-277,U-959 andU-674. The convoy covering force launched an airstrike sinking three ships from a German convoy near Bodø.[106]
26 May 1944: Soviet aircraft sank 3402-tonSolviken and damaged 3672-tonHerta Engeline Fritzen near Kirkenes.[107]
17 June 1944: Soviet aircraft sank 1,610-tonDixie and damaged 1,112-tonMarga Cords and 7,419-tonFlorianopolis from a convoy nearHammerfest.[109]
17 July 1944: Unsuccessful British carrier attack onTirpitz duringOperation Mascot.[110]
31 July 1944:Tirpitz completed battle damage repair atAltafjord.[111]
17 August 1944: Soviet aircraft sank two merchant ships near Kirkenes.[112]
19 August 1944: Soviet torpedo cutters sank 3,946-tonColmar from a German convoy near Persfjord.[112]
21 August 1944:U-344 sank convoy JW 59 escortHMS Kite, and was sunk by Swordfish of the covering force aircraft carrier HMSVictorious.[113]
22–29 August: British carrier aircraft repeatedly attackTirpitz duringOperation Goodwood, but inflict only light damage.U-354 sankHMS Bickerton and damagedHMS Nabob from the British fleet before being sunk by escorts on 24 August.[113]
USCG cutterNorthland operating off Greenland
August–September 1944: German U-boatoperations in Kara Sea against Soviet shipping resulted in the loss of three former American minesweepers of theAdmirable-class transferred to the Soviets underLend-Lease:T-118,T-114 andT-120 in addition to the Soviet corvetteBrilliant. However, only one merchant was lost: 7540-tonsMarina Raskova (7540 GRT), in addition to a survey vessel. Germans lostU-362 after depth charges by Soviet minesweeperT-116 (anotherAdmirable-class vessel transferred from United States).[114]
2 December 1944:U-363 sank 1123-tonProletari off Finland.[124]
9 December 1944: Convoy RA 62 escorts sankU-387 at the mouth of Kola Bay.U-365 torpedoedHMS Cassandra on 11 December before being sunk by No. 813 Naval Air Squadron Swordfish from HMSCampania on 13 December.[124]
30 December 1944:U-956 torpedoed 7176-tonTbilisi off Kola Bay.[125]
December 1944: The14th U-boat Flotilla was established at Narvik to absorb displaced U-boats as bases on the French coast were captured by Allied troops.[126]
16 January 1945:U-997 sankDejatelnyj with a G7se torpedo at the mouth of Kola Bay.[127]
13 February 1945: KG 26 Ju 88 and188 torpedo bombers withdrawn from France following theNormandy landings made unsuccessful attacks against convoy JW 64.[4]U-992 sank convoy escortHMS Denbigh Castle at the mouth of Kola Bay.[128]
14 February 1945: U-boats sank 8129-tonNorfjell and Liberty shipHorace Gray from convoy BK 3 outside Kola Bay.[129]
17 February 1945: Escorts clearing Kola Bay for the departure of convoy RA 64 sankU-425.[129]U-711 sankHMS Bluebell andU-968 damaged Liberty shipThomas Scott and HMSLark with G7se torpedoes.[130] On 23 February KG 26 sank Liberty shipHenry Bacon – the last ship to be sunk by German aircraft in the second world war.[129]
20 March 1945:U-968 torpedoed Liberty shipsHorace Bushnell andThomas Donaldson from convoy JW 65 and convoy escortHMS Lapwing with a G7se torpedo.[131]
22 April 1945:U-997 sank 1603-tonOnega and torpedoed 4287-tonIdefjord from convoy PK 9.[132]
29 April 1945: In the last trade convoy battle of the Second World War,U-286 sank HMSGoodall at the mouth of Kola Bay as convoy JW 66 escorts sankU-307 andU-286.[133]
8 May 1945: Supply ships from the United States continue westbound through the Bering Strait along the Northern Sea Route to encourage the Soviet Union to declare war on Japan on 9 August 1945.[6]
^Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's definitiveHistory of United States Naval Operations in World War II includes operations from the north pole southward in the first volume entitledThe Battle of the Atlantic. Eligibility for the United States European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was defined by Executive Order 9265 to include military service aboard a ship operating in the north polar region eastward from the 75th meridian west longitude to the 60th meridian east longitude.
^Wartime navigation over the waters within the Arctic Circle should not be confused with theArctic Ocean as it may have subsequently been defined to exclude areas within the Arctic Circle.
Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975).The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939 – May 1943. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. I. Boston: Little, Brown and Company.OCLC7395406.
Muggenthaler, August Karl (1977).German Raiders of World War II. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.ISBN0-13-354027-8.
