140 THE WIDENING WAR 1942
Norwegian
Sea
Hvalfjrđur
Scapa
Flow
Loch
Ewe
Firth
of Clyde
Altafjord
Barents
Sea
Matochkin
Strait
Gulf of
Bothnia
N
o
v
a
y
a
Z
e
m
l
y
a
ICELAND
UNITED
KINGDOM
Hopen
Kolguyev
Island
Bear Island
Jan Mayen
Island
North
Cape
Kola
Peninsula
Washington
Paulus
Potter
River Afton
Peter Kerr
Fairfield City
Zaafaran
Empire Byron
Scharnhorst
Daniel
Morgan
Aldersdale
Carlton
Honomu
Waziristan
Tirpitz
Earlston
Bolton Castle
Pankroft
Hartlebury
Olopana
John Witherspoon
Alcoa Ranger
Pan Atlantic
Winston Salem
(run aground)
Hoosier
El Capitan
Matabele
Leningrad
Liverpool
Reykjavík Hammerfest
Trondheim
Bergen
Skellefteå
Murmansk
Mo i
Rana Archangel
Tromsø
Svolvær
Kokkola
Segezha
Oban
Glasgow
Joensuu
Bugrino
Rørvik
Vadsø
Shoyna
Narvik
Onega
Mezen
Bodø
Pskov
Nikkeli
Luga
Kem
Alta
Lake
Ladoga
U
S
S
R
S
W
E
D
E
N
IR
E
LA
N
D
F
I
N
L
A
N
D
N
O
R
W
A
Y
AR
C
T
IC
O
C
E
A
N
A
T
L
A
N
T I C
O
C
E
A N
The German invasion of the USSR
in June 1941 prompted Stalin to ask
Britain and its allies for assistance in
supplying the Soviet war effort. From
August 1941, convoys undertook what
Churchill called the “worst journey in
the world,” ferrying materiel needed
in the war against Germany.
The most direct route took convoys
through the Arctic Circle to the Soviet
ports of Murmansk and Archangel.
Passing close to German-held territory,
they were within easy reach of the
Luftwaffe and U-boats waiting in
ambush, while in the Norwegian fjords,
German warships—including the pride
of the fleet, the Tirpitz—lay in wait.
The convoys faced gales, blizzards,
and dense fog in the Arctic Ocean. In
summer, they could follow a route that
lay further from the Norwegian coast,
but this took them nearer to icebergs
drifting into the sea lanes. In winter,
the darkness offered cover but the
sea ice forced the ships nearer their
enemies. Thick ice formed over the
vessels and had to be chipped away
so that they did not capsize.
The first convoys suffered few losses,
but Germany intensified its operations in
- The calamitous attack on convoy
PQ-17 in July 1942 forced the Allies to
improve the security of the convoys. The
Allied decision to suspend the convoys
while they prepared for Operation Torch
(see pp.146–47) in September–December
1942 increased tension with the Soviets,
who were desperately fighting for
Stalingrad (see pp.150–151). Convoys
resumed and ran until the end of the
war, but bad feeling between the Eastern
and Western Allies remained.
ARCTIC CONVOYS
Allied civilian sailors endured the dangers of extreme Arctic
conditions and German air, surface, and U-boat fleets to bring more
than 4^1 ⁄ 2 million tons (4 million metric tons) of supplies to Soviet
ports between 1941 and 1945. Around 3,000 men died and more
than 100 ships were lost in the effort to keep the USSR in the war.
Summer Arctic
convoy route
Winter Arctic
convoy route
Soviet convoy route
US/Soviet convoy route
KEY
Aug 1941–Jun 1942 Convoys
congregate at the Icelandic
harbors of Reykjavík and
HvalfjÖrđur before sailing
to the USSR.
Aug 1941–May 1945
Convoys set off from
numerous naval bases
across the British Isles.
Aug 12, 1941
The first convoy
“Dervish” sets
sail for Archangel
via Iceland.
ROUTES TO THE USSR
The Arctic route to the USSR was the
shortest, and accounted for almost
25 percent of Allied aid sent to the
Soviet Union. However, Soviet
ships voyaging from the west
coast of the US carried 50
percent. The Soviets also ran
a convoy route through the
Bering Strait, supplying
fuel for Lend-Lease
aircraft being transferred
from Alaska to Siberia.
PERIL ALL AROUND
Squeezed between the ice and the
German navy, U-boats, and air bases
along the coast of Norway, the Arctic
route was the most dangerous supply
route to the Soviet Union.
KEY
Axis territories, occupations, and
cobelligerents by end of 1942
Allied territories by end of 1942
Extent of winter sea ice
German air bases
German naval
and U-boat bases
Allied naval bases
TIMELINE
1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946
2
3
4
1 5 C A N A
D
A
U
S
A
PACI
FIC^ OCEAN
A
T
L
A
N
T
IC
(^) O
CE
AN
EU
R
O
P
E
A
S
I
A
A
R
C
T
IC
O
C
E
A
N
Murmansk
Archangel
Vladivostok
Magadan
Scapa Flow
Anchorage
Bering Strait
USSR
US_140-141_Arctic_convoys.indd 140 19/03/19 7:33 PM