DK - World War II Map by Map

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

1942. 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