Convoy QP 11 explained

Conflict:Convoy QP 11 naval battle
Partof:World War II
Date:1/2 May 1942
Place:Arctic Ocean
Result:Indecisive
Combatant1: Germany
Combatant2: United Kingdom
Soviet Union
Commander1:Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
Strength1:3 destroyers
2 U-boats
Strength2:1 cruiser
6 destroyers
4 minesweeper
1 guard-ship
Casualties1:1 destroyer sunk
Casualties2:1 cruiser sunk
3 destroyers damaged
1 Soviet freighter sunk

Convoy QP 11 was an Arctic Convoy of World War II, made up of merchant ships returning from the Soviet Union to Britain after delivering their cargo to the Soviet Union. The convoy consisted of 13 merchant ships, escorted by 18 warships. The convoy was attacked by German destroyers and submarines, suffering the loss of one merchant ship as well as the light cruiser . The Germans lost the destroyer Z7 Hermann Schoemann.

Ships

QP 11 consisted of 13 merchant ships, mostly British or American, including five ships that had been a part of Convoy PQ 13. The convoy sailed from the Soviet port of Murmansk on 28 April 1942. The convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh, the destroyers,, Beverley,, and, the s Campanula, Oxlip, Saxifrage and Snowflake, with the armed trawler . Edinburgh was an escort and carried $20 million in gold, a payment from the Soviet Union to the United States.

Voyage

On 29 April, the convoy was spotted by a German Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft and U-boats. On 30 May, two days out from Murmansk, and made attacks on the convoy to no effect. Later that day, hit Edinburgh twice. One torpedo hit the cruiser's forward boiler room while the other hit the cruiser's stern, destroying its rudder and two of its four propellers. Edinburgh was badly damaged but remained afloat; it left the convoy and turned towards Murmansk, escorted by Foresight and Forester. Several ships were sent from Murmansk to assist Edinburgh, among them the British s,, and, the Soviet destroyers and, the Soviet guard ship Rubin and a tug.

1 May

The German command sent the three destroyers of German: Zerstörergruppe Arktis,, and (German: [[Kapitän zur See]] Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs), to attack Convoy QP 11 and then sink HMS Edinburgh. The German ships reached the convoy in the afternoon on 1 May. The weather was cold; intermittent snow and rain limited visibility. Hermann Schoemann opened fire at 14:05. The four British destroyers formed up between the German destroyers and the convoy and engaged them at a range of about . Amazon was hit twice and severely damaged. At 14:30 a German torpedo salvo hit and sank the Soviet freighter Tsiolkovski. At 17:50 the German destroyers turned to pursue Edinburgh.

2 May

The flotilla found Edinburgh east of the convoy at 06:17 on 2 May, moving at . The Edinburgh was escorted by Foresight, Forester, the four British minesweepers and Rubin (Gremyaschi and Sokrushitelny having returned to Murmansk due to a lack of fuel). The three German destroyers engaged the British ships. Due to the damage caused by U-456, Edinburgh was unable to maneuver and could only steam in circles. A snow shower separated Herman Schoemann from the other German destroyers and it attacked the British ships alone. Edinburghs targeting systems had been destroyed by the torpedo explosions but its gunners managed to hit and cripple Hermann Schoemann. At 18:45, Z24 and Z25 arrived. Z25 hit and disabled Forester and then badly damaged Foresight. At 18:52 a salvo of torpedoes from one of the German destroyers missed Foresight and Forester but one torpedo kept going and struck Edinburgh in the middle of its left side, opposite the hole made by U-456s torpedo. Shortly thereafter the German ships withdrew, possibly because they overestimated the strength of the British minesweepers. At 08:15, Z24 rescued most of the crew of Hermann Schoemann who were still on the deck and then scuttled it. More survivors from Hermann Schoemann who were in life rafts were later rescued by U-88. Harrier and Gossamer took survivors off of Edinburgh, which was later sunk by a torpedo from Foresight.

Aftermath

The rest of the voyage of Convoy QP 11 saw unsuccessful attacks on the convoy by the submarines and . The twelve remaining merchant ships of the convoy arrived in Iceland on 7 May.

Ship List

Merchant ships in Convoy QP 11
ShipYearFlagGRTNotes
1930 United Kingdom8,992
1922 Panama6,131
1930 United Kingdom4,019Convoy Commodore
1940 United Kingdom5,117Vice-Convoy Commodore
1919 United States3,515
1920 Panama4,219
1919 United States6,900
1918 Panama5,473
1920 United States5,453
1922 Panama6,131
1928 United Kingdom4,817Damaged by ice
19352,847Sunk 1 May by Z24, Z25
1919 United States5,711

Bibliography

Further reading