Convoy PQ 7
Convoy PQ 7 was the eighth of the Arctic convoys of the Second World War by which the Western Allies supplied material aid to the Soviet Union in its fight with Nazi Germany. The convoy was in two parts: PQ 7a sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland on 26 December 1941 and arrived at Murmansk on 12 January 1942. PQ 7b sailed from Hvalfjord, Iceland on 31 December 1941 and arrived in Murmansk on 11 January 1942.
Ships
[edit]Convoy PQ 7a
[edit]Convoy PQ 7a consisted of two merchant ships; SS Cold Harbor (Panama) and SS Waziristan (UK), and was escorted by two armed trawlers. SS Waziristan was sunk by the German submarine U-134 on 2 January 1942.
Freighters
[edit]| Name | Year | Flag | GRT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS Cold Harbor | 1920 |  Panama
|
5,010 | |
| SS Waziristan | 1924 |  United Kingdom
|
5,135 | Convoy Commodore, stranded in ice, sunk by aircraft and U-134 |
Convoy escorts
[edit]| Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMT Hugh Walpole |  Royal Navy
|
Anti-submarine trawler | Escort 26–27 December |
| HMT Ophelia | Royal Navy
|
Shakespearian-class trawler | Escort 26–27 December |
Convoy PQ 7b
[edit]Convoy PQ 7b comprised nine merchant vessels (two Panamanian, one Russian and seven British). The escort consisted of the destroyers HMS Icarus, HMS Tartar and two armed trawlers. All ships arrived safely.
Merchant ships
[edit]| Name | Year | Flag | GRT | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS Aneroid | 1917 | Panama
|
5,074 | |
| SS Botavon | 1912 | United Kingdom
|
5,848 | |
| SS Chernyshevski | 1919 |  Soviet Union
|
3,588 | |
| SS Empire Activity | 1919 | United Kingdom
|
5,335 | |
| SS Empire Halley | 1941 | United Kingdom
|
7,168 | |
| SS Empire Howard | 1941 | United Kingdom
|
6,985 | |
| SS Empire Redshank | 1919 | United Kingdom
|
6,615 | |
| SS Jutland | 1928 | United Kingdom
|
6,153 | |
| SS Reigh Count | 1907 | Panama
|
4,657 |
Escorts
[edit]| Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMS Icarus | Royal Navy
|
I-class destroyer | Escort 4–11 January |
| HMS Tartar | Royal Navy
|
Tribal-class destroyer | Escort 4–11 January |
| HMT Cape Argona | Royal Navy
|
ASW trawler | Escort 31 December – 4 January |
| HMT Wastwater | Royal Navy
|
ASW trawler | Escort 31 December – 4 January |
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ a b Ruegg & Hague 1993, p. 24.
- ^ a b Ruegg & Hague 1993, p. 25.
References
[edit]- Ruegg, R.; Hague, A. (1993) [1992]. Convoys to Russia: Allied Convoys and Naval Surface Operations in Arctic Waters 1941–1945 (2nd rev. enl. ed.). Kendal: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-66-5.
Further reading
[edit]- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-55125-033-5.
- Hill, Alexander (2006). "The Allocation of Allied "Lend-Lease" Aid to the Soviet Union arriving with Convoy PQ 12, March 1942 – A State Defense Committee Decree". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 19 (4). Philadelphia, PA: Taylor and Francis. doi:10.1080/13518040601028545. ISSN 1351-8046. S2CID 144712146.
- Jordan, Roger W. (2006) [1999]. The World's Merchant Fleets 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships (2nd ed.). London: Chatham/Lionel Leventhal. ISBN 978-1-86176-293-1.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-257-3.
- Woodman, Richard (2004) [1994]. Arctic Convoys 1941–1945. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5752-1.
