Convoy QP 15

Convoy QP 15 was an Arctic convoy of World War II, consisting of empty merchant ships returning to the United Kingdom after being unloaded of their cargo in the Soviet Union. It was the last convoy in the "QP" series and was scattered by a storm which sank the Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny. Kriegsmarine U-boats attacked the convoy and sank two of the thirty merchant ships.[1]

Voyage

The convoy initially consisted of 31 merchant ships and 12 escorts, though more escorts joined during the voyage.[2] The convoy set out from Archangel on 17 November 1942.[3] On 20 November, a gale sprang up and scattered the convoy.[4] The two Soviet destroyer Baku was badly damaged but managed to limp back to port. A large wave hit Sokrushitelny and tore off her stern. Three Soviet destroyers were sent to assist and manage to rescue 187 crewmen from the Sokrushitelny, which sank on 22 November.[4]

On 23 November, the U-boat U-625 attacked and sank the British freighter Goolistan and later in the day, U-601 fired a spread of torpedoes at the Soviet Kuznets Lesov, one of which struck and sunk the freighter; both ships were lost with all hands.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Convoy QP.15". Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Murfett, Malcolm (2009). Naval warfare 1919–1945 An Operational History of the Volatile War at Sea. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-203-88998-5.
  3. 1 2 Walling, Michael G. Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of World War II. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84908-718-6.
  4. 1 2 Hümmelchen, Gerhard; Rohwer, Jürgen; Weis, Thomas (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea: 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War II (3rd rev. ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
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