Convoy PQ 12 was an Arctic convoy sent from

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

by the

Western Allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...

to aid the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It sailed 1 March 1942, reaching

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

on 12 March 1942 for no losse despite a sortie against it by the .

Ships

PQ 12 consisted of 16 ships under the command of the Convoy Commodore,

Hubert Hudson Huberht Taylor Hudson, RD (17 September 1886 – 15 June 1942), commonly known as Hubert Hudson instead of by his actual first name (an Old English version of the name), was a navigating officer in the British Royal Navy, who took part in Ernes ...

. The Close Escort comprised the minesweeper and five whalers. These were joined on 5 March by the Ocean Escort of the destroyers, (Commander J. E. H. McBeath, Senior Officer Escort) and with the cruiser . Distant cover was provided by two Heavy Cover Forces; one comprising the battleship (Vice Admiral Alban Curteis commanding), the battlecruiser and six destroyers, sailing from

and another led by Admiral John Tovey comprising the battleship , the carrier , the cruiser and six destroyers, sailing from

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

Action

PQ 12 sailed from Reykjavík on 1 March 1942 with its Close Escort. It was joined on 5 March by the Ocean Escort and on 6 March by the cruiser ''Kenya''. Also at sea were the Heavy Cover Forces, Curteis from Reykjavík sailing on 3 March and Tovey from Scapa Flow on 4 March. On 5 March the convoy was sighted by a German reconnaissance aircraft and on 6 March, after obtaining permission from

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

to do so, ''Tirpitz'' sortied from

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

with three destroyers as escort. This was Operation Sportpalast, and was intended to find and destroy PQ 12 and its reciprocal, QP 8, which was also at sea. Shortly after sailing ''Tirpitz'' was sighted by the patrolling submarine and the Heavy Cover Forces, now joined, sought to bring ''Tirpitz'' to action. Over the next two days these groups of ships manoeuvred around each other without coming into contact, though on two occasions they were apart. ''Tirpitz'' had no success, though her destroyers encountered one straggler from QP 8, the freighter ''Ijora'', and sank her. Finally on 9 March as ''Tirpitz'' headed for home, she was sighted by aircraft from ''Victorious'' and attacked, though also without success. PQ 12 arrived at

on 12 March. No ships were lost, though the escort suffered one whaler lost, ''Shera'', capsized by ice buildup and ''Oribi'', damaged by pack ice. On 24 March, ''Lancaster Castle'' was dive-bombed alongside the quay in Murmansk and ten men were killed. It was towed out and moored in the river, the crew remaining on board. A few days later it was dive-bombed again and received five hits. There were no casualties but the crew moved to shore. PQ 12 provided valuable military equipment and other materials for the Soviet war effort. The distribution of equipment and supplies delivered with PQ 12 was the subject of a Soviet State Defence Committee decree.

Ships

Action

Ships in the convoy

Allied merchant ships

Convoy escorts

Iceland escorts

Close cover

Distant cover

Home Fleet

Murmansk escort

Allied submarines

U-boats

German ships

Notes

Footnotes

References

Further reading

External links