Convoy PQ 4 was the fifth of the

Arctic Convoys The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys ...

of World War II by which the Western Allies supplied material aid to 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 ...

in its fight with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. The Convoy sailed from Hvalfjord, Iceland on 17 November 1941 and arrived at

Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands o ...

on 28 November 1941.

Ships

The convoy consisted of eight merchant ships (four British and four Soviet) all of which arrived safely. The escort consisted of the cruiser HMS ''Berwick'', the destroyers HMS ''Offa'' and HMS ''Onslow'', two

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

and two armed trawlers.

Allied order of battle

Convoyed ships

Escorts

References

* Richard Woodman, Arctic Convoys 1941–1945, 1994,
Convoy web
PQ 4 C Naval battles of World War II involving the Soviet Union {{arctic-stub