Convoy QP 10 was an

Arctic convoy 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 ...

World War II 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 ...

, consisting of empty merchant ships returning from 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 ...

after delivering their cargo there. The convoy consisted of 16 merchant ships and an escort of nine warships. The convoy departed

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 10 April 1942 and arrived in Reykjavik on 21 April. The convoy was attacked by German

U-boats U-boats are naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Na ...

and aircraft, resulting in the loss of four merchant ships. Another ship, , was damaged by air attack and forced to turn back to the

Kola Inlet Kola Bay () or Murmansk Fjord is a 57-km-long fjord of the Barents Sea that cuts into the northern part of the Kola Peninsula. It is up to 7 km wide and has a depth of 200 to 300 metres. The Tuloma, Rosta and Kola Rivers discharge into t ...

. The convoy's escorts shot down six German planes and damaged another during the course of the voyage. Later, six merchant ships from

Convoy PQ 14 Convoy PQ 14 was an Arctic convoy sent from Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Convoys from Britain had been despatched since August 1941 and advantage had been taken of the perpetual darkness of t ...

joined QP 10.

Ships

QP 10 consisted of 16 merchant ships. During the voyage, six ships from the Britain-to-Russia convoy PQ 14 joined QP 10 after turning back due to ice and weather damage. The convoy was escorted by the cruiser HMS ''Liverpool'', the

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

HMS ''Oribi'', ''

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

'', '' Fury'', ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...

'', and ''

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

'', the

minesweeper 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 ...

''Speedwell'', and the

trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, Fir ...

''Blackfly ''and ''Paynter''. From 10 April to 12 April the escort was augmented by the Soviet destroyers '' Gremyashchi'' and '' Sokrushitelny'' and the minesweepers ''Gossamer'', ''Harrier'' and ''Hussar''. Between Iceland and Norway a distant covering force was present, consisting of the battleships ''

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs ...

''and ''

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. George was born during the reign of his pa ...

'', the aircraft carrier ''

Victorious ''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around aspi ...

'', the cruisers ''

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

'' and ''

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

'', and 12 destroyers, though this force was too far away from the convoy to defend it against submarine and air attacks.

Voyage

QP 10 departed Murmansk at 17:00 on 10 April. The first attack on the convoy came on 11 April. Several German Ju 88 bombers appeared overhead, and attacked the convoy. The merchant ship ''

Empire Cowper ''Empire Cowper'' was a cargo ship that was built in 1941 by William Doxford & Sons Ltd, Sunderland, United Kingdom. She was built for the Ministry of War Transport. ''Empire Cowper'' was bombed and sunk on 11 April 1942 whilst a member of ...

'' was hit by three 500 lb bombs and then two more bombs as the ship was being evacuated. HMS ''Paynter'' rescued survivors from ''Empire Cowper'', which then sank. The merchant ship ''Harpalion'' shot down one of the attacking Ju 88s. On 12 April, the German destroyers '' Hermann Schoemann'', '' Z24'' and '' Z25'' set out to search for the convoy, but failed to find it. SS El Occidente

At 01:00 in the morning of 13 April, the convoy was attacked by the German U-boat . The Russian freighter ''Kiev'' was hit by the U-boat's first torpedo and sunk. At 03:30, struck again, hitting which sank almost immediately. At around 05:00, more Ju 88s appeared and circled the convoy for about an hour before attacking. ''Harpalion'' came under repeated air attack that damaged her steering gear and broke her rudder. The crew of ''Harpalion'' tried to jury-rig a rudder, but their attempts were halted by four Ju 88s that strafed the ship's deck with machine guns. Finally, ''Harpalion ''was scuttled by shells from HMS ''Fury''. Also on 13 April ''Hermann Schoemann'', ''Z24 ''and ''Z25 ''made another attempt to look for the convoy, but turned back due to poor weather. The convoy was not attacked again. Later in the voyage, the convoy was joined by six ships from convoy PQ 14 that turned around due to ice and weather damage.

References

{{Arctic convoys QP 10 Naval battles of World War II involving Germany C