Convoy QP 10

Arctic naval operations of World War II

Weserübung Norwegian Campaign Convoys Claymore Gauntlet PQ 7 PQ 8 PQ 12 Sportpalast PQ 13 PQ 14 QP 10 PQ 15 QP 11 PQ 16 PQ 17 Rösselsprung QP 13 Wunderland PQ 18 QP 14 Doppelschlag QP 15 JW 51A JW 51B Regenbogen Barents Sea JW 55B Ostfront North Cape JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58

Convoy QP 10 was an Arctic convoy of World War II, consisting of empty merchant ships returning from the Soviet Union after delivering their cargo there. The convoy consisted of 16 merchant ships and an escort of nine warships.^[1] Six merchant ships from Convoy PQ 14 joined QP 10 partway through the voyage.^[2] The convoy departed Murmansk on 10 April 1942 and arrived in Reykjavik on 21 April.^[3] The convoy was attacked by German U-boats and aircraft, resulting in the loss of four merchant ships. Another ship, Stone Street, was damaged by air attack and forced to turn back to the Kola Inlet.^[2] The convoy's escorts shot down six German planes and damaged another during the course of the voyage.^[3]

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.^[2] The convoy was escorted by the cruiser HMS Liverpool, the destroyers HMS Oribi, Punjabi, Fury, Eclipse, and Marne, the minesweeper Speedwell, and the trawlers Blackfly and Paynter.^[1] From 10 April to 12 April the escort was augmented by the Soviet destroyers Gremyashchi and Sokrushitelny and the minesweepers Gossamer, Harrier and Hussar.^[1] Between Iceland and Norway a distant covering force was present, consisting of the battleships Duke of York and King George V, the aircraft carrier Victorious, the cruisers Kent and Nigeria, and 12 destroyers, though this force was too far away from the convoy to defend it against submarine and air attacks.^[1]

Voyage

A Ju 88 similar to the ones that attacked QP 10

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 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 sunk. The merchant ship Harpalion shot down one of the attacking Ju 88s.^[4] On 12 April, the German destroyers Hermann Schoemann, Z24 and Z25 set out to search for the convoy, but failed to find it.^[1]

SS El Occidente

At 01:00 in the morning of 13 April, the convoy was attacked by the German U-boat U-435. The Russian freighter Kiev was hit by the U-boat's first torpedo and sunk. At 03:30, U-435 struck again, hitting El Occidente which sunk almost immediately.^[4] 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.^[4] Also on 13 April Hermann Schoemann, Z24 and Z25 made another attempt to look for the convoy, but turned back due to poor weather.^[3]

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.^[4]

References

1 2 3 4 5 Rohwer, Jürgen; G. Hümmelchen (1973). Chronology of the war at sea, 1939-1945 : the naval history of World War Two (2nd, rev. expanded ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 134. ISBN 1-55750-105-X.
1 2 3 Amborski, Leonard E. (2001). The last voyage : maritime heroes of World War II. Williamsville, NY: Ambor Press. pp. 29–33. ISBN 0-615-12217-5.
1 2 3 Llewellyn-Jones, with a pref. by Malcolm (2007). The Royal Navy and the Arctic convoys : a naval staff history (1. publ. ed.). London [u.a.]: Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 0-7146-5284-9.
1 2 3 4 Edwards, Bernard (2002). The road to Russia : Arctic convoys 1942. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. pp. 82–94. ISBN 1-59114-732-8.

Arctic convoys of World War II

1941

Outbound	Dervish PQ 1 PQ 2 PQ 3 PQ 4 PQ 5 PQ 6

Homebound	QP 1 QP 2 QP 3

1942

Outbound	PQ 7a PQ 7b PQ 8 PQ 9 PQ 10 PQ 11 PQ 12 PQ 13 PQ 14 PQ 15 PQ 16 PQ 17 PQ 18 Operation FB JW 51A JW 51B

Homebound	QP 4 QP 5 QP 6 QP 7 QP 8 QP 9 QP 10 QP 11 QP 12 QP 13 QP 14 QP 15 RA 51

1943

Outbound	JW 52 JW 53 JW 54A JW 54B JW 55A JW 55B

Homebound	RA 52 RA 53 RA 54A RA 54B RA 55A RA 55B

1944

Outbound	JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58 JW 59 JW 60 JW 61 JW 61A JW 62 JW 63

Homebound	RA 56 RA 57 RA 58 RA 59 RA 59A RA 60 RA 61 RA 61A RA 62 RA 63

1945

Outbound	JW 64 JW 65 JW 66 JW 67

Homebound	RA 64 RA 65 RA 66 RA 67

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