Download or read book Churchill s Arctic Convoys written by William Smith and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2022-09-21 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The threat of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s surprise invasion of Russia in June 1941, succeeding prompted Churchill to decide to send vital military supplies to Britain’s new ally. The early sailings to Northern Russia via the Arctic Ocean between August 1941 and February 1942 were largely unopposed. But this changed dramatically during the course of 1942 when German naval and air operations inflicted heavy losses on both merchantmen and their escorts. Problems were exacerbated by the need to divert Royal Navy warships to support the North African landing. Strained Anglo-Soviet relations coupled with mounting losses and atrocious weather and sea conditions led to the near termination of the program in early 1943. Again, competing operational priorities, namely the invasion of Sicily and preparations for D-Day, affected the convoy schedules. In the event, despite often crippling losses of lives, ships and supplies, the convoys continued until shortly before VE-Day. This thoroughly researched and comprehensive account examines both the political, maritime and logistic aspects of the Arctic convoy campaign. Controversially it reveals that the losses of merchant vessels were significantly greater than hitherto understood. While Churchill may not have described the convoys as ‘the worst journey in the world’, for the brave men who undertook he mission often at the cost of their lives, it most definitely was.

Download or read book Arctic Convoys 1941 1945 written by Richard Woodman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2018-01-30 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of Allied merchant ships and crews who braved the frigid far north to extend a lifeline to Russia, filled with “sheer heroism and brazen drama” (Literary Review). During the last four years of the Second World War, the Western Allies secured Russian defenses against Germany by supplying vital food and arms. The plight of those in Murmansk and Archangel who benefited is now well known, but few are aware of the courage, determination, and sacrifice of Allied merchant ships, which withstood unremitting U-boat attacks and aerial bombardment to maintain the lifeline to Russia. In the storms, fog, and numbing cold of the Arctic, where the sinking of a ten thousand–ton freighter was equal to a land battle in terms of destruction, the losses sustained were huge. Told from the perspective of their crews, this is the inspiring story of the long-suffering merchant ships without which Russia would almost certainly have fallen to Nazi Germany.

Download or read book Ordeal Below Zero written by Georges Blond and published by Souvenir Press. This book was released on 2018-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From August 1941 convoys of merchant ships gathered in Scottish ports or at Reykjavik and crossed the Arctic Ocean carrying war materials and Red Cross supplies for the Russian cities of Murmansk and Archangel. Each voyage was a struggle for survival through treacherous seas, ice-packs, snowstorms, and the Arctic darkness. The sailors struggled against German bomber planes, U-Boats, and destroyers, as well as the battleship Tirpitz. To survive the sea crossing was just the beginning as they also had to survive the Arctic winter. Georges Blond recreates these voyages, and the heroism of the ships' crews, through official documents, ships' logs, and eye-witness testimony. He conveys the drama and feats of endurance that led Winston Churchill to describe the Arctic convoys as "the worst journey in the world."

Download or read book Forgotten Sacrifice written by Michael G. Walling and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-20 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning historian Mike Walling captures the essence of the Arctic Convoys of World War II. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union in the largest offensive operation ever undertaken. Operation Barbarossa saw defeat after defeat heaped on the Soviet army. With Russia's forces left staggering under the strain and in desperate need of supplies, Britain and the United States launched an ambitious operation to resupply the Soviet Union using convoys sent through the Arctic. Their journey was punctuated by torpedo attacks in freezing conditions, Stuka dive bombers, naval gun fire, and weeks of total darkness in the Arctic winter, with ships disappearing below the waves weighed down by the ice and snow on their decks. Drawing on hundreds of oral histories from eyewitnesses and veterans of the convoys, plus original research into the Russian Navy archives at Murmansk, historian Michael G. Walling offers a fresh retelling of one of World War II's pivotal yet largely overlooked campaigns.

Download or read book Allied Convoys to Northern Russia 1941 1945 written by William Smith and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2024-03-30 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the experiences of the men and ships who sailed in the Allied convoys to North Russia between August 1941 and May 1945 have been fully documented, the wider political, diplomatic and military factors which determined the campaign are less well known. The principal actors Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin each had their own agendas and expectations, influenced by advisers and competing national priorities. These inevitably gave rise to differences putting pressure in turn on the convoy program while the varying effectiveness of German counter-action was a significant and unpredictable factor. 1942 was dominated by pressure on Churchill from Roosevelt and Stalin to increase the size of convoys at a time when the Royal Navy lacked the necessary escorts. This deficiency was exacerbated by heavy merchant shipping losses and the demands of Operation TORCH. The temporary convoy suspension in 1943 followed the deployment of German heavy warships to Norway and the diversion of escorts to Operation HUSKY. A serious Anglo-Soviet rift, which led to Allied threats to discontinue the program, was only resolved by lengthy negotiations. It resumed until temporarily suspended due to the D-Day landings after which the increasing escort availability allowed operations to run uninterrupted until May 1945. This carefully researched work providing an overview of the strategic factors dominating the costly yet war-winning Arctic convoy program will be welcomed by experts and laymen alike.

Download or read book Churchill s Atlantic Convoys written by William Smith and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2023-06-01 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within hours of the outbreak of the Second World War, Winston Churchill took up office as First Lord of the Admiralty. The same day the liner Athenia was torpedoed in the Atlantic in the first U-boat attack of the war. Churchill quickly recognized Britain’s survival depended on countering the U-boat threat and the strategic importance of protecting Allied merchant shipping with measures such as the convoy system. As this superbly researched book reveals, the Nazi U-boat fleet was relatively small and unprepared for war in 1939. But by early 1941 its numbers and effectiveness had increasing to the point that Hitler was able to declare ‘our warfare at sea is just beginning’. Prime Minister Churchill’s response was to issue his famous ‘Battle of the Atlantic’ Directive. Churchill’s Atlantic Convoys describes the political, strategic and tactical ebb and flow of events, particularly between 1942 and 1943. Thanks to increased numbers and scientific innovations the Allies slowly gained the upper hand despite a determined German fight back in late 1943 and early 1944. While the U-boat threat was never wholly defeated, the tenacity and sacrifices of the Allied naval forces won the day. Churchill later recognized the persistence of Germany’s effort and the fortitude of the U-boat service. It would not be until 7 June 1945 that Churchill and President Truman felt able to assert ‘the Allies have finished the job’.

Download or read book Churchill s Arctic Convoys written by William Smith and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2022-09-21 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The threat of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s surprise invasion of Russia in June 1941, succeeding prompted Churchill to decide to send vital military supplies to Britain’s new ally. The early sailings to Northern Russia via the Arctic Ocean between August 1941 and February 1942 were largely unopposed. But this changed dramatically during the course of 1942 when German naval and air operations inflicted heavy losses on both merchantmen and their escorts. Problems were exacerbated by the need to divert Royal Navy warships to support the North African landing. Strained Anglo-Soviet relations coupled with mounting losses and atrocious weather and sea conditions led to the near termination of the program in early 1943. Again, competing operational priorities, namely the invasion of Sicily and preparations for D-Day, affected the convoy schedules. In the event, despite often crippling losses of lives, ships and supplies, the convoys continued until shortly before VE-Day. This thoroughly researched and comprehensive account examines both the political, maritime and logistic aspects of the Arctic convoy campaign. Controversially it reveals that the losses of merchant vessels were significantly greater than hitherto understood. While Churchill may not have described the convoys as ‘the worst journey in the world’, for the brave men who undertook he mission often at the cost of their lives, it most definitely was.

Download or read book Arctic Convoy PQ8 written by Michael Wadsworth and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2009-11-30 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Robert Brundle took the SS Harmatris to Russia with Convoy PQ8 he was 47 years of age. Both ship and master were veterans and had already sailed in convoys across the North Atlantic and to South Africa. The 5,395 ton coal fired ship, laden with 8,000 tons of armaments originally set sail on 27 November 1941 to join convoy PQ6 but encountered a fierce storm in which a lorry broke free in the hold and started a fierce blaze below decks. Despite valiant attempts to extinguish the fire the Harmatris was forced to return to Glasgow for repair. Having discharged its cargo, examined and repaired the holds, it restowed and finally put to sea again on 26 December. She was now to join PQ8 and Brundle was elected Convoy Commodore. Two minesweepers, a cruiser and two destroyers escorted the eight merchant vessels.On 8 January the convoy left Reykjavik bound for Murmansk. Harmatris was struck by two torpedoes in No 1 hold which caused flooding. A third torpedo struck her a few hours later and the crew evacuated to HMS Speedwell in attendance. A volunteer crew reboarded and Speedwell took the wounded ship in tow. During the night the same U Boat that had struck Harmatris sunk the destroyer Matabele with the loss of all but two of her crew. A tug eventually replaced Speedwell and the entire crew now returned to their still stricken vessel. On 18 January the ships were twice attacked by low flying Heinkels. The stricken Harmatris finally berthed in Murmansk at 0800 on 20 January. Once unloaded the battered ship entered dry dock on 10 February. The damage was considerable. In a temperature of 40 degrees below zero the crew set about the repairs. It was difficult to locate engine parts and local labor was scarce.During the following months the crew continued to work on the ship, food was scarce and the port was frequently bombed by the Luftwaffe. Several ships close to Harmatris were sunk. It was 21 July when the ship finally left for Archangel. She took aboard a cargo of 3,000 tons of steel pipes and on 13 September she was instructed to join a convoy of 20 ships, QP14 for her return voyage. On 19 September the minesweeper HMS Leda, steaming close by Harmartris, was torpedoed. The convoy was under almost continuous U Boat attack and suffered six losses. As a result of his heroic efforts to preserve his ship and crew Captain Brundle was awarded the OBE and the Lloyds War Medal. He died in 1960 at the age of 66.

Download or read book The Arctic Convoys 1941 1945 written by Richard Woodman and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the last four gruelling years of the war, the Western Allies supplied arms and ammunition to Soviet Russia. These supplies were essential to the Russian war effort, and so the Germans were determined to cut them off. Allied merchant ships ran the gauntlet of the icy Barents Sea, outflanked by German bases in Norway, from where bombers, surface warships and U-boats could attack without warning. Each delivery of arms was an epic achievement. In fact an eminent British historian described it as undertaking the impossible.;Under pressure from both Stalin and Roosevelt, Churchill compelled the hardpressed British navy to fight convoy after convoy through to Murmansk and Archangel, with considerable loss in a campaign which was war a l'outrance, where the sinking of a single 10,000-ton freighter was the equivalent, in terms of material destroyed, of a land battle. It was the Arctic that saw the last concentration of the U-boats, driven from their former French bases; the Arctic that saw the last Royal Naval ship sunk in European waters; and the Arctic that saw the greatest defeat of a convoy in modern history. It was a theatre dominated by the weather: fog, storm-force winds and the ever-present numbing cold. Accretions of ice could, and did, deprive ships of their stability and cause them to capsize, while either the Arctic gloom or the midnight sun mocked embattled men haggard with exhaustion.;The debacle of PQ17, the surface actions, the U-boat attacks and running air battles culminating in the final destruction of the Scharnhorst are fully covered, but so too are the personal angle and the perspective of the long-suffering merchant ships and their crews, together with the political implications. The author, himself a professional seaman, has carried out a major and comprehensive review of naval operations in the Arctic which, ironically for Britain and the United States, left Stalin's Russia the dominating power in postwar Europe.

Download or read book The Royal Navy and the Arctic Convoys written by Malcolm Llewellyn-Jones and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-05-13 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is a masterpiece of operational history, and is written with surprising candour, given that the author was a member of the Naval Staff. The men who took part in these operations were drawn from Britain, Canada, America (particularly for the merchant service). This book provides a detailed account of naval actions (with maps) based on close examination of all relevant documentation and interviews with principal participants.

Download or read book The Road to Russia written by Bernard Edwards and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bernard Edwards, the formidable naval historian, has researched the fate of Convoys PQ13 and PQ17 bound from Iceland to Northern Russia as well as the westbound Convoy QP13. Attacked relentlessly by aircraft and U-boats, the former lost a total of thirty ships while QP13 ran into a British minefield off Iceland, losing seven vessels. The Road to Russia is an important addition to the bibliography of this bitterly fought campaign.

Download or read book The Ghost Ships of Archangel written by William Geroux and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary story of survival and alliance during World War II: the icy journey of four Allied ships crossing the Arctic to deliver much needed supplies to the Soviet war effort. On the fourth of July, 1942, four Allied ships traversing the Arctic split from their decimated convoy to head further north into the ice field of the North Pole. They were seeking safety from Nazi bombers and U-boats in the perilous white maze of ice floes, growlers, and giant bergs. Despite the many risks of their chosen route, the four vessels had a better chance of reaching their destination than the rest of the remains of convoy PQ-17. The convoy had started as a fleet of thirty-five cargo ships carrying $1 billion worth of war supplies to the Soviet port of Archangel--the only help Roosevelt and Churchill had extended to Joseph Stalin to maintain their fragile alliance against Germany. At the most dangerous point of the voyage, the ships had received a startling order to scatter and had quickly become easy prey for the Nazis. The crews of the four ships focused on their mission. U.S. Navy Ensign Howard Carraway, aboard the SS Troubadour, was a farm boy from South Carolina and one of the many Americans for whom the convoy was a first taste of war; from the Royal Navy Reserve, Lt. Leo Gradwell was given command of the HMT Ayrshire, a British fishing trawler that had been converted into an antisubmarine vessel. The twenty-four-hour Arctic daylight in midsummer gave them no respite from bombers or submarines, and they all feared the giant German battleship Tirpitz, nicknamed the "Big Bad Wolf." Icebergs were as dangerous as Nazis as the remnants of convoy PQ-17 tried to slip through the Arctic to deliver their cargo in one of the most dramatic escapes of World War II. At Archangel they found a traumatized, starving city, and a disturbing preview of the Cold War ahead.

Download or read book The Arctic Convoys written by B. B. Schofield and published by London : Macdonald and Jane's. This book was released on 1977 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II transportation of supplies to the Russian port of Murmansk.

Download or read book Fire Ice Arctic Convoys 1941 1945 written by Richard Porter and published by Paul Honeywill. This book was released on 2023-01-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Arctic convoys run to the ports of Northern Russia from 1941 to 1945 combined the man-made and maritime horrors of the Battle of the Atlantic with the unforgiving ferocity of one of the most inhospitable of the world's climates. Maintaining that lifeline through the waters of the Arctic circle was essential to the development and maintenance of the Anglo-American alliance with the Soviet Union. With the massive campaign on Germany's Eastern front hanging in the balance in 1941 to 1942, the German Armed Forces deployed significant numbers of submarines, bomber and torpedo aircraft, together with heavy ships such as the Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, against the slow-moving Allied convoys of merchant ships and their escorting forces. The challenge to maintain this lifeline placed a heavy burden on the resources of the Royal Navy. Here, in a contemporary battle summary, prepared by the Naval Staff of the Royal Navy, and supported by academic analysis and an extensive photographic section, those challenges and difficulties, the tragedies and the triumphs of the Arctic convoys, are laid bare. A Shared Strategic Goal. The Arctic Convoys reflect the need to be able to work with enemies who become allies, and vice versa, and understand the strategic circumstances and imperatives that drive those choices. This strategic perspective and agility characterised Churchill’s approach to Stalin and the Soviet Union. It is notable that British co-operation with the Soviet Union started before the US had entered the war, and continued to the end, reflecting British strategic national interests throughout. The intent and comradeship forged through the existence of a common foe survived the many operational set-backs and doubts on both sides, and speaks clearly to the need in these matters to have a clear, shared strategic goal and enduring commitment to its achievement. The Arctic convoys demonstrate the utility of seapower to deliver significant strategic effects even while operations had to be conducted at the limits of human endurance in the harshest of climates, at the geographical extremes of the global battlefront what Churchill is credited with calling ‘the worst journey in the world.’

Download or read book 1942 written by Taylor Downing and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-10-04 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory new work of popular history focused on the year 1942, as the fate of Britain—and Winston Churchill’s leadership—hangs in the balance. Eighty years ago, Britain stood at the brink of defeat. In 1942, a string of military disasters engulfed Britain in rapid succession : the collapse in Malaya; the biggest surrender in British history at Singapore; the passing of three large German warships through the Straits of Dover in broad daylight; the longest ever retreat through Burma to the gates of India; serious losses to Rommel's forces in North Africa; the siege of Malta and the surrender at Tobruk. All of this occurred against the backdrop of catastrophic sinkings in the Atlantic and the Arctic convoys. People began to claim that Churchill was not up to the job and his leadership was failing badly. Public morale reached a new low. Taylor Downing’s 1942 explores the story of frustration and despair of that year, prompting Winston Churchill to demand of his army chief, "Have you not got a single general who can win battles?” Using newly discovered archival material, historian Taylor Downing shows just how unpopular Churchill became in 1942, with two votes attacking his leadership in the House of Commons and the emergence of a serious political rival.Some argue that Britain's most precarious moment of the war was in 1940—when the nation stood up against the threat of German invasion during the Battle of Britain. But in 1942, Taylor Downing describes, in nail-biting detail, what was really Britain's darkest hour of World War II.

Download or read book Convoy is to Scatter written by Jack Broome and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beretning om konvojen PQ17s tragiske sejlads fra Island mod Kola-halvøen. Der er et stort indhold af de udvekslede signaler mellem konvojen og hovedkvarteret. En hel del tegninger med humoristisk indhold

Download or read book Surviving the Arctic Convoys written by John McKay and published by Pen and Sword Maritime. This book was released on 2021-08-30 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading Seaman Charlie Erswell saw much more than his fair share of action during the Second World War. He was present at the 1942 landing in North Africa (Operation TORCH), D-Day and the liberation of Norway. But his main area of operations was that of the Arctic Convoys, escorting merchant ships taking essential war supplies to the Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. In addition to contending with relentless U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks, crews endured the extreme sea conditions and appalling weather. This involved clearing ice and snow in temperatures as low as minus thirty degrees Celsius. No wonder Winston Churchill described it as 'the worst journey in the world'. Fortunately, Charlie, who served on two destroyers, HMS Milne and Savage, kept a record of his experiences and is alive today to describe them. His story, published to coincide with the 80th Anniversary of the first convoy, is more than one man's account. It is an inspiring tribute to his colleagues, many of whom were killed in action. No-one reading Surviving The Arctic Convoys could fail to be moved by the bravery and endurance of these outstanding men.