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Convoy JW 51A
Convoy JW 51A was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. JW 51A was not detected or attacked by German forces and arrived without loss. Background JW 51A was the first of the JW/RA convoy series, replacing the previous PQ/QP series which had been suspended during the summer and autumn of 1942. The JW series were organized to sail from Loch Ewe, Scotland, rather than Iceland, as previously, and sailed with a substantial destroyer escort to guard against surface attacks, as had proved effective with PQ 18. JW 51A was the first outbound Arctic convoy of the 1942–43 winter season, and began the practice of sailing smaller convoys twice-monthly during the winter months to reduce the problems of controlling large groups of ships in the gloom of the polar night. Forces JW 51A consisted of 16 merchant ships, which departe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Convoys Of World War II
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 between August 1941 and May 1945, sailing via several seas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with two gaps with no sailings between July and September 1942, and March and November 1943. About 1,400 merchant ships delivered essential supplies to the Soviet Union under the Anglo-Soviet agreement and US Lend-Lease program, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and the U.S. Navy. Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost. Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' lost a number of vessels including one battleship, three destroyers, 30 U-boats, and many aircraft. The convoys demonstrated the Allies' commitment to helping the Soviet Union, prior to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role (commerce raiding) and enforcing a naval blockade against enemy shipping. The primary targets of the U-boat campaigns in both wars were the merchant convoys bringing supplies from Canada and other parts of the British Empire, and from the United States, to the United Kingdom and (during the Second World War) to the Soviet Union and the Allied territories in the Mediterranean. German submarines also destroyed Brazilian merchant ships during World War II, causing Brazil to declare war on both Germany and Italy on 22 August 1942. The term is an anglicised version of the German word ''U-Boot'' , a shortening of ''Unterseeboot'' ('under-sea-boat'), though the German term refers to any submarine. Austro-Hungarian Navy submarines were also kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Boadicea (H65)
HMS ''Boadicea'' was a built for the Royal Navy (RN) around 1930. Initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet, she was transferred to the Home Fleet in 1936. Before her departure, the ship evacuated civilians from Spain during the beginning of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. ''Boadicea'' later spent considerable time in Spanish waters, enforcing the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides of the conflict. During World War II, the ship spent the bulk of the war on convoy escort duty in British waters and participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, Operation Torch, the Arctic convoys of World War II, Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings. Badly damaged by German dive bombers in 1940, she was sunk almost exactly four years later by German aircraft. Description ''Boadicea'' displaced at Displacement (ship), standard load and at deep load. The ship had an length overall, overall length of , a beam (nautical), beam of and a draft (hull), draught ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
