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Convoy JW 55A
Convoy JW 55A 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 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely. Ships JW 55A consisted of 19 merchant ships which departed from Loch Ewe on 12 December 1943. Close escort was provided by the destroyer ''Westcott'' and two minesweepers. There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer ''Milne'' (Capt. IMR Campbell commanding) and seven other Home Fleet destroyers. The convoy was also accompanied initially by a local escort group from Britain, and was also joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk. A cruiser cover force comprising ''Belfast'' (V.Adm R Burnett commanding), ''Norfolk'', and ''Sheffield'' also followed the convoy, to guard against attack by surface units. Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship ''Duke of York'', the cruiser ''Jama ... [...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] |
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a submarine ridge running between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. To the north, the Jan Mayen Ridge separates it from the Greenland Sea. Unlike many other seas, most of the bottom of the Norwegian Sea is not part of a continental shelf and therefore lies at a great depth of about two kilometres on average. Rich deposits of oil and natural gas are found under the sea bottom and are being explored commercially, in the areas with sea depths of up to about one kilometre. The coastal zones are rich in fish that visit the Norwegian Sea from the North Atlantic or from the Barents Sea (cod) for spawning. The warm North Atlantic Current ensures relatively stable and high wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Opportune (G80)
HMS ''Opportune'' was an O and P-class destroyer, O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, Hampshire, Woolston on 3 September 1939 for the 1st Emergency Flotilla. She was commissioned on 14 August 1942. She was the second Royal Navy ship borne ''Opportune''. She served throughout the World War II, Second World War, mainly as an escort ship for convoys, and remained with the Royal Navy until the mid-1950s. Service history Convoy Duty 1942 Enemy action affected ''Opportune'' before she was even completed, as German bombing in 1940 severely damaged the shipyard and enemy action delayed the delivery of components. It was for these reasons that her completion was delayed until 1942. When she was eventually launched, she was with the 17th Destroyer Flotilla with the Home Fleet. During trials, she assisted in escorting convoy PW-202 to Bristol. Her first real duty was escorting the Arctic convoys of World War II, Arctic co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Ashanti (F51)
HMS ''Ashanti'' was a destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949. She was the first of two Royal Navy ships to bear the name ''Ashanti''. Description The Tribals were intended to counter the large destroyers being built abroad and to improve the firepower of the existing destroyer flotillas and were thus significantly larger and more heavily armed than the preceding . The ships displaced at standard load and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a beam of Lenton, p. 165 and a draught of .English, p. 12 The destroyers were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . During her sea trials ''Ashanti'' made from at a displa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Musketeer (G86)
HMS ''Musketeer'' was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She was ordered from Fairfield's, Govan, Glasgow on 7 September 1939 under the 1939 Build Programme and laid down on 7 December the same year. She was launched on 2 December 1941 and completed on 18 September 1942 at a cost of £462,543. ''Musketeer'' was adopted in December 1941 by the community of East Barnet, now part of Greater London. ''Musketeer'' was the second RN ship to carry this name; the first was a destroyer built in 1915 and sold in 1921. World War 2 Service Arctic Convoys ''Musketeer'' commissioned on 9 September 1942 and joined the Home Fleet as part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla covering the North Sea and the North Western Approaches. In November 1942 she was switched to duty with the convoys to the Soviet Union, protecting merchant shipping delivering vital supplies to Russia for her war against Nazi Germany. This was a role that ''Musketeer'' was to perform for most of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Meteor (G74)
HMS ''Meteor'' was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Construction HMS ''Meteor'' was ordered on 7 July 1939, as one of eight destroyers of the M class, a near repeat of the previous L-class. The ship was laid down at the Alexander Stephen shipyard of Linthouse, Glasgow on 14 September 1940, launched on 3 November 1941 and commissioned on 12 August 1942.English 2001, p. 112.Whitley 2000, p. 121–122. ''Meteor'' completed with the originally specified main gun armament of six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XI guns in fully enclosed Mark XX mounts, but was only fitted with a single set of quadruple 21-inch torpedo tubes, with the planned aft set being sacrificed to accommodate a single 4-inch (102 mm) Mark V anti-aircraft gun. Close in weaponry consisted of a single quadruple 2-pounder (40 mm) "pom-pom" and 6 single 20 mm cannon.English, p. 113 ''Meteor'' was fitted with Type 291 air/surface search radar and Type 285 anti-aircraft ranging rad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Matchless (G52)
HMS ''Matchless'' was a M-class destroyer built during World War II. After the war she was placed in reserve until August 1957 and eventually sold to the Turkish Navy, who renamed her TCG ''Kılıç Ali Paşa''. She was struck from the Turkish Navy list and scrapped in 1971. Adoptions Maidenhead Borough Council in Berkshire officially adopted HMS ''Matchless'' after holding a Warship Week in March 1942 that raised £550,296. A ship's badge was presented to the borough in September 1942. Associated Motor Cycles in southeast London, which made Matchless motorcycles, unofficially adopted the ship in 1943. After the Battle of the North Cape in December 1943 her battle flag and other mementoes were presented to the company. Service Scapa Flow ''Matchless'' undertook sea trials in the Firth of Clyde and then joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow for crew training in gunnery and torpedo attacks. Her first active service was on an Arctic convoy to Murmansk and the Kola Inlet. On 13 M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Acanthus (K01)
HMS ''Acanthus'' was a ''Flower''-class corvette of the Royal Navy. Construction and design ''Acanthus'' was one of ten Flower-class corvettes ordered on 21 September 1939, in the fourth of a series of orders. She was laid down at Ailsa Shipbuilding Company's Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ... shipyard on 21 December 1939, was launched on 26 May 1941 and completed on 1 October 1941. References * * * Flower-class corvettes of the Royal Navy 1941 ships {{UK-mil-ship-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Speedwell (J87)
Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Speedwell'': * was a galley captured from the French in 1560 and broken up in 1580. * was a 41-gun galleon, rebuilt in 1592, renamed ''Speedwell'' and rearmed to 40 guns in 1607, and was lost in 1624. * was a 20-gun ship, renamed HMS ''Speedwell'' in 1660, and wrecked in 1676. * was an 8-gun fireship purchased in 1688 and sunk as a breakwater in 1692. * was an 8-gun fireship, rebuilt in 1702 as a 28-gun fifth rate, and wrecked in 1720. * was a 14-gun sloop-of-war launched in 1744 and sold in 1750. * was an 8-gun sloop, converted to a fireship and renamed HMS ''Spitfire'' in 1779, and sold in 1780. * was a cutter of unknown origin, that the French captured in 1761. * was an 18-gun sloop listed in 1775 that the captured on 26 October 1781 near Gibraltar. * was a 16-gun cutter purchased in 1780, converted to a brig in 1796, and foundered in 1807. * was a 5-gun schooner purchased in 1815 and sold in 1834. * was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kola Inlet
Kola Bay (russian: Кольский залив) 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 River, Tuloma, Rosta River, Rosta and Kola Rivers discharge into the bay. The eastern shore is craggy and precipitous, the western one is comparatively level. The ports of Murmansk and Severomorsk sit on the east side. Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast, Polyarny, the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet, is on the west side of the bay. tide, Semidiurnal tides in the Murmansk Fjord are as high as 4 metres. In winter, the southern part of the bay may be covered in ice. The Kola Bay Bridge spans the Kola Bay near its southern end See also *List of fjords of Russia Notes * ''This article is based on a translation of the :ru:Кольский залив, equivalent article of the Russian Wikipedia on 13 July 2008''. {{Authority control Bays of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Night
The polar night is a phenomenon where the nighttime lasts for more than 24 hours that occurs in the northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the Sun remains above the horizon for more than 24 hours. "Night" is understood as the center of the Sun being below a free horizon. Since the atmosphere refracts sunlight, the polar day is longer than the polar night, and the area that is affected by polar night is somewhat smaller than the area of midnight sun. The polar circle is located at a latitude between these two areas, at approximately 66.5°. While it is day in the Arctic Circle, it is night in the Antarctic Circle, and vice versa. Any planet or moon with a sufficient axial tilt that rotates with respect to its star significantly more frequently than it orbits the star (no tidal locking between the two) will experience the same phenomenon (a nighttime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Submarine U-386
German submarine ''U-386'' was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. She carried out four patrols. She sank one ship. She was a member of five wolfpacks. She was sunk by a British warship in mid-Atlantic on 19 February 1944. Design German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ''U-386'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a pressure hull length of , a beam of , a height of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Germaniawerft F46 four-stroke, six-cylinder supercharged diesel engines producing a total of for use while surfaced, two Garbe, Lahmeyer & Co. RP 137/c double-acting electric motors producing a total of for use while submerged. She had two shafts and two propellers. The boat was capable of operating at depths of up to . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a maximum submerged speed of . When submerged, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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