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Convoy PQ 4
Convoy PQ 4 was the fifth of the Arctic Convoys of World War II by which the Western Allies supplied material aid to the Soviet Union in its fight with Nazi Germany. The Convoy sailed from Hvalfjord, Iceland on 17 November 1941 and arrived at Archangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near i ... on 28 November 1941. Ships The convoy consisted of eight merchant ships (four British and four Soviet) all of which arrived safely. The escort consisted of the cruiser HMS ''Berwick'', the destroyers HMS ''Offa'' and HMS ''Onslow'', two minesweepers and two armed trawlers. Complete List of Ships The following information is from the Arnold Hague Convoy Database. References * Richard Woodman, Arctic Convoys 1941–1945, 1994, Convoy web PQ 04 {{arctic-stub ... [...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] |
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad (Russian SFSR), Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Minsk ( Byelorussian SSR), Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR), and Novosibirsk (Russian SFSR). It was the largest country in the world, covering over and spanning eleven time zones. The country's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the head of gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river and numerous islands of its delta. Arkhangelsk was the chief seaport of medieval and early modern Russia until 1703, when it was replaced by the newly-founded Saint Petersburg. A railway runs from Arkhangelsk to Moscow via Vologda and Yaroslavl, and air travel is served by the Talagi Airport and the smaller Vaskovo Airport. As of the 2021 Census, the city's population was 301,199. Coat of arms The arms of the city display the Archangel Michael in the act of defeating the Devil. Legend states that this victory took place near where the city stands, hence its name, and that Michael still stands watch over the city to prevent the Devil's return. History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Berwick (65)
HMS ''Berwick'', pennant number 65, was a heavy cruiser of the British Royal Navy, part of the ''Kent'' subclass. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (Govan, Scotland), with the keel being laid down on 15 September 1924. She was launched on 30 March 1926 and commissioned 12 July 1927. History When completed ''Berwick'' was sent to the China Station, where she remained until a temporary detachment to the Mediterranean in 1936. Along with the rest of her ''Kent'' class sub-group of ships, ''Berwick'' underwent reconstruction between 1937 and 1938, where her single 4-inch guns were replaced with double mounts, numerous light machine guns were added, and probably most important; a cemented thick and deep armoured belt was added to both sides of her hull beginning at the armoured deck down past her water line. After this work, she completed her sea trials and then proceeded west where she served on the America and West Indies Station with the 8 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Offa (G29)
HMS ''Offa'' was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which entered service in 1941 and was scrapped in 1959. Service history Second World War service During November 1941 ''Offa'' was part of the escort of Convoy PQ 4, the fifth of the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War. The convoy sailed from Hvalfjord, Iceland on 17 November 1941 and arrived at Arkhangelsk on 28 November 1941. On 14 September 1942 ''Offa'' (Lt.Cdr. R.A. Ewing) picked up survivors from the British tanker which had been damaged by a torpedo from the south west of Bear Island. On 26 January 1944 ''Offa'' picked up survivors from the British merchant that was sunk by a torpedo from the in the Barents Sea north of North Cape. She took part in the King's Birthday celebrations at Kiel on 2 June 1945 together with HMS ''Obedient'' Postwar service In 1946 ''Offa'' served as a target ship for submarines, until being placed in reserve at Devonport in February 1948. In April 1948 she was refitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Onslow (G17)
HMS ''Onslow'' was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. The O-class were intermediate destroyers, designed before the outbreak of the Second World War to meet likely demands for large number of destroyers. They had a main gun armament of four 4.7 in (120 mm) guns, and had a design speed of . ''Onslow'' was ordered on 2 October 1939 and was built by John Brown & Company at their Clydebank, Glasgow shipyard, launching on 31 March 1941 and completing on 8 October 1941. ''Onslow'' served with the Home Fleet during the war, with a major activity being escorting Arctic Convoys to the Soviet Union. She sank the German submarine in September 1942 and in December that year took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea in 1942, while escorting Convoy JW 51B to Russia. The convoy escorts held off attacks from the powerful , with ''Onslow'' being heavily damaged and her captain, Robert Sherbrooke, severely injured. She also saw detached service in the Mediterranean, covering the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minesweeper (ship)
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 the naval mine dates to the Ming dynasty.Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 203–205. Dedicated minesweepers, however, only appeared many centuries later during the Crimean War, where they were deployed by the British. The Crimean War minesweepers were rowboats trailing grapnels to snag mines. Minesweeping technology picked up in the Russo-Japanese War, using aging torpedo boats as minesweepers. In Britain, naval leaders recognized before the outbreak of World War I that the development of sea mines was a threat to the nation's shipping and began efforts to counter the threat. Sir Arthur Wilson noted the real threat of the time was blockade aided by mines and not invasion. The function of the fishing fleet's trawlers with their trawl gear was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built to naval specifications, others adapted from civilian use. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust vessels designed to work heavy trawls in all types of weather, and had large clear working decks. A minesweeper could be created by replacing the trawl with a mine sweep. Adding depth charge racks on the deck, ASDIC sonar below, and a or gun in the bow equipped the trawler for anti-submarine duties. History Armed trawlers were also used to defend fishing groups from enemy aircraft or submarines. The smallest civilian trawlers were converted to danlayers. Contemporary Some nations still use armed trawlers for fisheries protection and patrol. The Indian Navy used naval trawlers for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halcyon-class Minesweeper
The ''Halcyon'' class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers (officially, "fleet minesweeping sloops") built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939. They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy and served during World War II. Design There were 21 ships in the ''Halcyon'' class, built in two groups; the first using reciprocating steam engines, with steam turbines in the latter. They were generally smaller versions of the escort sloops. ''Niger'' and ''Salamander'' of the reciprocating group used vertical triple expansion engines, instead of the vertical compound engines of their sisters. As a result of the increased installed power they had a half knot speed advantage, even though they used slightly shorter hulls. The turbine ships used the same shorter hulls as ''Niger'' and ''Salamander'', but with lower installed power, speed dropped back to . ''Gleaner'', ''Franklin'', ''Jason'' and ''Scott'' were completed as unarmed surve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Seagull (J85)
HMS ''Seagull'' was a , and the first Royal Navy ship to be built entirely without rivets. She was completed on 30 March 1938. She was adopted by the civil community of Christchurch, Hampshire after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in February 1942 During the Second World War she helped escort 21 Arctic convoys, and participated in Operation Neptune. She was also involved in the accidental sinking of the Polish submarine ORP ''Jastrząb'', along with HNoMS ''St Albans'', during the passage of Arctic Convoy PQ 15. Five crewmen were killed. A court of Enquiry found that ''Jastrząb'' was out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander. However, other sources maintain the convoy changed its course and entered ''Jastrząb's'' patrol sector. Also that the Allied ships ignored identification marks, while on surface, and that ''Seagull's'' commander was later found guilty by the Admiralty. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
