Convoy QP 15

Convoy QP 15 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was one of a series of convoys run to return Allied ships to home ports in the United Kingdom from the northern ports of the Soviet Union.It sailed in November 1942 and was the last convoy in the "QP" series. It was scattered by a storm which sank the Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny and was attacked by U-boats of the German Navy which sank two of the thirty merchant ships.^[1]

Convoy QP.15
Part of Second World War
Date 17–30 November 1942 Location Arctic Ocean Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz	WC Meek (Comm.)
Strength
10 U-boats	32 merchant ships 30 escorts
Casualties and losses
none	2 ships sunk 1 lost in storm

Ships

The convoy initially consisted of 31 merchant ships, most of which had arrived with PQ 18. The convoy commodore was Capt. WC Meek RNR in Temple Arch. The close escort comprised four corvettes and an ASW minesweeper. These were joined later by an ocean escort of five destroyers, and five others joined during the voyage.^[2] The escort was supplemented by the AA cruiser Ulster Queen and the CAM ship Empire Morn. Distant cover was provided by a force of two cruisers and three destroyers, and submarine patrols were mounted off the Norwegian ports to oppose any sortie by German surface vessels.^[3][4]

QP 15 was opposed by a patrol line (code-named "Boreas") of ten U-boats in the Norwegian Sea, and by German air forces, though the latter were kept at bay by foul weather.

Voyage

The convoy set out from Archangel on 17 November 1942,^[5] accompanied by the local escort of four minesweepers, and were joined the following day by two Soviet destroyers. Two ships grounded after leaving harbour, and had to be left behind. They were refloated and returned to port. On 20 November the convoy was joined by its ocean escort of five destroyers. Also on 20 November a gale sprang up and scattered the convoy^[6] and damaged several ships, including the two Soviet destroyers. The two Soviet destroyer Baku was badly damaged but managed to limp back to port. A large wave hit Sokrushitelny and broke her back, severing her stern. Three Soviet destroyers were sent to assist and manage to rescue 187 crewmen from the Sokrushitelny, which sank on 22 November.^[6]

On 23 November, the U-boat U-625 attacked and sank the British freighter Goolistan. Later in the day, U-601 fired a spread of torpedoes at the Soviet freighter Kuznets Lesov, one of which struck and sank her; both ships were lost with all hands.^[5]

The convoy arrived at Loch Ewe on 30 November 1942.^[3][4]

Merchant ships

Convoyed ships^[7]

Name	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
SS Andre Marti	1918	Soviet Union	2,352
SS Belomorcanal	1936	Soviet Union	2,900
SS Charles R. McCormick	1920	United States	6,027
SS Copeland	1923	United Kingdom	1,526	Rescue ship
SS Dan-y-Bryn	1940	United Kingdom	5,117	Vice-Commodore
SS Empire Baffin	1941	United Kingdom	6,978
SS Empire Morn	1941	United Kingdom	7,092	CAM ship
SS Empire Snow	1941	United Kingdom	6,327
SS Empire Tristram	1942	United Kingdom	7,167
SS Esek Hopkins	1942	United States	7,191
SS Goolistan	1929	United Kingdom	5,851	Sunk by U-625 on 23 November
SS Hollywood	1920	United States	5,498
SS Ironclad	1919	United States	5,685
SS Komiles	1932	Soviet Union	3,966
SS Kuznetz Lesov	1933	Soviet Union	3,974	Sunk by U-601 on 23 November
SS Lafayette	1919	United States	5,887
SS Meanticut	1921	United States	6,061
SS Nathanael Greene	1942	United States	7,177
SS Ocean Faith	1942	United Kingdom	7,174
SS Patrick Henry	1941	United States	7,191
SS Petrovski	1921	Soviet Union	3,771
SS Sahale	1919	United States	5,028
SS Schoharie	1919	United States	4,971
SS St. Olaf	1942	United States	7,191
SS Tbilisi	1912	Soviet Union	7,169
SS Temple Arch	1940	United Kingdom	5,138	Convoy Commodore
SS Virginia Dare	1942	United States	7,177
SS White Clover	1920	Panama	5,462
SS William Moultrie	1942	United States	7,177

References

1. "Convoy QP.15". Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
2. Murfett, Malcolm (2009). Naval warfare 1919–1945 An Operational History of the Volatile War at Sea. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-203-88998-5.
3. Ruegg, Hague pp46-47
4. Kemp p113-114
5. Walling, Michael G. (20 October 2012). Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of World War II. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84908-718-6.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
6. Hümmelchen, Gerhard; Rohwer, Jürgen; Weis, Thomas (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea: 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. pp. 213–214. ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
7. "Convoy QP.15". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 5 December 2019.

Bibliography

• Blair, Clay. Hitler's U-boat War Vol I. (1996) ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Kemp, Paul. Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters (1993) ISBN 1-85409-130-1.
• R Ruegg, A Hague (1992) Convoys to Russia ISBN 0 905617 66 5