Convoy JW 51B
Convoy JW 51B | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Second World War | |||||||
The Norwegian and the Barents seas, site of the Arctic convoys | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
RN: John Tovey Robert Burnett Robert Sherbrooke (WIA) Convoy commodore: Robin Melhuish |
Karl Doenitz Oskar Kummetz Hans-Jürgen Stumpff | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 light cruisers (after 3 hours) 6 destroyers 2 corvettes 1 minesweeper 2 trawlers |
2 heavy cruisers 6 destroyers | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
250 killed 1 destroyer sunk 1 destroyer damaged 1 minesweeper sunk |
330 killed 1 cruiser damaged 1 destroyer sunk |
Convoy JW 51B was an Arctic convoy sent from United Kingdom by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during the Second World War. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943.
Convoy JW 51B came under attack by German surface units, engaged in Operation Regenbogen, on 31 December. In the engagement, a British minesweeper and a British destroyer were sunk and a German destroyer were sunk; no ships were lost from the convoy in what became known as the Battle of the Barents Sea.
Background
Convoy escorts
Convoy JW 51A consisted of 15 merchant ships which departed from Loch Ewe on 22 December 1942. Close escort was provided by the minesweeper HMS Bramble, two corvettes and two armed trawlers. The close escort was supported by six Home Fleet destroyers led by HMS Onslow (Captain Robert Sherbrooke). The convoy sailed with a local escort group from Britain and was joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk. A cruiser cover force comprising HMS Jamaica, HMS Sheffield and two destroyers, was also at sea, from Kola Inlet, to guard against attack by surface units. Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force from Iceland comprising the battleship HMS Anson, the cruiser Cumberland and five destroyers.
German forces
Convoy JW 51B was opposed by four U-boats in a patrol line in the Norwegian Sea and the aircraft of Luftflotte 5 based in Norway. A surface force comprising the heavy cruisers Admiral Hipper, Lützow and the destroyers Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt, Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z6 Theodor Riedel, Z29, Z30, Z31 was stationed at Altenfjord.
Prelude
Convoy JW 51B departed Loch Ewe on 22 December 1942, accompanied by its local escort, of four destroyers, and its close escort. Three days later, on 25 December, it was joined by the ocean escort, while the local escort departed. On 27 December the convoy ran into a gale, which scattered the convoy over the next two days into several groups across a wide area. Dover Hill was forced to return with weather damage and five ships and two escorts had become separated. Three of the ships rejoined on 30 December, but Chester Valley, in company with the armed trawler Vizalma, and another, with the destroyer Oribi, remained separated. During 30 December, Bramble detached from the main body of the convoy to search for the stragglers.
Action
On 24 December the convoy had been sighted by a patrolling aircraft, but was lost later during the storm. On 30 December it was found again by U-354, and Operation Regenbogen began. On 31 December the German ships, in two sections, met the ocean escort of Convoy JW 51B, and after a sharp engagement, which left the minesweeper Bramble and the destroyer Achates sinking and Onslow, damaged; the attacking force was driven off. The destroyer, Eckoldt was sunk and the cruiser Hipper was damaged. No further attacks developed, and on 1 January 1943 Vizalma and her charge rejoined the convoy. On 2 January Convoy JW 51B was met by its eastern local escort, two minesweepers from Murmansk. On 3 January the main body arrived in Kola Inlet, joined the following day by Oribi and her charge.
Aftermath
Analysis
The 15 ships of Convoy JW 51B arrived at Murmansk without loss, though one had been damaged. Despite the loss of two warships, the convoy was a success and the failure of the German surface force against the convoy caused a loss of confidence by Hitler in the Kriegsmarine and its commander, Admiral Erich Raeder, which led to him resigning.[1] Thereafter, the main threat to the Allied convoy system was from U-boats.
Ships involved
Allied ships
Name | Year | Flag | GRT | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ballot | 1922 | Panama | 6,131 | |
Calobre | 1919 | Panama | 6,891 | |
Chester Valley | 1919 | United States | 5,078 | |
Daldorch | 1930 | United Kingdom | 5,571 | |
Dover Hill | 1918 | United Kingdom | 5,815 | |
Empire Archer | 1942 | United Kingdom | 7,031 | Captain Robin Melhuish, convoy commodore |
Empire Emerald | 1941 | United Kingdom | 8,032 | |
Executive | 1920 | United States | 4,978 | |
Jefferson Myers | 1920 | United States | 7,582 | |
John H. B. Latrobe | 1942 | United States | 7,191 | |
Pontfield | 1940 | United Kingdom | 8,319 | |
Puerto Rican | 1919 | United States | 6,076 | |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | 1942 | United States | 7,176 | |
Vermont[3] | 1919 | United States | 5,670 | |
Yorkmar | 1919 | United States | 5,612 |
Western escort
Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Bulldog | Royal Navy | B-class destroyer | 22–23 December |
HMS Blankney | Royal Navy | Hunt-class destroyer | 22–25 December |
HMS Chiddingfold | Royal Navy | Hunt-class destroyer | 22–25 December |
HMS Ledbury | Royal Navy | Hunt-class destroyer | 22–25 December |
Close escort
Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Bramble | Royal Navy | Halcyon-class minesweeper | 22–29 December |
HMS Hyderabad | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | 22 December – 4 January |
HMS Rhododendron | Royal Navy | Flower-class corvette | 22 December – 4 January |
HMT Vizalma | Royal Navy | ASW trawler | 22 December – 4 January |
HMT Northern Gem | Royal Navy | ASW trawler | 22 December – 4 January |
Ocean escort
Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Achates | Royal Navy | A-class destroyer | 25 December – 3 January |
HMS Obdurate | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 25 December – 3 January |
HMS Obedient | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 25 December – 3 January |
HMS Onslow | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 25 December – 3 January |
HMS Oribi | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 25–31 December, separated, sailed independently |
HMS Orwell | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 25 December – 3 January |
Force R
Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Jamaica | Royal Navy | Fiji-class cruiser | 27–31 December, from Kola Inlet |
HMS Sheffield | Royal Navy | Town-class cruiser | 27–31 December, from Kola Inlet |
HMS Matchless | Royal Navy | M-class destroyer | 27–29 December, from Kola Inlet |
HMS Opportune | Royal Navy | O-class destroyer | 27–29 December, from Kola Inlet |
Distant cover
Allied submarines
Name | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HMS Sea Nymph | Royal Navy | S-class submarine | Patrolled vicinity Bear Island |
HMS Taurus | Royal Navy | T-class submarine | Patrolled vicinity Bear Island |
HMS Torbay | Royal Navy | T-class submarine | Patrolled vicinity Bear Island |
ORP Sokół | Polish Navy | U-class submarine | Patrolled vicinity Bear Island |
HMS Trespasser | Royal Navy | T-class submarine | Norway inshore watch |
HMS Seadog | Royal Navy | S-class submarine | Norway inshore watch |
HMS Unruly | Royal Navy | U-class submarine | Norway inshore watch |
HMS Graph | Royal Navy | Type VIIC submarine | Norway inshore watch |
O 14 | Royal Netherlands Navy | O 12-class submarine | Norway inshore watch |
German order of battle
U-boats
Name | Flag | Class | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
U-354 | Kriegsmarine | Type VIIC submarine | |
U-626 | Kriegsmarine | Type VIIC submarine |
Surface force
Ship | Flag | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Admiral Hipper | Kriegsmarine | Admiral Hipper-class cruiser | Sailed 30 December |
Lützow | Kriegsmarine | Deutschland-class cruiser | Sailed 30 December |
Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt | Kriegsmarine | Type 1934A-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Z4 Richard Beitzen | Kriegsmarine | Type 1934-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Z6 Theodor Riedel | Kriegsmarine | Type 1934A-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Z29 | Kriegsmarine | Type 1936A-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Z30 | Kriegsmarine | Type 1936A-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Z31 | Kriegsmarine | Type 1936A-class destroyer | Sailed 30 December |
Footnotes
- ^ Churchill 1950, pp. 231–232.
- ^ a b c d Ruegg & Hague 1993, p. 48.
- ^ Pearson 2007, p. 138.
- ^ a b c Rohwer & Hümmelchen 2005, p. 219.
- ^ Woodman 2004, pp. 313, 316.
- ^ Woodman 2004, p. 316.
References
- Churchill, Winston S. (1950). The Hinge of Fate. The Second World War. Vol. IV. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. OCLC 1035611815.
- Pearson, Michael (2007) [2002]. Red Sky in the Morning: The Battle of the Barents Sea 1942 (repr. ed.). Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84415-452-4.
- Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-257-3.
- Ruegg, R.; Hague, A. (1993) [1992]. Convoys to Russia: Allied Convoys and Naval Surface Operations in Arctic Waters 1941–1945 (2nd rev. enl. ed.). Kendal: World Ship Society. ISBN 0-905617-66-5.
- Woodman, Richard (2004) [1994]. Arctic Convoys 1941–1945. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5752-1.
Further reading
- Blair, Clay (2000) [1999]. Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942–1945. Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35261-6.
- Kemp, Paul (1993). Convoy: Drama in Arctic Waters. London: Arms and Armour. ISBN 978-1-85409-130-7 – via Archive Foundation.
- Kemp, Paul (1997). U-Boats Destroyed, German submarine losses in the World Wars. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-515-3.
- Niestlé, Axel (2014). German U-boat losses During World War II: Details of Destruction (ebook ed.). London: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-4738-3829-1.
- Ross, Alan (1967). "JW 51B: A Convoy (1946)". Poems, 1942–67. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. OCLC 458952.
- Schofield, Bernard (1964). The Russian Convoys. London: BT Batsford. OCLC 906102591 – via Archive Foundation.