Convoy QP 13

The convoy QP 13 was an allied northern sea convoy that was put together in June 1942 in the Soviet Arkhangelsk and Murmansk and traveled largely unloaded via Iceland to Great Britain. The Germans sighted the convoy but did not attack it. A total of six merchant ships with 38,306 GRT and the mine sweeper HMS Niger were lost on a British minefield .

Composition and securing

The HMS Achates was ...

... just like the HMS Intrepid part of the Ocean Escort

Empire Baffin freighter

Convoy QP 13 consisted of twelve cargo ships that left Arkhangelsk ( Lage ) on June 26, 1942 . On June 27, another 24 freighters came from Murmansk ( Lage ). Many freighters came from convoy PQ 16 , which had reached Murmansk in May 1942. The convoy's commodore was Captain NH Gale. Until June 28, the Eastern Local Escort with the Soviet destroyers Grozny , Gremjaschtschi , Kuibyshev and the British minesweepers HMS Bramble , HMS Hazard , HMS Leda and HMS Seagull took over the close protection of the convoy. From June 26th, Ocean Escort also took over with the destroyers HMS Inglefield , HMS Intrepid , HMS Achates , HMS Volunteer and Galland (Polish), the corvettes HMS Honeysuckle , HMS Hyderabad , Roselys (French) and HMS Starwort , the minesweepers HMS Niger and HMS Hussar , the UJ trawlers HMS Lady Madeleine and HMS St Elstan , the submarines HMS Trident and HMS Seawolf and the anti-aircraft ship HMS Alynbank secured everything to Iceland.

Surname	Type	flag	Measurement in GRT	Whereabouts
Alma Ata	freighter	Soviet Union	3611
American Press	freighter	United States	5131
American Robin	freighter	United States	5172
Arkhangelsk	freighter	Soviet Union	2480
Atlantic	freighter	United Kingdom	5414
Budjonni	freighter	Soviet Union	2482
Capira	freighter	Panama	5625
Chulmleigh	freighter	United Kingdom	5445
City of Omaha	freighter	United States	6124
Empire Baffin	freighter	United Kingdom	6978
Empire Mavis	freighter	United Kingdom	5704
Empire Meteor	freighter	United Kingdom	7457
Empire Selwyn	freighter	United Kingdom	7167
Empire Stevenson	freighter	United Kingdom	6209
Exterminator	freighter	Panama	6115	Badly damaged by British mines on July 5th, broken up in port
Heffron	freighter	United States	7611	Sunk by British mines on July 5th
Hegira	freighter	United States	7588
Hybert	freighter	United States	6120	sunk by British mines on July 5th ( Lage )
John Randolph	freighter	United States	7191	Badly damaged by British mines on July 5th, broken up in port
Comiles	freighter	Soviet Union	3962
Kuibyshev	freighter	Soviet Union
Kuzbass	freighter	Soviet Union	3109
Lancaster	freighter	United States	7516
Masmar	freighter	United States	5828	Sunk by British mines on July 5th
Mauna Kea	freighter	United States	6064
Michigan	freighter	United States	6419
Mormacrey	freighter	United States	5946
Mount Evans	freighter	Panama	5598
Nemaha	freighter	United States	6501
Petrovsky	freighter	Soviet Union	3771
Pieter de Hoogh	freighter	Netherlands	7168
Richard Henry Lee	freighter	United States	7191
Rodina	freighter	Soviet Union	4441	Sunk by British mines on July 5th
St Clears	freighter	United Kingdom	4312
Stary Bolshevik	freighter	Soviet Union	3974
Yaka	freighter	United States	5432

course

Although the air reconnaissance had captured the convoy, the Germans did not use any planes, submarines or warships on it. Since the freighters drove mostly empty or with timber loads, the effort did not seem worthwhile, since the fully loaded convoy PQ 17 was traveling in the opposite direction at the same time . On July 5, the convoy got into a British minefield as a result of a storm and heavy fog in the Denmark Strait . This sank the mine sweeper HMS Niger ( Lage ) and the freighters Heffron , Hybert , Massmar and Rodina . In addition, the John Randolph and the Exterminator were so badly damaged that they later had to be scrapped in port. With the loss of six merchant ships with 38,306 GRT, the rest of the convoy ran into Seyðisfjörður ( Lage ) on July 7th .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, June 1942. Accessed on January 9, 2017 . 
2. ^ Arnold Hague: Arnold Hague Convoy Database, QP Convoy Series. Retrieved January 12, 2017 . 

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap