Convoy QP 14

The convoy QP 14 was an allied northern sea convoy , which was put together in Soviet Arkhangelsk in September 1942 and traveled largely unloaded via Iceland to Great Britain. He lost four merchant ships with 20,769 GRT and two security ships to German submarines.

Composition and securing

Destroyer HMS Somali was sunk by U 703

The Rathlin acted as a rescue ship

The Empire Tide , here equipped with a catapult plane

The convoy QP 14 consisted of 18 cargo ships. On September 13, 1942, they left the Soviet Arkhangelsk ( Lage ) for Iceland. The convoy's commodore was Captain Jack CK Dowding, who had previously been the commodore of the unfortunate convoy PQ 17 and who had now embarked on the Ocean Voice . The Eastern Local Escort took over with the Soviet destroyers Kuibyshev and Uritski , the British destroyers HMS Blankney and HMS Middleton , the mine sweepers HMS Britomart , HMS Bramble , HMS Halcyon , HMS Hazard , HMS Leda , HMS Salamander and HMS Seagull , the UJ trawlers HMS Ayrshire , HMS Lord Austin , HMS Lord Middleton and HMS Northern Gem , the anti-aircraft ships HMS Alynbank , HMS Palomares and HMS Pozarica as well as the corvettes HMS Dianella , HMS La Malouine , HMS Lotus and HMS Poppy provide close protection for the convoy. When the QP 14 and the PQ 18 passed each other , they swapped the respective security groups. PQ 18 drove further east with the Eastern Local Escort and QP 14 continued west with the Ocean Escort.

Surname	Type	flag	Measurement in GRT	Whereabouts
Alcoa banner	freighter	United States	5035
Bellingham	freighter	United States	5345	sunk by U 435 on September 22nd ( Lage )
Benjamin Harrison	freighter	United States	2191
Black Ranger	freighter	United Kingdom	3417
Deer Lodge	freighter	United States	6187
Empire tide	freighter	United Kingdom	6978
Gray Ranger	Tanker	United Kingdom	3313	sunk by U 435 on September 22nd ( Lage )
Harmatris	freighter	United Kingdom	5395
Minotaur	freighter	United States	4554
Ocean Freedom	freighter	United Kingdom	7173
Ocean Voice	freighter	United Kingdom	7174	sunk by U 435 on September 22nd ( Lage )
Oligarch	freighter	United Kingdom	6894
Rathlin	Rescue ship	United Kingdom	1600
Samuel Chase	freighter	United States	7191
Silver Sword	freighter	United States	4937	sunk by U 255 on September 20th
Tobruk	freighter	Poland	7048
Troubador	freighter	Panama	6428
West Nilus	freighter	United States	5495
Winston-Salem	freighter	United States	6223
Zamalek	Rescue ship	United Kingdom	1567

course

From September 20, 1942, the German submarines U 251 , U 255 , U 403 , U 408 , U 435 , U 592 and U 703 , combined in the submarine group Trägerertod, were in the convoy. U 435 sank the minesweeper HMS Leda first . Then U 255 torpedoed the freighter Silver Sword (4937 GRT), so that it also sank. U 703 severely damaged the destroyer HMS Somali ( Lage ). He sank ( lay ) in the tow of the sister ship HMS Ashanti on September 24th. On September 22nd, U 435 attacked again and sank the freighters Bellingham (5345 BRT) and Ocean Voice (7174 BRT) as well as the tanker Gray Ranger (3313 BRT). A Catalina of the 210th Sqn RAF was badly damaged by U 255 depth charges . On September 26, the QP 14 reached the Scottish Loch Ewe ( location ). He lost four merchant ships with 20,769 GRT and two security ships.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronicle of the Sea War 1939–1945, September 1942. Retrieved on January 9, 2017 . 
2. ^ Arnold Hague: Arnold Hague Convoy Database, QP Convoy Series. Retrieved January 12, 2017 . 

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap