Operation FB
The operation FB was a maritime company of the Allies in World War II for the supply of war-important goods in the Soviet Union . Contrary to the previous deliveries, which were organized in northern sea convoys , from November 1942 to January 1943 individual cargo ships drove the route from Icelandic Reykjavík to Soviet Murmansk and Arkhangelsk as solo drivers . In total, the Allies lost eight freighters with 46,874 GRT, while a submarine sank on the German side.
Starting position
After the previous convoys PQ 17 , PQ 18 and QP 14 had suffered heavy losses, the British wanted to stop deliveries via the northern sea convoys route. In addition, because of the approaching Operation Torch, no large warships were available to cover the convoys. In this situation, the British decided, also at Soviet insistence, to let cargo ships travel the dangerous route as single drivers.
course
From October 29th, 13 cargo ships ran east from Reykjavík ( Lage ), each 200 nautical miles apart. In the opposite direction from Murmansk ( Lage ), 23 individual drivers headed west. In order to offer the ships at least minimal protection, the submarine trawlers HMS Cape Palliser , HMS Northern Pride , HMS Northern Spray , HMS St. Elstan , HMS Cape Argona , HMS Cape Mariano and HMS St. Kennan were set up along the route . On November 2, U 586 captured the Empire Gilbert (6640 GRT) and sank her. On November 4th, planes of the Coastal Aviation Group 406 noticed the first single drivers. Thereupon I. Gruppe / Kampfgeschwader 30 flew their first attack and sank the Dekabrist (7363 GRT). The II./KG 30 damaged two freighters, of which the William Clark (7176 GRT) was finally sunk by U 354 and the Chulmleigh (5445 GRT) was set aground in Svalbard after another bomb hit on November 5th. On November 16, U 625 destroyed her for good with a torpedo. On November 6, a Catalina sank U 408 north of Iceland . After it had been found that the freighters were operating as a lone driver, the Navy also deployed the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper with the 5th destroyer flotilla with Z 27 , Z 30 , Friedrich Eckoldt and Richard Beitzen . On 7 November, the Hipper's aircraft caught the Donbas tanker traveling eastwards , which was subsequently sunk by Z 27 .
Surname | Type | flag | Measurement in GRT | Whereabouts |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aldan | freighter | Soviet Union | 2161 | |
Andre Marti | freighter | Soviet Union | 2352 | |
Azerbaijan | freighter | Soviet Union | 6114 | |
Briarwood | freighter | United Kingdom | 4019 | returned to Iceland |
Bureja | freighter | Soviet Union | 273 | |
Chernyshevsky | freighter | Soviet Union | 3588 | |
Chulmleigh | freighter | United Kingdom | 5445 | Damaged and aground on November 4th by II./KG 30, destroyed by U 625 on November 16th |
Daldorch | freighter | United Kingdom | 5571 | returned to Iceland |
Decembrist | freighter | Soviet Union | 7363 | sunk on November 4th by I./KG 30 |
Donbass | Tanker | Soviet Union | 7925 | sunk by Z 27 on November 7th ( location ) |
Dvina | freighter | Soviet Union | 1773 | |
Empire Galliard | freighter | United Kingdom | 7200 | |
Empire Gilbert | freighter | United Kingdom | 6640 | sunk by U 586 on November 2nd ( Lage ) |
Empire Scott | freighter | United Kingdom | 6640 | |
Empire Sky | freighter | United Kingdom | 7455 | sunk by U 625 on November 6th ( Lage ) |
Hugh Williamson | freighter | United States | 7177 | |
John HB Latrobe | freighter | United States | 7191 | returned to Iceland |
John Walker | freighter | United States | 7191 | |
Kara | freighter | Soviet Union | 2325 | |
Komsomolets Artiki | freighter | Soviet Union | 3450 | |
Krasnyj partisan | freighter | Soviet Union | 2418 | sunk by U 255 on January 26th ( Lage ) |
Kuzbass | freighter | Soviet Union | 3109 | |
Leonid Krasin | freighter | Soviet Union | 1840 | |
Mossoviet | freighter | Soviet Union | 2981 | |
Msta | freighter | Soviet Union | 1984 | |
If | freighter | Soviet Union | 2198 | |
Ochta | freighter | Soviet Union | 1357 | |
Osmussaar | freighter | Soviet Union | 2229 | |
jacket | freighter | Soviet Union | 2363 | |
Sheksna | freighter | Soviet Union | 2242 | |
Shilka | freighter | Soviet Union | 1388 | |
Soroka | freighter | Soviet Union | 1718 | |
Ufa | freighter | Soviet Union | 1892 | sunk by U 255 on January 29th ( Lage ) |
Uritsky | freighter | Soviet Union | 2336 | |
Vanzetti | freighter | Soviet Union | 2363 | |
Wetluga | freighter | Soviet Union | 1717 | |
William Clark | freighter | United States | 7176 | sunk by U 354 on November 4th ( Lage ) |
Conclusion
Of the 14 Allied ships that sailed eastwards, the Germans sank seven with 38,949 GRT. Three more had to turn back for different reasons. Only one tanker with 7,925 GRT was sunk of the 23 single riders traveling westward. A total of eight out of 37 freighters with 46,874 GRT were lost. As a result, the convoy procedure was reverted to.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Jürgen Rohwer , Gerhard Hümmelchen : Chronik des Maritime War 1939–1945, November 1942. Retrieved on January 9, 2017 .
- ^ Arnold Hague Convoy Database , accessed August 15, 2013.