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Convoy QP 13

Convoy QP 13 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was the thirteenth of the numbered series of convoys of merchant ships westbound from the Arctic ports of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk to the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America.

Intrepid was one of five destroyers escorting convoy QP 13.

Ships

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Convoy QP 13 consisted of 35 merchant ships, most of which had arrived with PQ 16. The convoy commodore was Capt. NH Gale RNR in Empire Selwyn. Most of the ships were returning empty after delivering war material to the Soviet Union, but some Soviet ships carried cargoes of export timber. Convoy QP 13 was escorted by five destroyers, Achates, Garland, Inglefield, Intrepid and Volunteer; two ASW minesweepers, Hussar and Niger; and four corvettes Honeysuckle, Hyderabad, Roselys and Starwort: These were supplemented by the anti-aircraft ship Alynbank.[1] The convoy sailed simultaneously with eastbound convoy PQ 17 so both convoys might benefit from the heavy covering force of the British aircraft carrier Victorious, battleship Duke of York, cruisers Cumberland and Nigeria, and destroyers Ashanti, Douglas, Faulknor, Marne, Martin, Onslaught and Onslow with the American battleship USS Washington and destroyers Mayrant and Rhind. The covering force was commanded by Admiral John Tovey aboard the flagship Duke of York.

Voyage

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Convoy QP 13 left Arkhangelsk on 26 June 1942 reinforced by a local escort of Soviet destroyers Gremyashchiy, Grozni and Kuibyshev with British destroyer Tartar and minesweepers Bramble, Hazard, Leda and Seagull. The local escort was replaced on 29 June by an anti-aircraft escort of Hunt class destroyers Blankney, Middleton and Wheatland.[1] On 30 June German air reconnaissance found convoy QP 13 180 miles (290 km) north of North Cape, Norway. U-88 was shadowing the convoy by 2 July; but Admiral Nordmeer Hubert Schmundt ordered German forces to ignore the empty westbound ships and focus on the loaded ships of eastbound convoy PQ 17.[2] The Hunt-class destroyers detached on 4 July when convoy QP 13 was out of range of German bombers.[1]

Convoy QP 13 encountered fog on 5 July 1942. In poor visibility Niger mistook an iceberg for Iceland’s North Western Cape and six merchant ships followed her into Northern Barrage minefield SN72 laid one month earlier at the entrance to the Denmark Strait.[3] All seven ships detonated naval mines, and there were only eight survivors of the 127 men aboard Niger. Only Exterminator could be salvaged. No crewmen were lost from Exterminator, Hybert and Rodina;[4] but one crewman died abandoning Hefron, five drowned when John Randolph broke in two, and Massmar sank with 17 merchant seamen, 5 Naval Armed Guards, and 26 survivors she was carrying from the sinking of Alamar in convoy PQ 16.[5]

Surviving ships destined for Reykjavík were escorted into port on 7 July by a local escort of naval trawlers Saint Elstan and Lady Madeleine.[1]

Ships involved

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Merchant ships in Convoy QP 13[1]
Ship Tonnage (GRT) Flag Notes
Alma Ata 3,611   Soviet Union timber cargo
American Press 5,131   United States  
American Robin 5,172   United States  
Archangle 2,480   Soviet Union timber cargo
Atlantic 5,414   United Kingdom  
Budenni 2,482   Soviet Union timber cargo
Capira 5,625   Panama  
Chumleigh 5,445   United Kingdom  
City of Omaha 6,124   United States  
SS Empire Baffin 6,978   United Kingdom  
Empire Mavis 5,704   United Kingdom  
Empire Meteor 7,457   United Kingdom  
Empire Selwyn 7,167   United Kingdom Convoy Commodore's ship
Empire Stevenson 6,209   United Kingdom general cargo with lumber
Exterminator 6,115   Panama Damaged by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
Heffron 7,611   United States Sunk by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
Hegira 7,588   United States  
Hybert 6,120   United States Sunk by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
John Randolph 7,191   United States Liberty ship; sunk by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
Komiles 3,962   Soviet Union timber cargo
Kuzbass 3,109   Soviet Union  
Lancaster 7,516   United States  
Massmar 5,828   United States Sunk by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
Mauna Kea 6,064   United States  
Michigan 6,419   Panama  
Mormacrey 5,946   United States  
Mount Evans 5,598   Panama  
Nemaha 6,501   United States  
Petrovski 3,771   Soviet Union timber cargo
Pieter de Hoogh 7,168   Netherlands  
Richard Henry Lee 7,191   United States Liberty ship
Rodina 4,441   Soviet Union Sunk by British Northern Barrage minefield SN72
St. Clears 4,312   United Kingdom  
Stary Bolshevik 3,974   Soviet Union  
Yaka 5,432   United States  

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Convoy QP.13". Convoy Web. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. ^ Irving, David (1968). The Destruction of Convoy PQ.17. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 31 & 61.
  3. ^ "Mines and Mine Laying in Iceland WWII". Icelandic Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  4. ^ Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 190. ISBN 1-55750-019-3.
  5. ^ Cressman, Robert J. (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 108. ISBN 1-55750-149-1.

Further reading

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