Convoy QP 15

Convoy QP 15 was one of the Arctic convoys of World War II the last of the QP series from northern Russia to Britain which ran during the Second World War to return Allied ships to home ports. The convoy sailed from the Kola Inlet on 17 November 1942. It was scattered by a storm in which the Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny was hit from behind by a big wave and foundered after two days' rescue attempts. The convoy was attacked by U-boats of the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) that sank two of the merchant ships. The convoy reached its destination at Loch Ewe on 30 November 1942.

The convoy initially consisted of 31 merchant ships, most of which had arrived with Convoy PQ 18 and were returning empty. The convoy commodore was Captain W C. Meek RNR in Temple Arch, the vice-convoy commodore was in DanY-Bryn, Copeland was a rescue ship and Empire Morn was a CAM ship.^[1] The close escort comprised four Halcyon-class minesweepers HMS Britomart, Halcyon, Hazard and Sharpshooter. From 18 to 20 November the Leningrad-class destroyer leader Baku and the Gnevny-class destroyer Sokrushitelny accompanied the convoy. The ocean escort from 17 to 30 November comprised the Flower-class corvettes HMS Bergamot, Bluebell, Bryony and Camellia and the Halcyon-class minesweeper HMS Salamander.^[2]

From 20 to 26 November the destroyers HMS Faulknor, Intrepid, Icarus and Impulsive escorted the convoy, HMS Echo from 20 to 22 November, with HMS Musketeer and Orwell from 23 to 30 November. The Hunt-class destroyers HMS Ledbury and Middleton participated in the escort from 22 to 30 November and HMS Oakley from 23 to 30 November. The escort was supplemented by the AA cruiser MV Ulster Queen from 17 to 24 November, when it left to refuel. Distant cover was provided by HMS London and Suffolk screened by the destroyers HMS Forester, Obdurate and Onslaught to the west of Bear Island. Submarine patrols were mounted off Altenfjord by HMS Trespasser, HMS Seadog, Junon and HNoMS Uredd to oppose a sortie by German surface vessels.^[2]

Convoy QP 15 was opposed by a patrol line of the Wolfpack gruppe Boreas (god of the north wind) comprising ten U-boats in the Norwegian Sea, and by the Luftwaffe, though much of the latter was grounded by the foul weather.^[1]

The convoy set out from Archangel on 17 November 1942, accompanied by the local escort of four minesweepers, and were joined the following day by two Soviet destroyers. Two ships grounded after leaving harbour, and had to be left behind. They were refloated and returned to port. On 20 November the convoy was joined by its ocean escort of five destroyers. Also on 20 November a gale sprang up and scattered the convoy and damaged several ships, including the two Soviet destroyers. The Soviet destroyer Baku was badly damaged but managed to limp back to port. A large wave hit Sokrushitelny and broke her back, severing her stern. Three Soviet destroyers were sent to assist and manage to rescue 187 crewmen from the Sokrushitelny, which sank on 22 November.^[3] On 23 November, the U-boat U-625 attacked and sank the British freighter Goolistan. Later in the day, U-601 fired a spread of torpedoes at the Soviet freighter Kuznetz Lesov, one of which struck and sank her; both ships were lost with all hands. The convoy arrived at Loch Ewe on 30 November 1942.^[2]

• Blair, Clay (1996). Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunters 1939–42. Vol. I. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35260-8.
• Kemp, Paul (1993). Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-130-1 – via Archive Foundation.
• Walling, Michael G. (20 October 2012). Forgotten Sacrifice: The Arctic Convoys of World War II. Oxford: Osprey. ISBN 978-1-84908-718-6.