Convoy QP 15 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Convoy QP.15
Part of Second World War
Date 17–30 November 1942 Location Arctic Ocean
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Karl Dönitz	WC Meek (Comm.)
Strength
10 U-boats	32 merchant ships 30 escorts
Casualties and losses
none	2 ships sunk 1 lost in storm

Convoy QP 15 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was one of a series of convoys run to return Allied ships to home ports in the United Kingdom from the northern ports of the Soviet Union.It sailed in November 1942 and was the last convoy in the "QP" series. It was scattered by a storm which sank the Soviet destroyer Sokrushitelny and was attacked by U-boats of the German Navy which sank two of the thirty merchant ships.

Ships

The convoy initially consisted of 31 merchant ships, most of which had arrived with PQ 18. The convoy commodore was Capt. WC Meek RNR in Temple Arch. The close escort comprised four corvettes and an ASW minesweeper. These were joined later by an ocean escort of five destroyers, and five others joined during the voyage. The escort was supplemented by the AA cruiser Ulster Queen and the CAM ship Empire Morn. Distant cover was provided by a force of two cruisers and three destroyers, and submarine patrols were mounted off the Norwegian ports to oppose any sortie by German surface vessels.

QP 15 was opposed by a patrol line (code-named "Boreas") of ten U-boats in the Norwegian Sea, and by German air forces, though the latter were kept at bay by foul weather.

Voyage

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 two Soviet destroyer Baku was badly damaged but managed to limp back to port. A large wave hit Sokrushitelny and tore off her stern. Three Soviet destroyers were sent to assist and manage to rescue 187 crewmen from the Sokrushitelny, which sank on 22 November.

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 Kuznets 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.

Merchant ships

Convoyed ships

Name	Flag	Tonnage (GRT)	Notes
SS Andre Marti	Soviet Union	2,352
SS Belomorcanal	Soviet Union	2,900
SS Charles R. McCormick	United States	6,027
SS Copeland	United Kingdom	1,526	Rescue ship
SS Dan-y-Bryn	United Kingdom	5,117	Vice-Commodore
SS Empire Baffin	United Kingdom	6,978
SS Empire Morn	United Kingdom	7,092	CAM ship
SS Empire Snow	United Kingdom	6,327
SS Empire Tristram	United Kingdom	7,167
SS Esek Hopkins	United States	7,191
SS Goolistan	United Kingdom	5,851	Sunk by U-625 on 23 November
SS Hollywood	United States	5,498
SS Ironclad	United States	5,685
SS Komiles	Soviet Union	3,966
SS Kuznetz Lesov	Soviet Union	3,974	Sunk by U-601 on 23 November
SS Lafayette	United States	5,887
SS Meanticut	United States	6,061
SS Nathanael Greene	United States	7,177
SS Ocean Faith	United Kingdom	7,174
SS Patrick Henry	United States	7,191
SS Petrovski	Soviet Union	3,771
SS Sahale	United States	5,028
SS Schoharie	United States	4,971
SS St. Olaf	United States	7,191
SS Tbilisi	Soviet Union	7,169
SS Temple Arch	United Kingdom	5,138	Convoy Commodore
SS Virginia Dare	United States	7,177
SS White Clover	Panama	5,462
'SS William Moultrie	United States	7,177