Convoy PQ 13 - Action

Action

The convoy sailed from Loch Ewe in Scotland on 10 March 1942 and arrived in Reykjavík on the 16th March, 1942. After dropping out a contingent of three ships, bound from Loch Ewe to Reykjavík only, and the first stage escort, and collecting a further three bound from Reykjavík to Murmansk and the close escort for the voyage, PQ 13 left Reykjavík on the 20th March, 1942.

The voyage was uneventful until 24 March, when the convoy was struck by a violent four day storm, which left the convoy scattered and in disarray. The ships were dispersed over a distance of 150 miles. Over the next few days the ships coalesced into two groups, of eight and four, with four others proceeding independently.

On 28 March the ships were sighted by German aircraft, and attacked. Two ships were sunk, Raceland and Empire Ranger. Also on the 28th a German force of three Narvik class destroyers, Z24, Z25 and Z26, under the command of KzS G Ponitz, sortied from Kirkenes. They intercepted Bateau, which was sunk, in the evening of 28/29 March, before falling in with Trinidad and Fury in the early hours of 29 March. Z26 was badly damaged by HMS Trinidad, sinking later, but in the course of the action Trinidad was hit by her own torpedo (the torpedo's gyroscope froze). The remaining German ships broke of the action, and Trinidad, escorted by Fury and Eclipse, limped into Kola Inlet, arriving midday on 30 March.

In the meanwhile the ships of PQ 13 came under U-boat attack. Two ships were found and sunk by U-boats, Induna by U-376, and Effingham by U-435. Fury attacked an asdic contact and was credited with the destruction of U-585; however post-war analysis found that U-585 was lost elsewhere.

By 30 March most ships had arrived at Murmansk; the last stragglers came in on 1 April. 6 ships were lost in this convoy. The Germans sank five freighters. One whaler, (HMS Sulla), was lost, probably due to heavy icing, and the cruiser, Trinidad, was damaged. Against this one German destroyer had been sunk. Fourteen ships had arrived safely, more than two-thirds of the convoy.