Convoy PQ 17 - Background

Background

With the entry of the Soviet Union in the war, the British and American governments agreed to send unconditional aid to their Russian allies. The Beaverbrook-Harriman Anglo-American Mission visited Moscow in October 1941, agreeing to a series of munitions deliveries to Russia. The most direct way to carry these supplies was by sea around the North Cape, through Arctic waters to the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The agreement stated that the Soviet government was responsible for receiving the supplies in Soviet ships at British or American ports. However since there were not enough ships for the quantities of aid being sent by the Western allies to the Soviet Union, British and American ships began to constitute an increasing proportion of the convoy traffic.

Although the defence of the Arctic convoys was the responsibility of the Royal Navy, Fleet Admiral Ernest King assigned Task Force 39 (TF 39) — built around the carrier USS Wasp and the battleship USS Washington — to support the British.

The first convoy sailed from the United Kingdom in August 1941, two months after the German invasion of The Soviet Union. By the spring of 1942, 12 more convoys had made the passage with the loss of only one out of 103 ships. From then on, the threat of attacks on the convoys increased, with the Germans preparing to stop the flow of supplies to the USSR with every means at their disposal, including the basing of heavy ships in Norway. In 1941, the Kriegsmarine had already begun concentrating its strength in Norway in winter, both to prevent a repeated British attack, and to obstruct Allied supply lines to The Soviet Union. The battleship Tirpitz was moved to Trondheim in January, where she was joined by Admiral Scheer and in March by the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. Initial German dispositions had also directed battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen to concentrate in Arctic waters, but these all fell victim to Allied air attacks, and had to turn back for repairs. Moreover, the Germans had bases along the length of Norway, which meant, until escort carriers became available, Allied convoys had to be sailed through these areas without adequate defense against aircraft and submarine attack.