HMS Forester (H74) - Service History - Russian Convoys, 1942

Russian Convoys, 1942

Forester returned to duty on 11 April 1942, when she formed part of the escort to Russian Convoy PQ 14 to Murmansk. On the 18th she was detached from PQ 14 to intercept a possible attack by German destroyers based at Kirkenes. In the event, the Germans were forced back by bad weather. On the 28th Forester joined the escort of returning convoy QP 11, and two days later, when the cruiser Edinburgh was torpedoed, she assisted in attempts to save her. On 1 May the crippled cruiser and its escorts were attacked by the German destroyers Z24, Z25 and Z7 Hermann Schoemann. Forester attempted to attack Z25 with torpedoes, but was hit by shells and disabled. Twelve crewmen were killed, including the captain, and nine were wounded. The next day Edinburgh was sunk by Foresight. Forester limped back to Murmansk to make temporary repairs to allow her to return to the UK. She sailed on the 13th with the destroyers Foresight, Somali and Matchless as escort to the cruiser Trinidad, which had also suffered damage in the action with the German destroyers. The next day the ships came under heavy air attack, and Trinidad sustained further damage. Forester took off the wounded and other survivors, and Trinidad was sunk by Matchless. Forester arrived at Scapa Flow on the 18th and immediately took passage to a shipyard on the Tyne for repairs. In October Forester rejoined the Flotilla for further deployment with Russian convoys. In April 1943 she was refitted at Leith, and additional close range AA armament was installed.