Convoy JW 55A
Encyclopedia
Convoy JW 55A was an Arctic convoy
sent from Great Britain
by the Western Allies
to aid the Soviet Union
during World War II
. It sailed in December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
on 12 December 1943.
Close escort was provided by the destroyer Westcott
and two minesweepers.
There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer Milne
(Capt. IMR Campbell commanding) and seven other Home Fleet destroyers.
The convoy was also accompanied initially by a local escort group from Britain, and was also joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk
.
A cruiser cover force comprising Belfast
(V.Adm R Burnett
commanding), Norfolk
, and Sheffield
also followed the convoy, to guard against attack by surface units.
Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship Duke of York
, the cruiser Jamaica and four destroyers under the command of V Adm. Bruce Fraser
.
JW 56A was opposed by a U-boat force of eight boats in a patrol line, code-named Eisenbart, in the Norwegian Sea
.
A surface force comprising the battleship Scharnhorst
and five destroyers was also available, stationed at Altenfjord.
on 12 December 1943, accompanied by its local escort, of two minesweepers and its close escort.
Three days later it was joined by the ocean escort, while the Cruiser Force and Distant Cover Force also put to sea, taking station off Iceland.
The convoy was sighted east of Bear Island by U-386 but no attack developed. The darkness of the polar night
limited any action by German aircraft, and no reconnaissance aircraft found JW 55A during her voyage. Nor did Scharnhorst make any move to sortie against the convoy, though the intense German radio traffic made Fraser wary of the possibility, and his Heavy cover Force accompanied JW 55A all the way to Kola, a risky and highly unusual move.
On 20 December the convoy was met by the eastern local escort, three Soviet destroyers and a British minesweeper.
JW 55A arrived in Murmansk on 22 December without loss or interference.
The German forces in Norway were discomfited by their lack of activity, and took steps to re-inforce their patrol line in the Arctic, against the next Allied convoy.
Close escort
Ocean escort
Cruiser cover force
Distant Cover Force
Surface force
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
sent from Great Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by the Western Allies
Western Allies
The Western Allies were a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It generally includes the United Kingdom and British Commonwealth, the United States, France and various other European and Latin American countries, but excludes China, the Soviet Union,...
to aid the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It sailed in December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
Ships
JW 55A consisted of 19 merchant ships which departed from Loch EweLoch Ewe
Loch Ewe is a sea loch in the region of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement...
on 12 December 1943.
Close escort was provided by the destroyer Westcott
HMS Westcott (D47)
HMS Wescott was a V & W class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Named for Captain George Blagdon Westcott, killed at the Battle of the Nile, the destroyer served in the Second World War and sank two submarines in 1942 .Laid down in 1917 by Denny at Dumbarton, Scotland, Westcott was launched on...
and two minesweepers.
There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer Milne
HMS Milne (G14)
HMS Milne was a M-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which served during World War II.She was built by Scotts, of Greenock, laid down 24 January 1940, launched 30 December 1941 and completed 6 August 1942....
(Capt. IMR Campbell commanding) and seven other Home Fleet destroyers.
The convoy was also accompanied initially by a local escort group from Britain, and was also joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
.
A cruiser cover force comprising Belfast
HMS Belfast (C35)
HMS Belfast is a museum ship, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored in London on the River Thames and operated by the Imperial War Museum....
(V.Adm R Burnett
Robert Burnett
Admiral Sir Robert Lindsay Burnett, GBE, KCB, CStJ, DSO was an officer in the Royal Navy.-Naval career:Educated at Bedford School, Burnett joined the Royal Navy in 1902. He served on the China Station from 1904 and then with the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets from 1908...
commanding), Norfolk
HMS Norfolk (78)
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
, and Sheffield
HMS Sheffield (C24)
HMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town-class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the...
also followed the convoy, to guard against attack by surface units.
Distant cover was provided by a Heavy Cover Force comprising the battleship Duke of York
HMS Duke of York (17)
HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing service during the Second World War.In...
, the cruiser Jamaica and four destroyers under the command of V Adm. Bruce Fraser
Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape
Admiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape GCB, KBE was a senior British admiral during World War II.-Early naval career:Fraser joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 January 1904...
.
JW 56A was opposed by a U-boat force of eight boats in a patrol line, code-named Eisenbart, in the Norwegian Sea
Norwegian Sea
The Norwegian Sea is a marginal sea in the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of Norway. It is located between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea and adjoins the North Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a...
.
A surface force comprising the battleship Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
and five destroyers was also available, stationed at Altenfjord.
Action
JW 55A departed Loch EweLoch Ewe
Loch Ewe is a sea loch in the region of in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notable of which, situated on the north-eastern shore, is the Aultbea settlement...
on 12 December 1943, accompanied by its local escort, of two minesweepers and its close escort.
Three days later it was joined by the ocean escort, while the Cruiser Force and Distant Cover Force also put to sea, taking station off Iceland.
The convoy was sighted east of Bear Island by U-386 but no attack developed. The darkness of the polar night
Polar night
The polar night occurs when the night lasts for more than 24 hours. This occurs only inside the polar circles. The opposite phenomenon, the polar day, or midnight sun, occurs when the sun stays above the horizon for more than 24 hours.-Description:...
limited any action by German aircraft, and no reconnaissance aircraft found JW 55A during her voyage. Nor did Scharnhorst make any move to sortie against the convoy, though the intense German radio traffic made Fraser wary of the possibility, and his Heavy cover Force accompanied JW 55A all the way to Kola, a risky and highly unusual move.
On 20 December the convoy was met by the eastern local escort, three Soviet destroyers and a British minesweeper.
JW 55A arrived in Murmansk on 22 December without loss or interference.
Conclusion
All 19 ships of JW 55A arrived safely, though the presence of Adm. Fraser and his force caused much suspicion among the Soviets.The German forces in Norway were discomfited by their lack of activity, and took steps to re-inforce their patrol line in the Arctic, against the next Allied convoy.
Allied ships
Merchant ships- Collis P Huntington
- Daniel Willard
- Empire Archer
- Empire Pickwick
- Fort Astoria
- Fort Hall
- Fort Missanabie
- Fort Thompson
- George Weems
- James A Farrell
- James Woodrow
- Lapland
- Lewis Emery Jr
- Lucerna
- Philip Livingstone
- San Ambrosia
- Stage Door Canteen
- Thistledale
- Thomas Scott
Close escort
- WestcottHMS Westcott (D47)HMS Wescott was a V & W class destroyer of the British Royal Navy. Named for Captain George Blagdon Westcott, killed at the Battle of the Nile, the destroyer served in the Second World War and sank two submarines in 1942 .Laid down in 1917 by Denny at Dumbarton, Scotland, Westcott was launched on...
- Speedwell
- Acanthus
Ocean escort
- MilneHMS Milne (G14)HMS Milne was a M-class destroyer of the Royal Navy which served during World War II.She was built by Scotts, of Greenock, laid down 24 January 1940, launched 30 December 1941 and completed 6 August 1942....
- MatchlessHMS Matchless (G52)HMS Matchless was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II.-External links:...
- MeteorHMS Meteor (G74)HMS Meteor was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II.-External links:...
- MusketeerHMS Musketeer (G86)HMS Musketeer was a M-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II.-External links:...
- AshantiHMS Ashanti (F51)HMS Ashanti was a Tribal-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships she was named for an ethnic group, in this case the Ashanti people of the Gold Coast in West Africa. She served in the Second World War and was broken up in 1949...
- OpportuneHMS Opportune (G80)HMS Opportune was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was ordered from John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston on 3 September 1939 for the 1st Emergency Flotilla. She was commissioned on 14 August 1942...
- ViragoHMS Virago (R75)HMS Virago was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F76....
- AthabaskanHMCS Athabaskan (G07)HMCS Athabaskan was the first of three destroyers of the Royal Canadian Navy to bear this name. It was a destroyer of the Tribal-class, built in 1940-1941 in the United Kingdom by Vickers Armstrong of Newcastle upon Tyne with Parsons engine works....
Cruiser cover force
- BelfastHMS Belfast (C35)HMS Belfast is a museum ship, originally a Royal Navy light cruiser, permanently moored in London on the River Thames and operated by the Imperial War Museum....
(flag) - NorfolkHMS Norfolk (78)HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
- SheffieldHMS Sheffield (C24)HMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town-class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the...
Distant Cover Force
- Duke of YorkHMS Duke of York (17)HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing service during the Second World War.In...
(flag) - Jamaica
- SaumarezHMS Saumarez (G12)HMS Saumarez was an S class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class...
- Savage
- Scorpion
- Stord
Axis ships
U-boat force- U-277
- U-354
- U-387
- U-601
- U-716German submarine U-716German submarine U-716 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.-Service record:While in the Arctic sea on April 23, 1945, U-716 was hit by depth charges by a hunter-killer group...
- U-957
Surface force
- ScharnhorstGerman battleship ScharnhorstScharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
- Z-29
- Z-30
- Z-33German destroyer Z33Z33 was a German that saw service during World War II. She was commissioned in the Kriegsmarine in February 1943 and served in Norwegian waters until March 1945. She was decommissioned from the Kriegsmarine in late April 1945 but was handed over to the Soviet Union in December that year...
- Z-34
- Z-38