Convoy JW 55B
Encyclopedia
Convoy JW 55B was an Arctic convoy
sent from Great Britain
by the Western Allies
to aid the Soviet Union
during World War II
. It sailed in late December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
During the voyage JW 55B was attacked by a German
force centred on the battleship Scharnhorst; no contact was made with the convoy, but Scharnhorst was sunk, in the Battle of the North Cape, by and a handful of Royal Navy
light surface combatants.
on 22 December 1943.
Close escort was provided by a force of two destroyers and three other escort vessels. There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer Onslow
(Capt.JA McCoy 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 the ocean escort of convoy JW 55A, out of 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 55B was opposed by a U-boat force of thirteen boats in a patrol line, code-named Eisenbart, in the Norwegian Sea
.
A surface force comprising the battleship Scharnhorst
and five destroyers was also in readiness, stationed at Altenfjord.
on 20 December 1943, accompanied by its local escort, of two minesweepers and two corvettes, and its close escort.
Two days later, on 22 December, it was joined by the ocean escort, while the local escort departed. At the same time the Cruiser Force, from Murmansk, and the Distant Cover Force, waiting at Akureyri
, in Iceland
, also put to sea, taking station in the Norwegian Sea
.
Also on 22 December the convoy was sighted by a patrolling German aircraft, which commenced shadowing; a succession of aircraft were able to maintain contact over the next few days, sending accurate reports of course and speed to the surface force at Altenfjord.
On 25 December the convoy was also sighted by U-601, an Eisenbart boat, and later that day Adm. Bey, in Scharnhorst, received permission to sortie with his force. That evening U-716 came close enough to fire on one of the escorts, and U-701 was depth-charged.
Also on 25 December JW 55B was joined by the ocean escort of JW 55A, which was accompanying the returning convoy RA 55A. Fraser was concerned that a German surface force would reach JW 55B before he would, and ordered the convoy to reverse course. In the event this proved too difficult, but the convoy was slowed to 8 knots in order to assist the meeting.
Scharnhorst was unable to make contact with JW 55B, but on 26 December was intercepted, first by Burnett’s cruisers, then by Fraser’s heavy units, and sunk, in the Battle of the North Cape, only staying afloat long enough to score two minor hits on both Duke of York and destroyer .
Meanwhile contact by the U-boats had been lost, and no further contact with JW 55B was made by the Eisenbart wolf-pack.
On 28 December the convoy was met by the eastern local escort force, three Soviet destroyers and two minesweepers, and arrived at Kola without further incident on 30 December 1943.
was returned to active service, the Allied Arctic convoys were under no serious threat from the German Navy's surface forces.
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 late December 1943, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month. All ships arrived safely.
During the voyage JW 55B was attacked by a German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
force centred on the battleship Scharnhorst; no contact was made with the convoy, but Scharnhorst was sunk, in the Battle of the North Cape, by and a handful of Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
light surface combatants.
Ships
The convoy 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 22 December 1943.
Close escort was provided by a force of two destroyers and three other escort vessels. There was also an Ocean escort, comprising the destroyer Onslow
HMS Onslow (G17)
HMS Onslow was an O-class destroyer flotilla leader of the Royal Navy She was ordered from John Brown & Company at Clydebank, Glasgow on 3 September 1939. The ship was laid down on 1 July 1940 and launched on 31 March 1941. She was completed on 8 October 1941 at a cost of £416,942.Attached to the...
(Capt.JA McCoy 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 the ocean escort of convoy JW 55A, out of Murmansk.
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 55B was opposed by a U-boat force of thirteen 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 in readiness, stationed at Altenfjord.
Action
JW 55B 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 20 December 1943, accompanied by its local escort, of two minesweepers and two corvettes, and its close escort.
Two days later, on 22 December, it was joined by the ocean escort, while the local escort departed. At the same time the Cruiser Force, from Murmansk, and the Distant Cover Force, waiting at Akureyri
Akureyri
Akureyri is a town in northern Iceland. It is Iceland's second largest urban area and fourth largest municipality ....
, in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, also put to sea, taking station 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...
.
Also on 22 December the convoy was sighted by a patrolling German aircraft, which commenced shadowing; a succession of aircraft were able to maintain contact over the next few days, sending accurate reports of course and speed to the surface force at Altenfjord.
On 25 December the convoy was also sighted by U-601, an Eisenbart boat, and later that day Adm. Bey, in Scharnhorst, received permission to sortie with his force. That evening U-716 came close enough to fire on one of the escorts, and U-701 was depth-charged.
Also on 25 December JW 55B was joined by the ocean escort of JW 55A, which was accompanying the returning convoy RA 55A. Fraser was concerned that a German surface force would reach JW 55B before he would, and ordered the convoy to reverse course. In the event this proved too difficult, but the convoy was slowed to 8 knots in order to assist the meeting.
Scharnhorst was unable to make contact with JW 55B, but on 26 December was intercepted, first by Burnett’s cruisers, then by Fraser’s heavy units, and sunk, in the Battle of the North Cape, only staying afloat long enough to score two minor hits on both Duke of York and destroyer .
Meanwhile contact by the U-boats had been lost, and no further contact with JW 55B was made by the Eisenbart wolf-pack.
On 28 December the convoy was met by the eastern local escort force, three Soviet destroyers and two minesweepers, and arrived at Kola without further incident on 30 December 1943.
Conclusion
The 19 ships of JW 55B arrived at Murmansk without loss, while the German attempt to attack the convoy had led to the loss of their last operational capital ship in Norway. Thereafter, until TirpitzGerman battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
was returned to active service, the Allied Arctic convoys were under no serious threat from the German Navy's surface forces.
Allied ships
Merchant ships- Bernard N Baker
- British Statesman
- Brockholst Livingston
- Cardinal Gibbons
- Fort Kullyspell (Comm)
- Fort Nakasley
- Fort Vercheres
- Harold L Winslow
- John J Abel
- John Vining
- John Wanamaker
- Norlys
- Ocean Gypsy
- Ocean Messenger
- Ocean Pride
- Ocean Valour
- Ocean Viceroy
- Thomas U Walter
- Will Rogers
Close escort
- Whitehall
- WrestlerHMS Wrestler (1918)HMS Wrestler was a W class destroyer launched by the Royal Navy in the latter stages of the First World War and active from 1939 to 1944 during the Second World War. She was the first Royal Navy ship to bear that name, and the only one to do so to date.-Construction:She was the tenth order in the...
- Gleaner
- Honeysuckle
- Oxlip
Ocean escort
- OnslowHMS Onslow (G17)HMS Onslow was an O-class destroyer flotilla leader of the Royal Navy She was ordered from John Brown & Company at Clydebank, Glasgow on 3 September 1939. The ship was laid down on 1 July 1940 and launched on 31 March 1941. She was completed on 8 October 1941 at a cost of £416,942.Attached to the...
- Onslaught
- OrwellHMS Orwell (G98)HMS Orwell was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that entered service in 1942. She saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea, and was involved in convoy escort duties during the Battle of North Cape. In 1952 she was converted to a Type 16 frigate and was broken-up in June 1965....
- ImpulsiveHMS Impulsive (D11)HMS Impulsive was an I-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She has been the only ship of the Navy to bear this name....
- ScourgeHMS Scourge (G01)HMS Scourge was an S-class destroyer. She was built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead and launched on 8 December 1942.She was at sea during the Battle of North Cape in 1943, escorting the Russia-bound Arctic convoy JW 55B. She took no part in the fighting.She was sold to the Royal Netherlands Navy on 1...
- HaidaHMCS Haida (G63)HMCS Haida is a Tribal-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1943-1963.Haida sank more enemy surface tonnage than any other Canadian warship...
- HuronHMCS Huron (G24)HMCS Huron G24/216 was a Tribal class destroyer built by Vickers-Armstrongs on the River Tyne in England, and served in the Royal Canadian Navy. It was the first ship to bear this name...
- IroquoisHMCS Iroquois (G89)-External links:** at Haze Gray and Underway*...
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-314
- 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