Convoy JW 58
Encyclopedia
Convoy JW 58 was an Arctic convoy
sent from Great Britain
by the Western Allies
to aid the Soviet Union
during World War II
. It sailed in March 1944, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early April. All ships arrived safely.
JW 58 was attacked by German
U-boat
and air forces, but suffered no losses. Three U-boats were destroyed in counter-measures, and six aircraft shot down, during these operations.
on 27 March 1944. It also included the US cruiser Milwaukee
, which was being transferred to the Soviet navy as part of an agreement over the disposal of the surrendered Italian fleet.
The convoy was joined from Iceland by three more ships en route from North America.
Close escort was provided by a force led by Lt.Cdr Lambton in the destroyer Westcott
. The force comprised two other destroyers and three corvettes. The force was supported by two escort carriers, Activity and Tracker
, which travelled with the convoy, and an "Ocean escort" of 17 fleet destroyers led by R.Adm. F. Dalrymple-Hamilton
in the cruiser Diadem
. In addition, JW 58 was joined by the 2nd Support Group, the RN's most successful anti-submarine warfare group. These were five sloops led by Capt. FJ Walker
, in Starling
. The convoy was accompanied initially by local escort groups from Britain and Iceland, and joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk.
Distant cover was provide by ships of the Home Fleet which were engaged in Operation Tungsten
, an air strike against the German battleship Tirpitz
anchored in Alta fjord. These were the battleships Duke of York
and Anson, the carrier Victorious
, cruiser Belfast
, and six destroyers under the command of V Adm. Bruce Fraser
.
Ranged against this force were the U-boats of the German arctic flotilla, 16 U-boats forming the patrol lines Blitz, Hammer and Thor.
German surface forces and air forces were much diminished at this stage of the conflict; Tirpitz was still not operational after damage inflcted by the British X-craft attack (Operation Source
), while the German air force was reduced to scouting and shadowing operations.
on 27 March 1944, accompanied by its local escort, the minesweeper Rattlesnake and two others, with two corvettes; On 29 March it met Iceland contingent with its escort, the frigate Fitzroy and two A/S minesweepers.
These were relieved by the Close escort and Ocean escort forces, and returned to base.
Later during 29 March Starling encountered U-961 in the Norwegian Sea
. U-961 was not part of the Arctic flotilla's patrol lines but on passage to North Atlantic; she was unfortunate enough to encounter the RN force, was depth-charged, and destroyed by Starling and Magpie of 2 SG.
On 31 March JW 58 met first patrol line. Over the next 48 hours the U boat force mounted 18 attacks on the convoy. No ships were hit, but three U-boats were destroyed.
On 31 March the U-boats mounted their first attacks; they had no success but U-355 was destroyed by Beagle
and aircraft from Tracker.
On 2 April in another encounter Keppel destroyed U-360 in a hedgehog
attack.
On 3 April a Swordfish
from Activity attacked U-288 and, with help from a Marlet and Avenger team from Tracker, destroyed her.
On 3 April also JW 58 was joined by the eastern local escort, four Soviet destroyers , and on 4 April arrived at Kola without further incident.
JW 58 was last Arctic convoy for several months. The sequence was discontinued during summer 1944 as all naval forces were required for Operation Neptune
, the cover for the Normandy landings. It re-commenced in August 1944 with JW 59.
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 March 1944, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early April. All ships arrived safely.
JW 58 was attacked by 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...
U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
and air forces, but suffered no losses. Three U-boats were destroyed in counter-measures, and six aircraft shot down, during these operations.
Ships
The convoy consisted of 47 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 27 March 1944. It also included the US cruiser Milwaukee
USS Milwaukee (CL-5)
thumb|300px|right|Launching of MilwaukeeUSS Milwaukee was an Omaha-class light cruiser in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
, which was being transferred to the Soviet navy as part of an agreement over the disposal of the surrendered Italian fleet.
The convoy was joined from Iceland by three more ships en route from North America.
Close escort was provided by a force led by Lt.Cdr Lambton in 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...
. The force comprised two other destroyers and three corvettes. The force was supported by two escort carriers, Activity and Tracker
HMS Tracker (D24)
|...
, which travelled with the convoy, and an "Ocean escort" of 17 fleet destroyers led by R.Adm. F. Dalrymple-Hamilton
Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton
Admiral Sir Frederick Hew George Dalrymple-Hamilton KCB was a British naval officer who served in World War I and World War II.-Naval career:...
in the cruiser Diadem
HMS Diadem (84)
HMS Diadem was a Dido-class light cruiser of the Bellona subgroup of the Royal Navy. She was a modified Dido design with only four turrets but improved AA armament - aka Dido Group 2. She was built by R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Limited , UK), with the keel being laid down on 15...
. In addition, JW 58 was joined by the 2nd Support Group, the RN's most successful anti-submarine warfare group. These were five sloops led by Capt. FJ Walker
Frederic John Walker
Captain Frederic John Walker, CB, DSO and three Bars, RN was a British Royal Navy officer noted for his exploits during World War II...
, in Starling
HMS Starling (U66)
HMS Starling was a Modified Black Swan-class sloop of the Royal Navy. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland, launched on 14 October 1942, and commissioned on 1 April 1943....
. The convoy was accompanied initially by local escort groups from Britain and Iceland, and joined later by a local escort group from Murmansk.
Distant cover was provide by ships of the Home Fleet which were engaged in Operation Tungsten
Operation Tungsten
Operation Tungsten was a British naval operation during World War II. it was one of a number of aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz while she was in Norwegian waters...
, an air strike against the German battleship Tirpitz
German 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...
anchored in Alta fjord. These were the battleships 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...
and Anson, the carrier Victorious
HMS Victorious (R38)
HMS Victorious was the second Illustrious-class aircraft carrier ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme. She was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939...
, cruiser 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....
, and six 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...
.
Ranged against this force were the U-boats of the German arctic flotilla, 16 U-boats forming the patrol lines Blitz, Hammer and Thor.
German surface forces and air forces were much diminished at this stage of the conflict; Tirpitz was still not operational after damage inflcted by the British X-craft attack (Operation Source
Operation Source
Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines....
), while the German air force was reduced to scouting and shadowing operations.
Action
JW 58 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 27 March 1944, accompanied by its local escort, the minesweeper Rattlesnake and two others, with two corvettes; On 29 March it met Iceland contingent with its escort, the frigate Fitzroy and two A/S minesweepers.
These were relieved by the Close escort and Ocean escort forces, and returned to base.
Later during 29 March Starling encountered U-961 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...
. U-961 was not part of the Arctic flotilla's patrol lines but on passage to North Atlantic; she was unfortunate enough to encounter the RN force, was depth-charged, and destroyed by Starling and Magpie of 2 SG.
On 31 March JW 58 met first patrol line. Over the next 48 hours the U boat force mounted 18 attacks on the convoy. No ships were hit, but three U-boats were destroyed.
On 31 March the U-boats mounted their first attacks; they had no success but U-355 was destroyed by Beagle
HMS Beagle (H30)
HMS Beagle was a of the British Royal Navy that saw extensive service throughout World War II; in Norway, the Atlantic, North Africa, on Russian Convoys, and in the Normandy landings.-Construction:...
and aircraft from Tracker.
On 2 April in another encounter Keppel destroyed U-360 in a hedgehog
Hedgehog (weapon)
The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...
attack.
On 3 April a Swordfish
Fairey Swordfish
The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...
from Activity attacked U-288 and, with help from a Marlet and Avenger team from Tracker, destroyed her.
On 3 April also JW 58 was joined by the eastern local escort, four Soviet destroyers , and on 4 April arrived at Kola without further incident.
Conclusion
With the safe arrival of so many ships, and the destruction of three U-boats, plus a fourth incidental kill, and six shadowing aircraft, JW 58 was one of the most successful Arctic convoys run by the Allies during World War II.JW 58 was last Arctic convoy for several months. The sequence was discontinued during summer 1944 as all naval forces were required for Operation Neptune
Operation Neptune
The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...
, the cover for the Normandy landings. It re-commenced in August 1944 with JW 59.