Convoy QP 11

Convoy QP 11 naval battle
Part of World War II
HMS Edinburgh showing the damage to its stern after the attack by U-456
Date 1/2 May 1942 Location Arctic Ocean Result Indecisive
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs
Strength
3 destroyers 2 U-boats	1 cruiser 6 destroyers 4 minesweeper 1 guard-ship
Casualties and losses
1 destroyer sunk	1 cruiser sunk 3 destroyers damaged 1 Soviet freighter sunk

Convoy QP 11 was an Arctic Convoy of World War II, made up of merchant ships returning from the Soviet Union to Britain after delivering their cargo to the Soviet Union. The convoy consisted of 13 merchant ships, escorted by 18 warships. The convoy was attacked by German destroyers and submarines, suffering the loss of one merchant ship as well as the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh. The Germans lost the destroyer Z7 Hermann Schoemann.

QP 11 consisted of 13 merchant ships, mostly British or American, including five ships that had been a part of Convoy PQ 13. The convoy sailed from the Soviet port of Murmansk on 28 April 1942. The convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh, the destroyers HMS Amazon, Beagle, Beverley, Bulldog, Foresight and HMS Forester (H74), the Flower-class corvettes Campanula, Oxlip, Saxifrage and Snowflake, with the armed trawler HMS Lord Middleton. Edinburgh was an escort and carried $20 million in gold, a payment from the Soviet Union to the United States.^[1]

On 29 April, the convoy was spotted by a German Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft and U-boats.^[2] On 30 May, two days out from Murmansk, U-88 and U-436 made attacks on the convoy to no effect.^[3] Later that day, U-456 hit Edinburgh twice. One torpedo hit the cruiser's forward boiler room while the other hit the cruiser's stern, destroying its rudder and two of its four propellers.^[1] Edinburgh was badly damaged but remained afloat; it left the convoy and turned towards Murmansk, escorted by Foresight and Forester. Several ships were sent from Murmansk to assist Edinburgh, among them the British Halcyon-class minesweepers HMS Gossamer, Harrier, Hussar and Niger, the Soviet destroyers Gremyashchy and Sokrushitelny, the Soviet guard ship Rubin and a tug.^[3]

The German command sent the three destroyers of Zerstörergruppe Arktis, Z7 Hermann Schoemann, Z24 and Z25 (Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze-Hinrichs), to attack Convoy QP 11 and then sink HMS Edinburgh. The German ships reached the convoy in the afternoon on 1 May. The weather was cold; intermittent snow and rain limited visibility. Hermann Schoemann opened fire at 14:05. The four British destroyers formed up between the German destroyers and the convoy and engaged them at a range of about 10,000 yd (9,100 m). Amazon was hit twice and severely damaged. At 14:30 a German torpedo salvo hit and sank the Soviet freighter Tsiolkovski. At 17:50 the German destroyers turned to pursue Edinburgh.^[4]

The flotilla found Edinburgh 250 nmi (460 km; 290 mi) east of the convoy at 06:17 on 2 May, moving at 2 kn (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph).^[2] The Edinburgh was escorted by Foresight, Forester, the four British minesweepers and Rubin (Gremyaschi and Sokrushitelny having returned to Murmansk due to a lack of fuel).^[1] The three German destroyers engaged the British ships. Due to the damage caused by U-456, Edinburgh was unable to maneuver and could only steam in circles. A snow shower separated Herman Schoemann from the other German destroyers and it attacked the British ships alone.^[4] Edinburgh's targeting systems had been destroyed by the torpedo explosions but its gunners managed to hit and cripple Hermann Schoemann.^[2] At 18:45, Z24 and Z25 arrived. Z25 hit and disabled Forester and then badly damaged Foresight.^[4] At 18:52 a salvo of torpedoes from one of the German destroyers missed Foresight and Forester but one torpedo kept going and struck Edinburgh in the middle of its left side, opposite the hole made by U-456's torpedo.^[2] Shortly thereafter the German ships withdrew, possibly because they overestimated the strength of the British minesweepers. At 08:15, Z24 rescued most of the crew of Hermann Schoemann who were still on the deck and then scuttled it.^[4] More survivors from Hermann Schoemann who were in life rafts were later rescued by U-88. Harrier and Gossamer took survivors off of Edinburgh, which was later sunk by a torpedo from Foresight.^[1]

The rest of the voyage of Convoy QP 11 saw unsuccessful attacks on the convoy by the submarines U-589 and U-251. The twelve remaining merchant ships of the convoy arrived in Iceland on 7 May.^[3]

Merchant ships in Convoy QP 11^[5]

Ship	Year	Flag	GRT	Notes
SS Atheltemplar	1930	United Kingdom	8,992
SS Ballot	1922	Panama	6,131
SS Briarwood	1930	United Kingdom	4,019	Convoy Commodore
SS Dan-Y-Bryn	1940	United Kingdom	5,117	Vice-Convoy Commodore
SS Dunboyne	1919	United States	3,515
SS El Estero	1920	Panama	4,219
SS Eldena	1919	United States	6,900
SS Gallant Fox	1918	Panama	5,473
SS Mormacmar	1920	United States	5,453
SS Stone Street	1922	Panama	6,131
SS Trehata	1928	United Kingdom	4,817	Damaged by ice
SS Tsiolkovsky	1935	Soviet Union	2,847	Sunk 1 May by Z24, Z25
SS West Cheswald	1919	United States	5,711

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