Qualla: Convoy PQ 15

Convoy PQ 15: Introduction

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 01:30 on 3 May 1942, in the eerie half-light of an Arctic spring night, six Heinkel He 111 bombers swept low over a scattered formation of merchant ships southwest of Bear Island. They carried torpedoes, not bombs, and their attack marked a grim first: the Luftwaffe's inaugural torpedo bomber strike of the war. Three ships were hit. Two sank immediately. The convoy they attacked -- PQ 15 -- had left Reykjavik a week earlier carrying war materiel desperately needed by the Soviet Union. By the time the surviving ships reached Murmansk, PQ 15 would be remembered as both a success and a harbinger of far worse to come on the Arctic convoy run.

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Convoy PQ 15: Twenty-Five Ships Into the Ice

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Convoy PQ 15 sailed from Reykjavik, Iceland, on 26 April 1942, twenty-five merchant ships laden with tanks, aircraft, ammunition, and supplies bound for the Soviet northern ports. The escort was formidable: minesweepers and trawlers for close protection, destroyers and an anti-ai...

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Convoy PQ 15: Collisions, Torpedoes, and Friendly Fire

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

German aircraft spotted the convoy on 28 April while it was southwest of Bear Island, but no attack materialized for two days -- the Luftwaffe was occupied with the reciprocal Convoy QP 11, heading west from Murmansk. On 1 May, six Junkers Ju 88 bombers made the first attempt on ...

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Convoy PQ 15: The First Torpedo Bombers

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The torpedo attack on 3 May was something new. Kampfgeschwader 26's I. Gruppe had been training for months, and their six Heinkel He 111s approached low in the perpetual twilight of the Arctic spring. The merchant ships Botavon and Cape Corso were sunk outright. Jutland, damaged ...

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Convoy PQ 15: Gale and Deliverance

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

On 4 May, the Arctic itself intervened. A gale roared in from the north, whipping the sea into mountains of grey water and driving snow horizontally across the decks. For the merchant sailors -- many of whom had been at action stations for days -- the storm was brutal but welcome...

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Convoy PQ 15: A Taste of What Was Coming

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The relief was real but temporary. PQ 15 had demonstrated that the Germans were adapting rapidly, adding torpedo bombers to the U-boats and surface raiders already menacing the Arctic route. The accidental sinking of the Jastrzab and the collision between King George V and Punjab...

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