20 April 2026Admin1 min read
Between August 1941 and May 1945, 78 convoys sailed between Britain and the northern Soviet ports of Murmansk and Archangelsk, carrying tanks, aircraft, ammunition, food, and raw materials essential to the Soviet war effort. These Arctic Convoys — codenamed PQ (outbound) and QP (return) — traversed some of the most dangerous waters in the world, facing the triple threat of German U-boats, Luftwaffe bombers operating from Norwegian airfields, and the brutal Arctic weather itself.
The route took merchant ships and their naval escorts north of Norway, through waters where winter temperatures could reach minus 40 degrees and waves could tower 60 feet high. Ice formed on rigging and superstructures so quickly that crews had to chip it away constantly to prevent their ships from capsizing. In the perpetual darkness of the Arctic winter, ships sailed in near-total blackout to avoid detection.
The most devastating loss came with Convoy PQ 17 in July 1942. Ordered to scatter by the Admiralty due to a feared attack by the German battleship Tirpitz, the convoy lost 24 of its 35 merchant ships to U-boats and aircraft. The tragedy led to a temporary suspension of the convoys and remains one of the most controversial decisions of the naval war.
Despite the dangers, the convoys delivered approximately four million tons of supplies to the Soviet Union, including 7,000 aircraft, 5,000 tanks, and vast quantities of food and raw materials. Winston Churchill called the Arctic route "the worst journey in the world."
The human cost was severe: 104 merchant ships and 16 Royal Navy warships were lost, along with approximately 3,000 Allied sailors. On the Soviet side, the Northern Fleet lost ships and men defending the convoy routes near the Kola Peninsula.
Recognition was slow in coming. It was not until 2012 that the British government finally authorised the Arctic Star medal for surviving veterans of the convoys, nearly 70 years after the war ended. By then, most of the veterans were in their late 80s or 90s.
Today, the Arctic Convoys are remembered as one of the most remarkable examples of Allied cooperation during the war — a shared sacrifice by British, American, and Soviet sailors that helped turn the tide on the Eastern Front.
