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The Convoys

The North Atlantic Fleet sailed from 1941 to 1945 from the UK to North Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel to aid Russian Allies. The Russian Convoys were called ‘the Suicide Missions’ by many of those men who sailed on them. Merchant ships with supplies and ammunition were escorted by British Royal Naval ships and aircraft carriers. These supplies were vital to the war effort as German forces had Russia completely blockaded.

During the war young men of 18 were drafted into the forces and some lads in the Merchant Navy were only 16 years old. With German u-boats and aircraft intent on stopping supplies to Russia many ships were lost and over 3,000 young men perished in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, their bodies never to be recovered.

Supplies came initially solely from British sources with a greatly increasing quantity from America from January 1942. Allied supplies transported to Russia included 7,411 aircraft, 4,932 anti-tank guns and 5,218 tanks. For Prime Minister Winston Churchill, these supplies were a vital demonstration of Allied solidarity. He did however call the Arctic Convoys The Worst Journey in the World

With a total of 78 Convoys to Russia, Loch Ewe in Wester Ross, Scotland was where 19 of the convoys departed, a further 23 left from Liverpool, The Clyde (Glasgow), Oban and Reykjavik (Iceland). From Russia to the UK there were 36 convoys.