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PQ 17 was the code name for an Allied Second World War convoy in the Arctic Ocean. In July 1942, the Arctic convoys suffered a significant defeat when Convoy PQ 17 lost 24 of its 35 merchant ships during a series of heavy enemy daylight attacks which lasted a week. On 27 June, the ships sailed eastbound from Hvalfjord, Iceland for the port of Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, after which it was shadowed continuously and attacked. The convoy's progress was being observed by the British Admiralty. First Sea Lord Admiral Dudley Pound, acting on information that German surface units, including the German battleship ''Tirpitz'', were moving to intercept, ordered the covering force away from the convoy and told the convoy to scatter. However, due to vacillation by the German high command, the ''Tirpitz'' raid never materialised.〔Patrick Beesly, "Convoy PQ 17: A Study of Intelligence and Decision-Making," ''Intelligence & National Security'' (1990) 5#2 pp 292-322〕 The convoy was the first joint Anglo-American naval operation under British command in the war. As the close escort and the covering cruiser forces withdrew westward to intercept the presumed German raiders, the individual merchant ships were left without their escorting destroyers. In their ensuing attempts to reach the appointed Russian ports, the merchant ships were repeatedly attacked by Luftwaffe aeroplanes and U-boats. Of the initial 35 ships, only 11 reached their destination, delivering of cargo. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the difficulty of passing adequate supplies through the Arctic, especially during the summer period of perpetual daylight. ==Background== With the entry of the Soviet Union in the war, the British and American governments agreed to send unconditional aid to their Soviet allies. The Beaverbrook-Harriman Anglo-American Mission visited Moscow in October 1941, agreeing to a series of munitions deliveries to the Soviet Union. The most direct way to carry these supplies was by sea around the North Cape, through Arctic waters to the ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. The agreement stated that the Soviet government was responsible for receiving the supplies in Soviet ships at British or American ports. However, since there were not enough ships for the quantities of aid being sent by the Western allies to the Soviet Union, British and American ships began to constitute an increasing proportion of the convoy traffic. Although the defence of the Arctic convoys was the responsibility of the Royal Navy, Admiral Ernest King assigned Task Force 39 (TF 39) — built around the carrier and the battleship — to support the British. The first convoy sailed from the United Kingdom in August 1941, two months after the German invasion of the Soviet Union. By the spring of 1942, twelve more convoys had made the passage with the loss of only one out of 103 ships.〔 From then on, the threat of attacks on the convoys increased, with the Germans preparing to stop the flow of supplies to the USSR with every means at their disposal, including the basing of heavy ships in Norway.〔 In 1941, the ''Kriegsmarine'' had already begun concentrating its strength in Norway in winter, both to prevent a repeated British attack, and to obstruct Allied supply lines to the Soviet Union. The battleship was moved to Trondheim in January, where she was joined by the pocket battleship and in March by the heavy cruiser . Initial German dispositions had also directed battleships and and the heavy cruiser to concentrate in Arctic waters, but these all fell victim to Allied air attacks, and had to turn back for repairs.〔 Moreover, the Germans had bases along the length of Norway, which meant, until escort carriers became available, Allied convoys had to be sailed through these areas without adequate defence against aircraft and submarine attack. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Convoy PQ 17」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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