Convoy PQ 1

Convoy PQ 1
Part of Arctic Convoys of the Second World War
The Norwegian and the Barents seas, site of the Arctic convoys
Date 28 September – 11 October 1941 Location Arctic Ocean Result British victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy Merchant Navy	Luftwaffe Kriegsmarine
Commanders and leaders
Escorts: Edward Thornton Convoy: D. Ridley	Hans-Jürgen Stumpff Hermann Böhm
Strength
12 ships in relays
Casualties and losses
No loss	No loss

Convoy PQ 1 was the first of the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War to have the code prefix PQ, which was chosen from the initials of Commander Phillip Quellyn Roberts, an operations officer in the Admiralty. The Western Allies used the Arctic route to supply the Soviet Union after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion, which began on 22 June 1941.

The convoy sailed from Hvalfiord in Iceland on 29 September 1941 and arrived at Archangelsk on 11 October 1941. To protect return convoys and sweep for mines, a British naval force of ocean-going Halcyon-class minesweepers, which accompanied the convoy, that had the speed, armament and anti-submarine capacity similar to that of Flower-class corvettes, to be established at the Kola naval base.

The fleet oiler RFA Aldersdale, which had accompanied the first Arctic convoy, Operation Dervish (21–31 August 1941), was at Kola to refuel ships for the return journey. Soviet destroyers at Polyarnoe could reinforce convoy escorts for the last part of the journey.