Convoy QP 14

Convoy QP 14
Part of The Arctic convoys of the Second World War
German occupied Norway (in green) lay along the flank of the sea route to northern Russia
Date 13–26 September 1942 Location Arctic Ocean
Belligerents
Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Karl Dönitz	John Dowding
Strength
7 U-boats	17 merchant ships 65 escorts
Casualties and losses
1 U-boat sunk 5 damaged	3 merchant ships sunk 2 warships sunk

Convoy QP 14 (13–26 September 1942) was an Arctic convoy of the QP series which ran during the Second World War. The convoy was a return journey of Allied ships from the port of Archangelsk in the Soviet Union to Loch Ewe in the west of Scotland. The British planned to send Convoy PQ 18 from Iceland to Murmansk and when the convoys crossed transfer much of the escort force from the outbound convoy to Convoy QP 14 and escort back it through the most dangerous waters off Norway.

Rather than provide a covering force of cruisers and a distant covering force of battleships and aircraft carriers as hitherto, a large Fighting Destroyer Escort was formed to accompany Convoy PQ 18 and be capable of independently operating, to present an attack by German ships with the risk of massed torpedo salvoes. To keep the larger number of escorts fuelled, Force P of fuel tankers with escorts were sent to Svalbard and fleet oilers joined Convoy PQ 18; on 16 September much of the PQ 18 escort force and oilers transferred to QP 14 as the convoys crossed.

There was a scare on 19 September that German ships were attacking but this was a false alarm and the convoy was opposed only by aircraft and submarines. The German attacks sank three merchant ships and two of the escorts for the loss of a U-boat and five damaged, the aircraft on the escort carrier HMS Avenger doing much to deter U-boat attacks, assisted by land-based aircraft from 23 September. The convoy reached Loch Ewe in Scotland on 26 September.

Operation EV, the escort operation for QP 14 and PQ 18, was judged a success by its commander, Rear-Admiral Robert Burnett. He noted that the risks had been great and had re-fuelling not being achieved due to bad weather or if there had been better co-ordination between U-boats and Luftwaffe aircraft, there could have been another disaster like Convoy PQ 17. Burnett was criticised by Stephen Roskill, the official historian, for sending Avenger back to base on 20 September; weather grounded the land-based aircraft and three ships were sunk on 22 September but in 2004, Richard Woodman wrote that the risks to QP 14 had been justified.