Operation FB

Operation FB
Part of The Arctic Convoys of the Second World War
Iceland, western start and terminus of reciprocal sailings to and from Murmansk
Date 29 October to 9 November 1942 Location Arctic Ocean Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
United Kingdom  United States  Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
John Tovey Arseniy Golovko	Erich Raeder
Units involved
Royal Navy  Merchant Navy  Royal Air Force  Soviet Navy  Soviet Air Forces	Luftwaffe  Kriegsmarine
Strength
Eastbound: 13 merchant ships escorts (west): 4 ASW trawlers escorts (east): 3 trawlers
Casualties and losses
Sunk: 5 Wrecked: 1 Recalled: 3
23 Soviet independent sailings 29 October 1942 – 24 January 1943, 1 sunk

Operation FB (29 October – 9 November 1942) took place as part of the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War. The operation consisted of independent sailings by unescorted merchant ships between Iceland and Murmansk. In late 1942, the Allies had taken the offensive against Germany but the dispatch of supplies to the USSR by convoy via the Arctic route was suspended, due to the demands of the Mediterranean campaign. Convoy PQ 19 was cancelled because the Home Fleet diverted ships to the Mediterranean for Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) which would have had to be postponed for three weeks had ships been provided for Convoy PQ 19.

Discussions between the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt led to ships being dispatched independently to Russia from Iceland as a substitute for Convoy PQ 19, using the polar night of the Arctic winter for concealment. The ships sailed at approximately twelve-hour intervals, with seven trawlers strung out along the routes as rescue ships. Of thirteen sailings to Russia, three were ordered to turn back and five arrived; of 23 independent departures from the USSR, 22 ships reached their destination. The new outbound convoy series JW, began with Convoy JW 51A (15–25 December 1942), returns being called RW.