LEND-LEASE: COOPERATION FOR VICTORY. NORTHERN CONVOYS

When Hitler planned an aggression against the Soviet Union, he believed the USSR would be fighting the war alone, without outside help. In reality, the Second World War turned out to be a war of coalitions. A powerful anti-Hitler coalition began to forge within a matter of days following the Nazi invasion of Soviet Russia. That unprecedented political, economic and military alliance ensured the Victory of the Allied Nations over Nazism.

“One of the main reasons for the Allied Victory during the Second World War was the huge economic potential of the Allied nations,” says Mikhail Suprun, a Professor of the Archangel-based Pomor State University. “At the same time it was extremely important to find the means to make the most effective and swift use of this potential. The American Lend-Lease Act of March 11, 1941, proved to be just such a means. To begin with, Lend-Lease was announced by the United States President as a form of aid for any nation whose defense he believed was vital for the United States. But this concept that can be termed as U.S. participation in the war without involvement in acts of warfare functioned until December of 1941, when the United States became involved in the war against Japan. Pearl Harbor put the United States in the same position as all other struggle nations. For this reason it was proposed to change the Lend-Lease concept into a ‘pool concept’. This meant that each Allied nation contributed everything it could to the pool. But it could also draw from this reservoir for Victory whatever it needed for its war effort. For instance, the United States, which had extremely huge economic potential, input in this pool its economic potential. Britain’s main contribution to this pool was to wage war at sea. All naval operations in Europe were the responsibility of Great Britain. As for the Soviet Union, the main contribution to this pool by the Soviet Union was to stop the Germans on the Eastern front.”

To help the Russians hold out in their mortal combat with the Nazi war machine, Britain and the United States decided to promptly deliver much-needed war materiel to their new Ally – the Soviet Union. The shortest routes via the Baltic and Black Seas had already been blocked by the Nazis, so military equipment for the Soviet front could only be shipped via the Northern sea route. The risks of traveling to the northern latitudes along this sea lane were substantial – what with the harsh climatic conditions and the proximity of the enemy force based in German-occupied northern Norway. Yet, there were sound reasons for using this hazardous supply conduit. The Allied convoys covered the distance from the British Isles to Russia’s North within just 10 to 14 days. An ice-free port of Murmansk could receive ships all year round. All that made the ‘northern corridor’ the main route of Russia’s communication with the Allies.

During the Second World War, vital lend-lease supplies for the Eastern front were delivered by forty Soviet-bound Arctic convoys, which included over 800 cargo vessels. Forty-five of them brought valuable war cargoes to Russia during 1941, a fateful year for this country. On the 31st of August, 1941, the first convoy “Dervish”, also known as “PQ-Zero”, arrived in Archangel. It was relatively small, consisting of only seven vessels. “Dervish” delivered to Russia the first installment of trucks, depth charges, rubber and 15 Hurricane fighter planes, which joined the defense action right away. More Allied convoys delivering valuable supplies followed soon.

War-time Minister of the Soviet Navy, Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov, wrote in his memoirs: “…Moscow was expecting the arrival of a United States emissary. He was Harry Hopkins, President Roosevelt’s personal envoy, an influential person who won fame during the Second World War. He arrived in Moscow in late July 1941. His visit remained in my memory, because he also visited Archangel. It was my duty to secure his safe arrival and departure. Later I learnt that Stalin and Hopkins paid serious attention to the types and quantity of the cargoes to be shipped to the Soviet Union and also to the protection of convoys en route. On August 1, Hopkins was in Archangel, where he had talks with Rear Admiral Mikhail Dolinin, commander of the White Sea Naval Flotilla. The latter reported to me: ‘…Hopkins again notified me that convoys would be bringing large quantities of cargoes to Archangel. He wanted to know whether we could assure the simultaneous passage of 20 transport vessels to the White Sea during the winter months’… In the evening of August 1, Harry Hopkins departed for the British Isles. Thanks to his purposeful assistance a conference of Soviet, British and U.S. representatives was held in Moscow in September-October 1941. The conference took a number of urgent decisions on pooling efforts by the three Great Powers to secure victory over Nazi Germany and on aiding the USSR with war supplies”.

Ninety-five percent of strategic lend-lease supplies in 1941 were delivered by the Northern Allied convoys.

By December 1941 the situation on the Eastern front took a U-turn. Soviet counter-offensive near Moscow dealt a serious blow to Nazi Germany and convinced the Allies that the ‘first front’ stood fast. The Allied agreements reached in Moscow and Washington in 1941 and 1942 were aimed at keeping this country in the war. They provided for an increase in the flow of cargoes for the Soviet Union. The Northern convoys continued to play a pivotal role in bringing war materiel to the embattled Russia. Lend-lease supplies were delivered by vessels flying the flags of the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Norway, and Poland. The international crews of the convoys consisted of representatives of all the 44 Allied nations.

Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov, war-time Minister of the Soviet Navy, wrote in his memoirs:

“From 1941 to 1943 the convoys were formed in Loch Ewe and Scapa Flow, Scotland, and in Reikjavik, Iceland. The first few convoys comprised from six to ten transport vessels. As of March 1942, they were made up of 25 and in some cases – of 30 or 40 transport vessels. They were protected against submarines by an all-round screen of escorts. Every ship had to keep her station in the cruising order. However, if an escort ship detected a U-boat, she would leave her station to pursue it. To protect the convoy against an attack of enemy surface vessels a covering force was formed. The distant cover usually followed a course parallel to that of the convoy, closer to the Norwegian coast. In another case it might be on the distant approaches to the enemy bases in order to intercept his capital ships. In the autumn of 1941, a boundary was established between the operational zone of the British Navy and that of the Soviet Northern Fleet to assure safe passage of the convoys.”

Given the importance of the Allied supplies, the Soviet Supreme Command pressed the Northern Fleet to take all the possible measures for the reliable protection of the convoys. Such measures included minesweeping and anti-submarine operations in the White Sea and providing air cover for the unloading of transports at ports of destination. The provision of security for external convoys was the basic task of the Northern Fleet throughout the war. The order to this effect was issued on March 15, 1942.

Even under escort by warships, the route was very dangerous. Although the convoys didn’t sustain any serious losses during the first polar night of the war, with the coming of spring the losses grew. The Nazis used every weapon in their arsenal to sever the Northern supply route. In early 1942, they began to build up their naval forces in Norway to prey on Russia-bound convoys. They included the Tirpitz battleship, whose mere presence was a great threat to the Allies, tying up huge naval and air forces. Transport vessels heavily loaded with valuable cargoes were an easy target for the German U-boats and the Luftwaffe. As a rule, several cargo ships in each convoy were sunk as a result of submarine and air attacks. One of the most tragic pages of the Northern convoys saga was the loss of the ill-fated PQ-17 convoy – due to a fatal mistake. After its destruction, the convoys were suspended.

The dangers facing the convoys persisted even after they reached the ports of destination. The enemy went to extremes to destroy lend-lease cargoes, launching massive air attacks, especially on Murmansk. The Head of the Northern Sea Route Administration, Ivan Papanin, recalled: “One of the first convoys arrived in Murmansk on January 11, 1942. …On that day the Nazis dropped on the Murmansk port over a thousand fire bombs, which caused several fires. Allied sailors, together with Soviet artillerymen, had to repel the Nazi air attacks. I remembered that day as an absolute inferno. We had to extinguish the fire, to help the wounded, and to unload the cargoes…”

The long Arctic campaign resulted in the loss of 127 cargo ships, including those sunk in the Kara Sea. The Allies lost 36 warships, 14 of them were Soviet. The hazardous Arctic route took the lives of thousands of sailors of the Allied Navies and merchant marines, who took mortal risks delivering vital war cargoes for their Russian comrades-in-arms.

“The main naval theatre of operations during the whole of the Second World War was the European naval theatre,” says Mikhail Suprun. “It means that all the naval operations during the Second World War were concentrated in the northern part of the Atlantic. Most naval operations of the Second World War were concentrated around the Northern convoys. The war at sea was too won around the Northern convoys. At the same time, the Northern convoys were a place where the Allied comradeship-in-arms came into being. That was a unique page of history, when representatives of different countries arranged joint operations at sea. And, of course, it was very important for the Soviet Union to receive all those lend-lease cargoes that were sent to this country. In total, close to 18 million tons of materials were sent to the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Among them 4 million tons were delivered through the Northern part of the Atlantic.”

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Illustrations: Mikhail Suprun. "Lend-Lease and Northers Convoys. 1941-1945", Andreyevsky Flag, Moscow, 1997