On 29 April, the convoy was spotted by a German Junkers Ju 88 reconnaissance aircraft and U-boats.[2] On 30 April, two days out from Murmansk, U-88 and U-436 made attacks on the convoy to no effect.[3] Later that day, U-456 hit Edinburgh twice. One torpedo hit the cruiser's forward boiler room while the other hit the cruiser's stern, destroying its rudder and two of its four propellers.[1]Edinburgh was badly damaged but remained afloat; it left the convoy and turned towards Murmansk, escorted by Foresight and Forester. Several ships were sent from Murmansk to assist Edinburgh, among them the British Halcyon-classminesweepersHMSGossamer, Harrier, Hussar and Niger, the Soviet destroyers Gremyashchy and Sokrushitelny, the Soviet guard shipRubin and a tug.[3]
1 May
The German command sent the three destroyers of Zerstörergruppe Arktis, Z7 Hermann Schoemann, Z24 and Z25 (Kapitän zur SeeAlfred Schulze-Hinrichs), to attack Convoy QP 11 and then sink HMS Edinburgh. The German ships reached the convoy in the afternoon on 1 May. The weather was cold; intermittent snow and rain limited visibility. Hermann Schoemann opened fire at 14:05. The four British destroyers formed up between the German destroyers and the convoy and engaged them at a range of about 10,000yd (9,100m). Amazon was hit twice and severely damaged. At 14:30 a German torpedo salvo hit and sank the Soviet freighter Tsiolkovski. At 17:50 the German destroyers turned to pursue Edinburgh.[4]
2 May
The flotilla found Edinburgh250nmi (460km; 290mi) east of the convoy at 06:17 on 2 May, moving at 2kn (3.7km/h; 2.3mph).[2]Edinburgh was escorted by Foresight, Forester, the four British minesweepers and Rubin, Gremyaschi and Sokrushitelny had returned to Murmansk due to a lack of fuel.[1] The three German destroyers engaged the British ships. Due to the damage caused by U-456, Edinburgh was unable to manoeuvre and could only steam in circles. A snow shower separated Herman Schoemann from the other German destroyers and it attacked the British ships alone.[4]Edinburgh's targeting systems had been destroyed by the torpedo explosions but its gunners managed to hit and cripple Hermann Schoemann.[2] At 18:45, Z24 and Z25 arrived. Z25 hit and disabled Forester and then badly damaged Foresight.[4] At 18:52 a salvo of torpedoes from one of the German destroyers missed Foresight and Forester but one torpedo kept going and struck Edinburgh in the middle of its left side, opposite the hole made by U-456's torpedo.[2] The German ships soon withdrew, possibly because they overestimated the strength of the British minesweepers. At 08:15, Z24 rescued most of the crew of Hermann Schoemann who were still on the deck and then scuttled it.[4] More survivors from Hermann Schoemann who were in life rafts were later rescued by U-88. Harrier and Gossamer took survivors off Edinburgh, which was then scuttled by a torpedo from Foresight.[1]
Aftermath
The rest of the voyage of Convoy QP 11 saw unsuccessful attacks on the convoy by the submarines U-589 and U-251. The twelve remaining merchant ships of the convoy arrived in Iceland on 7 May.[3]
Edwards, Bernard (2002). The Road to Russia: Arctic Convoys 1942. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN1-59114-732-8.
Jessop, Keith; Hanson, Neil (2002). Goldfinder. Danvers, MA: John Wiley and Sons. ISBN0-471-40733-X.
O'Hara, Vincent P. (2011). Tucker, Spencer C. (ed.). World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC. ISBN978-1-59884-457-3.
Rohwer, Jürgen; Hümmelchen, Gerhard (2005) [1972]. Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (3rd rev.ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN978-1-86176-257-3.
Ruegg, R.; Hague, A. (1993) [1992]. Convoys to Russia: Allied Convoys and Naval Surface Operations in Arctic Waters 1941–1945 (2nd rev. enl.ed.). Kendal: World Ship Society. ISBN0-905617-66-5.
Further reading
Boog, H.; Rahn, W.; Stumpf, R.; Wegner, B. (2001). The Global War: Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943. Germany in the Second World War. Vol.VI. Translated by Osers, E.; Brownjohn, J.; Crampton, P.; Willmot, L. (Eng trans. Oxford University Press, Londoned.). Potsdam: Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt (Research Institute for Military History). ISBN0-19-822888-0.
Claasen, A. R. A. (2001). Hitler's Northern War: The Luftwaffe's Ill-fated Campaign, 1940–1945. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. ISBN0-7006-1050-2.
Hancock, W. K.; Gowing, M. M. (1949). Hancock, W. K. (ed.). British War Economy. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series. London: HMSO. OCLC630191560.
Hinsley, F. H. (1994) [1993]. British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series (2nd rev. abr.ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN978-0-11-630961-7.
Hobbs, David (2022). The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939–1945. Barnsley: Seaforth (Pen & Sword). ISBN978-1-5267-9979-1.
Kahn, D. (1973) [1967]. The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing (10th abr. Signet, Chicagoed.). New York: Macmillan. LCCN63-16109. OCLC78083316.
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