THE ICE CONVOIENE 1941-1945
Taken from the book: "The Murmansk Convoys. People in an Arctic War Drama". Written by Harald Henriksen, Oslo 2011: 17-18, 142, 144-145.
"After the German campaign in Norway ended in June 1940, the strategic situation changed drastically in Germany's favor. In 1941-42, the Kriegsmarine transferred several large surface vessels to Norway, and the Germans established a number of air and naval bases on the Norwegian coast. German submarines and surface vessels thus had shorter sailing times to important Allied convoy routes, including the heavily trafficked convoy route between the United States and Great Britain. The Germans could also use the nearby bases on the coast of northern Norway for devastating attacks on the Arctic convoys. [...]
Germany's attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, was the occasion for the organization of the Allied convoys to northwestern Russia. Early in the morning, Adolf Hitler had launched the largest military offensive of all time, Operation Barbarossa. [...]
In this critical situation, the leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin, turned to the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, with a request for help in the form of weapons and equipment. Churchill responded spontaneously to Stalin's request, and within a few weeks the first British convoy was on its way from Liverpool to Arkhangelsk with planes and tanks. [...]
The destruction of large parts of the Soviet air force and the rapid German advance towards Moscow made it clear to the British and their allies that the Soviet Union's need for war material and other supplies was enormous and urgent. [...]
The German occupation of Norway and the attack on the Soviet Union meant that the only viable transport route from Britain to the Soviet Union was a northern convoy route across the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea to northwestern Russia. Climatic and geographical conditions placed serious limitations on the use and exploitation of this route. Drift ice could force the convoys closer to the northern Norwegian coastline and expose merchant ships and escorts to attacks from aircraft and ships from German bases. In winter, the crews would encounter storms and extreme cold, while in the spring and summer months, the 24-hour daylight would more easily expose the convoys to the enemy.
In the first months after the German attack on the Soviet Union, it was mainly British merchant ships that brought war supplies to the Soviet Union. During the autumn of 1941, a number of Russian merchant ships and a few merchant ships sailing under the Panamanian and various Western European flags joined the voyages in Northwest Russia. After the United States entered the war and a regular northern convoy route was established, American and British merchant ships dominated the Arctic convoy traffic. A number of Norwegian merchant ships eventually joined the convoy traffic in Northwest Russia, but the bulk of the Norwegian merchant fleet sailed in the Atlantic convoys. [...]
Several Norwegian tankers also played a key role in the Arctic convoy traffic. The motor tanker Noreg of Haugesund sailed a number of times as a bunker ship with the Murmansk convoys and supplied the Allied escort vessels with fuel. The bunkering took place in the open sea, and the 12,000-ton motor tanker was of course a key target for German bombers and submarines.
Several Norwegian tankers transported fuel on the risky convoy route to Northwest Russia. The steam tankers Mirlo, Marathon and Norfjell and the motor tankers Herbrand and Egerø braved attacks from aircraft and submarines to bring the important cargo to Murmansk, Arkhangelsk or Molotovsk. In February 1945, the DT Norfjell was torpedoed in the White Sea, and two of the crew perished.
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