Convoy PQ 1

Convoy PQ 1 was the first of the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War to have the code prefix PQ, which was chosen from the initials of Commander Phillip Quellyn Roberts, an operations officer in the Admiralty; the reciprocal return convoys were coded QP. The Western Allies used the Arctic route to supply the Soviet Union after the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion, that began on 22 June 1941.

The convoy sailed from Hvalfjörður in Iceland on 29 September 1941 and arrived at Arkhangelsk on 11 October 1941 unharmed. To protect return convoys and sweep for mines, a British naval force, to be established at the Kola naval base, of ocean-going Halcyon-class minesweepers, accompanied the convoy, they had the speed, armament and anti-submarine capacity similar to that of Flower-class corvettes.

The fleet oiler RFA Aldersdale, that had accompanied the first Arctic convoy, Operation Dervish (21–31 August 1941), was at Kola to refuel ships for the return journey. Soviet destroyers at Polyarnoe could reinforce convoy escorts for the last part of the journey.