Convoy QP 3

Convoy QP 3
	Part of Arctic Convoys of the Second World War
	; The Norwegian and the Barents seas, site of the Arctic convoys
Date	17 November – 12 December 1941
Location	Arctic Ocean
Result	Allied victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy; Merchant Navy;	Luftwaffe; Kriegsmarine;
Commanders and leaders
	Hans-Jürgen Stumpff; Hermann Böhm;
Strength
	10 Merchant ships; 10 Escorts (in relays);
Casualties and losses
Nil	Nil

Convoy QP 3 (17 November – 12 December 1941) was an Arctic convoy that sailed from Arkhangelsk in the Arctic north of the USSR to Iceland and terminated at Kirkwall in Orkney.

QP convoys were the reciprocal of the PQ convoys to the Soviet Union and usually consisted of empty ships having unloaded their cargo at Arkhangelsk or Murmansk. German knowledge of the convoy was too vague to plan attacks by the limited forces available to the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe in Norway.

On 13 November 1941, the commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine, Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Erich Raeder, told Hitler that, owing to the extreme weather and the lack of air reconnaissance, the prospects of the small number of U-boats in the Arctic Ocean were poor.