Convoy PQ 17 order of battle

Convoy PQ 17 was the penultimate convoy of the PQ series of Arctic convoys, bound from British and American ports through the Arctic Ocean via Reykjavík to the ports of the northern Soviet Union, particularly Murmansk and Arkhangelsk in the White Sea. The convoy was heavily defended, but fearing an imminent attack by German ships, including Tirpitz. The Admiralty made the decision to disperse the convoy.

The convoy comprised 35 merchant ships and 6 naval auxiliaries (41 in all) and was defended by a close escort and two distant escort forces, 43 warships in total. It was opposed by a U-boat gruppe Eisteufel, of first 6, then 8 U-boats, and a surface attack force of 16 warships, in two battle groups. This operation was code-named Unternehmen Rösselsprung (Operation Knight's Move). These were assisted by the 234 aircraft of Luftflotte 5.

Before the convoy dispersed, three ships had been lost. After it scattered each ship made its way individually to the Russian ports. Some ships took refuge along the frozen coast of Novaya Zemlya, landing at Matochkin. The Soviet tanker Azerbaijan had lost her cargo of linseed oil and much of SS Winston-Salem's cargo had also been jettisoned in Novaya Zemlya.

Of the thirty-six ships that left Iceland, three were forced to return early and 21 were sunk. Ten merchant ships (one British, six American, one Panamanian and two Russian) and four auxiliaries reached Archangel and delivered 70,000 long tons (71,000 t) out of the 200,000 long tons (200,000 t) which had started from Iceland.