If the convoy PQ-17 were guarded by American aircraft carriers
The prerequisites for the defeat of the PQ-17 convoy are not in the British Admiralty, but much further and deeper - in Washington. The troubles of the Arctic convoys were largely related to the amendment to the Lend-Lease Act, which prohibited the escorting of transports with military goods by US Navy ships.
The amendment seemed quite appropriate on 11 in March 1941 (date of signing of the Lend-Lease Act) - it would be strange to drop depth charges on German submarines from the American ships, without an official declaration of war between the USA and the Third Reich. And without depth charges, escorting Lend-Leasing convoys made no sense.
However, the Lend-Lease program itself was a clear manifestation of the double standards of American politics: the “neutral” state openly helps one of the belligerents, and does so on special conditions and with deferred payment. The Germans accepted the terms of the American "game" - there are no rules! - and after three weeks, 3 on April 1941, one of the wolf packs, coolly shot 10 from the 22 American transports of the transatlantic convoy.
The Washington Regional Committee quickly realized that without a decent cover, Lend-Lease transports would never reach the addressee. A day after the April pogrom, the Yankees began to fuss, having begun their first awkward preparations for war: the carrier group consisting of the Yorktown aircraft carrier, three battleships and their escort advanced to communications in the Atlantic; On April 9, the construction of weather stations and air bases on the coast of Greenland began. Warships escorted trade caravans to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, where at the appointed point there was a "change of the guard" - transports passed through the custody of the Royal fleet UK.
The situation became more complicated with the German attack on the Soviet Union - in August, convoys with military cargo began to arrive in Arkhangelsk and immediately the question of covering low-speed transports arose. The US Navy flatly refused to accompany the convoys in the Arctic waters - it was too dangerous in the military and in the political sense. Americans were not at all embarrassed by the fact that most of the transport teams were made up of US citizens. Washington’s position was unchanged: you need these cargoes - so protect them yourself, and we don’t want to ruin our ships. As for volunteer teams, these people know what they are going in pursuit of hard cash.
Even after the official entry into the war, Americans were in no hurry to appear in the polar latitudes - for the first time, US Navy ships took a limited part in escorting the PQ-15 caravan only in April 1942. In the future, all the "help" of the US Navy was limited to a couple of ships. What else can be added about this? It is a pity that the American admirals, having so many possibilities (the Yankees alone had more destroyers than in all countries of the world), preferred to “wash their hands” in such a strategically important operation as conducting Arctic convoys.
The whole burden of transport cover fell on the shoulders of the Royal Navy of Great Britain and the Soviet Northern Fleet. The convoy route was divided into two areas of responsibility: the British were guarding the main part of the road to Bear Island, and Soviet destroyers joined them at the entrance to the Barents Sea. In addition, North Sea sailors acted in supporting directions: when the next convoy approached, exits from submarines were exhibited at the exits from German naval bases in Norway, and aviation The Northern Fleet began to “hammer” the enemy airfields, distracting the Germans and making it difficult for the Luftwaffe to attack the transports going far from the coast.
Objectively, there was no need to demand more from the Northern Fleet (model 1942 of the year) - at that time, the North Sea had only six squadron destroyers (4 of the new “Seven” and 2 “Novika” of the First World War) .
The Northern Fleet suffered from a shortage of ships throughout the war, knowing the problem very well, the British escorted the caravans all the way to the Soviet ports. Otherwise, the Northern Fleet, alone, would not be able to provide reliable cover for the transports.
4 July 1942, what happened was to happen sooner or later. While the American sailors celebrated Independence Day cheerfully, the PQ-17 convoy ships received an order from London: the escort was at full speed to depart to the West, the transports to disperse and follow on their own to the ports of destination. "What the devil ?!" - anxiously talking, seeing as the destroyers turn around and lie on the opposite course.
It was all about the German battleship Tirpitz, which, according to British intelligence, was getting ready to intercept the convoy. Despite the presence of sufficient forces to repel the attack, the British admirals took the shameful, in every sense, the decision to disband the convoy and quickly withdraw their warships away from the polar latitudes.
"Damocles sword" Kriegsmarine
If we put aside various conspiracy hypotheses (using PQ-17 as a "bait", deliberately destroying a convoy, in order to disrupt lend-lease supplies, etc.), the fierce fear of the British admirals in front of Tirpitz is unpleasant: about the Battle of Jutland (1916) and the consequences of the terrible death of the battle cruiser “Hood” destroyed by the very first volley from the battleship Bismarck.
Tirpitz and his retinue crawl out of the fjord
"Tirpitz" almost all the war stood in the fjords, serving as a rusty target for British aircraft. The guns of the super battleship did not make a single shot at the surface targets. No significant operations involving Tirpitz were carried out. It would seem that one could forget about the miserable existence of this pile of metal and concentrate on more important issues, for example, the fight against German submarines.
The battleship "Tirpitz" did not fight. But he fought his image in the minds of the British admirals. The medals must be given to the crews of the Bismarck, Derflinger and Von der Tanna - it was in their glory that the impressive success of the Tirpitz battleship, which, without firing a single shot, bound all the forces of the British fleet in the North Atlantic, rested!
The Germans could not build a battleship at all, it was enough to put a steel box in Altenfjord or a plywood mockup in general - the success would have been the same. I exaggerate, of course, but, I hope, the readers have caught the essence. If the British admirals were a little less conservative and cowardly, the PQ-17 convoy would remain intact.
Let us close our eyes for a moment and present on the spot the transports of the PQ-17 convoy - the unloading American transports in the Leyte Gulf (Philippines). Instead of His Majesty’s Navy cruisers - seven destroyers and six escort aircraft carriers patrolling along the Philippine coast (escort aircraft carriers - the ships are not bad, but terribly slow, their propulsion system and lower hull set are similar to civilian steamboats).
Lovers of marine stories already guessed that we are simulating a sea battle off the island of Samar, which took place on October 25 1944.
It was undoubtedly simpler for the Japanese in that battle — six American “kids” rolled out of the mist ... not one, but four battleships! And also - 8 cruisers and 11 destroyers.
The Japanese had another important advantage — a cleverly planned operation and two distracting blows that allowed them to quietly approach the Leyte Gulf and take the Americans by surprise!
Gambier Bay escort aircraft carrier sinking under the fire of Japanese battleships
When Japanese shells began to fall around, the Yankees urgently lifted up all their planes, the destroyers went into a torpedo attack, and the slaughter began ... As a result, during the 3 hours of chase, the Americans lost one escort and three destroyers, half of the aircraft carriers had damage from artillery fire.
The Japanese had sunk three heavy Japanese cruisers, another one, the Kumano, was dragging somewhere behind without a bow. The rest of the Japanese ships were so beaten and frightened that they turned back and fled from the battlefield.
Now, attention, motor! - instead of the Japanese, the battleship “Tirpitz”, the heavy cruisers “Hipper”, “Scheer” and 9 destroyers of their escort, crawl out of the morning mist. How could end their confrontation with the American "escort"?
If these events were moved to the Barents Sea, the Tirpitz and its squadron would have been sunk long before meeting with the PQ-17 escort. Where the legendary Yamato could not resist, the German battleship had nothing to do. Five or six escort aircraft carriers with a wing equal to the size of the regular Soviet air regiment will score any Tirpitz and Admiral Scheer. The main thing is to have enough experienced and decisive pilots.
Now add a few strokes to this “portrait”. The Yankees owed their “miraculous salvation” to the following factors:
- the disgusting quality of the fuses of Japanese shells, which pierced through fragile American ships and fell into the sea;
Alas, this factor is of little use in the Barents Sea - regardless of the quality of the German shells, the Tirpitz would be guaranteed to be found and destroyed long before the guns reached the distance of fire.
- active support from other aircraft carriers - airplanes from the whole region flew to the aid of six “kids” (only about 500 machines!).
Escort aircraft carriers in the Barents Sea could not wait for help from anywhere, on the other hand, the Tirpitz squadron was three to four times weaker than the Japanese!
Sagent Bay carrier aircraft (CVE-83) of the Casablanca type. Total displacement 11 thousand tons. Max. 19 speed knots. Aircraft 25-30 aircraft
Of course, it is somewhat incorrect to directly compare the tropical Philippines and the polar latitudes of the Barents Sea. Severe weather conditions, icing decks - all of this could hinder the work of carrier-based aircraft. However, in a particular case, the PQ-17 convoy went at the height of the polar summer, and the sun that passed out around the clock was, on the contrary, to play into the hands of the pilots (two-edged weapon - German torpedo bombers, too, are not asleep).
Summing up all the positive and negative factors, and taking into account the balance of power, you can make quite a confident conclusion: whether the American sailors and the favorite "toys" - aircraft carriers (even small escort ones) - were in place of the British, the PQ-17 convoy had every chance to get to Arkhangelsk, and the battleship "Tirpitz" had all chances to sink ingloriously after a brief battle with deck aircraft.
However, it could have ended much earlier - if the K-21 submarine had managed to sink the "Tirpitz" at the exit from the Altenfjord.
Unfortunately, everything happened as it should have happened. As a result, they had to show their professionalism to Soviet naval pilots and seamen-North Seamen, who, without the aid of radar, explored the entire water area of the Barents Sea and "searched" all the bays on the coast of the Kola Peninsula and Novaya Zemlya in search of the American ships sheltered there. It was possible to save 13 transports and hundreds of lifeboats and life rafts, with the surviving sailors.
View of the Arctic Ocean from North Cape (the northernmost point of Europe). Summer, at three o'clock in the morning
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