The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.

Monday, June 9, 2014

PQ17 Arctic Convoy Disaster.

From June 8, 2014, Anglotopia.Net.  "Weekend Viewing: PQ17 An Arctic World War II Convoy Disaster Presented by Jeremy Clarkson Full Video."

Members of the Merchant and Royal Navy delivered vital supplies via the Arctic to the Soviet Union.

To do this, they faced temperatures of minus fifty degrees, huge icebergs and not to mention German U-boats and the Luftwaffe.  Winston Churchill called it "the worst journey in the world."

Between 1941 and 1945, more than 70 convoys delivered 4 million tons of material to the USSR.

One convoy in particular came to symbolize these dangers.  Codenamed PQ17, these 35 merchant ships were especially hard-hit.  They sailed through the Arctic Ocean to the Soviet winter port of Archangel and met what Clarkson describes as one of the biggest naval disasters of the 20th century.  Amd it didn't happen because of brutal Arctic conditions or the might of the German military, but rather from a misjudgement made by the British Admiralty in London.

You'll have to watch the video on You Tube to find out more.

--GreGen


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