Convoy PQ 11 was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in February 1942 and arrived in Murmansk without loss.

Voyage

PQ 11 sailed from Loch Ewe, Scotland on 7 February 1942 to Kirkness, Iceland arriving on 14 February, before continuing on to Murmansk for 22 February. The convoy was undetected by German aircraft or U-boats in the continuous darkness of the polar night, and arrived safely at Murmansk, the Soviet Union's only ice-free Arctic port.

Ships

PQ 11 consisted of 13 merchant ships; eight British, two Soviet, one American, one of Panamanian and one of Honduran registry. The convoy was escorted by two destroyers, Airedale and Middleton, two corvettes and four ASW Trawlers. These were supported by the cruiser HMS Nigeria.

The convoy was joined in the last stage of the voyage by two Soviet destroyers and five Royal Navy minesweepers based at Murmansk.

Ships in the convoy

Name^[1]	Flag	Tonnage (GRT)	Notes
HMS Airedale (L07)	Royal Navy		Escort 14–17 February
Ashkhabad (1917)	Soviet Union	5,284
Barrwhin (1929)	United Kingdom	4,998
HMT Blackfly (FY117)	Royal Navy		Escort 14–17 February, anti-submarine trawler
HMT Cape Argona	Royal Navy		Escort 14–17 February, anti-submarine trawler
HMT Cape Mariato	Royal Navy		Escort 14–17 February, anti-submarine trawler
City Of Flint (1920)	United States	4,963
Daldorch (1930)	United Kingdom	5,571
Empire Baffin (1941)	United Kingdom	6,978	Arrived Murmansk 24 February
Empire Magpie (1919)	United Kingdom	6,211	Vice-Commodore's ship
Gromky	Soviet Union		Escort 22 February, Soviet destroyer
Grozny	Soviet Union		Escort 22 February, Soviet destroyer
HMS Harrier	Royal Navy		Escort 22 February
Hartlebury (1934)	United Kingdom	5,082
HMS Hazard	Royal Navy		Escort 22 February
HMS Hussar (J82)	Royal Navy		Escort 14 February
Kingswood (1929)	United Kingdom	5,080	Commodore's ship
Lowther Castle (1937)	United Kingdom	5,171
Makawao (1921)	Honduras	3,253
Marylyn (1930)	United Kingdom	4,555
HMS Middleton (L74)	Royal Navy		Escort 14–17 February
HMS Niger (J73)	Royal Navy		Escort 14–22 February
HMS Nigeria (60)	Royal Navy		Escort 22–23 February
North King (1903)	Panama	4,934
HMS Oxlip (K123)	Royal Navy		Escort 17–22 February
HMS Salamander (J86)	Royal Navy		Escort 22 February
Stepan Khalturin (1921)	Soviet Union	2,498
HMS Sweetbriar	Royal Navy		Escort 14–22 February

References

^ Hague, Arnold. "Convoy PQ.11". Don Kindell, Convoyweb. Retrieved 15 October 2013.

Clay Blair : Hitler's U-Boat War Vol I (1996) ISBN 0-304-35260-8
Paul Kemp : Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters (1993) ISBN 1-85409-130-1
Bernard Schofield : (1964) The Russian Convoys BT Batsford ISBN (none)
PQ 11 at Convoyweb

Arctic convoys of World War II

1941

Outbound	Dervish PQ 1 PQ 2 PQ 3 PQ 4 PQ 5 PQ 6
Homebound	QP 1 QP 2 QP 3

1942

Outbound	PQ 7a PQ 7b PQ 8 PQ 9 PQ 10 PQ 11 PQ 12 PQ 13 PQ 14 PQ 15 PQ 16 PQ 17 PQ 18 Operation FB JW 51A JW 51B
Homebound	QP 4 QP 5 QP 6 QP 7 QP 8 QP 9 QP 10 QP 11 QP 12 QP 13 QP 14 QP 15 RA 51

1943

Outbound	JW 52 JW 53 JW 54A JW 54B JW 55A JW 55B
Homebound	RA 52 RA 53 RA 54A RA 54B RA 55A RA 55B

1944

Outbound	JW 56A JW 56B JW 57 JW 58 JW 59 JW 60 JW 61 JW 61A JW 62 JW 63
Homebound	RA 56 RA 57 RA 58 RA 59 RA 59A RA 60 RA 61 RA 61A RA 62 RA 63

1945

Outbound	JW 64 JW 65 JW 66 JW 67
Homebound	RA 64 RA 65 RA 66 RA 67