Arctic naval operations of World War II were the World War II naval operations that took place in the Arctic Ocean, and can be considered part of the Battle of the Atlantic and/or of the European Theatre of World War II.Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's definitive History of United States Naval Operations in World War II includes operations from the north pole southward in the first volume entitled The Battle of the Atlantic. Eligibility for the United States European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal was defined by Executive Order 9265 to include military service aboard a ship operating in the north polar region eastward from the 75th meridian west longitude to the 60th meridian east longitude.
Pre-war navigation in the region focused on fishing and the international ore-trade from Narvik and Petsamo. Soviet settlements along the coast and rivers of the Barents Sea and Kara Sea relied upon summer coastal shipping for supplies from railheads at Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. The Soviet Union extended the Northern Sea Route past the Taymyr Peninsula to the Bering Strait in 1935.Drent, Jan Commercial Shipping on the Northern Sea Route p. 4 The Winter War of 1939-1940 between Finland and the Soviet Union opened the northern flank of the Eastern Front of World War II. The ArcticWartime navigation over the waters within the Arctic Circle should not be confused with the Arctic Ocean as it may have subsequently been defined to exclude areas within the Arctic Circle. was initially dominated by the Soviet Northern Fleet of a few destroyers, with larger numbers of submarines, minesweepers, and torpedo cutters supported by icebreakers. The success of the 1940 German invasion of Norway provided the Kriegsmarine with naval bases from which capital ships might challenge units of the British Royal Navy Home Fleet. Luftwaffe anti-shipping aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 26 (KG 26) and Kampfgeschwader 30 (KG 30) operated intermittently from Norwegian airfields, while Küstenfliegergruppen aircraft including Heinkel He 115s and Blohm & Voss BV 138s undertook routine reconnaissance.Wood & Gunston pp. 64–75 Following the 1941 Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, the Allies initiated a series of Arctic convoys to bring military supplies to the Soviet Union in formations of freighters screened by destroyers, corvettes and minesweepers. Escorting cruisers typically maneuvered outside the formations, while a larger covering force including battleships and aircraft carriers often steamed nearby to engage Kriegsmarine capital ships or to raid the German naval bases in Norway.
The Soviet Union and Germany each deployed smaller coastal convoys: to maintain the flow of supplies to the Soviet Arctic coast, to transport strategic metal ores from Scandinavia to Germany, and to sustain troops on the northern flank of the Eastern Front. Soviet convoys hugged the coast to avoid ice, while German convoys used fjords to evade Royal Navy patrols. Both sides engaged in minelaying and minesweeping of these shallow, confined routes – vulnerable to mine warfare and to submarine ambushes. Minesweepers and submarine chasers typically screened German convoys, while Soviet convoys were often protected by minesweeping trawlers and torpedo cutters.
A branch of the Pacific Route began carrying Lend-Lease goods through the Bering Strait to the Soviet Arctic coast in June 1942. The number of westbound cargo-ship voyages along this route was 23 in 1942, 32 in 1943, 34 in 1944 and 31 after Germany surrendered in May 1945. Westbound tonnage through the Bering Strait totaled approximately 10% of North American wartime goods sent to Soviet Arctic ports.Vail Motter pp. 481–482 A large portion of tonnage though the Bering Strait was fuel for Siberian airfields on the Alaska-Siberia air route.
1939 – Early conflict and Winter War 6 September 1939: Bremen was the first of 18 German merchant ships to take refuge in Murmansk after avoiding British naval patrols in the Atlantic.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 3 30 November 1939: The Winter War offensive against Petsamo was supported by Soviet Northern Fleet destroyers Kuibishev, Karl Liebknecht and Grozny.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 8
1940 – Invasion of Norway
April 1940: Operation Weserübung included an invasion of Narvik by troops embarked aboard ten Kriegsmarine destroyers. Covering battleships and briefly engaged ; and subsequent battles of Narvik involved Norwegian coastal defence ships Eidsvold and Norge, U-boats, and units of the Royal Navy.Grove pp. 7–35 4 May 1940: The Polish destroyer Grom was sunk off Narvik by a KG 100 bomber.Brown p. 31 21 May 1940: was scuttled after grounding on a shallow pinnacle off Narvik.Brown p. 32 4 June 1940: Operation Alphabet troopships Monarch of Bermuda, Batory, Sobieski, Franconia, Lancastria, Georgic, Oronsay, Ormonde, Arandora Star, Royal Ulsterman, Ulster Prince, Ulster Monarch and Duchess of York began evacuation of 24,600 Allied soldiers from Narvik.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 21&22 8 June 1940: With some of the longest range naval gunnery hits ever documented, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sank the British aircraft carrier and her escorting destroyers and during Operation Juno.Kemp pp. 65–67 9 July 1940: Raider Komet sailed north from Bergen and waited near Novaya Zemlya until 13 August 1940 for ice conditions to allow passage through the Matochkin Strait into the Kara Sea. Komet proceeded east with the assistance of three Soviet icebreakers to enter the Pacific Ocean through the Bering Strait on 5 September 1940.Muggenthaler pp. 54–59 Soviet submarine Shch-423 made a similar trip from Murmansk to Vladivostok from 5 August to 17 October.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 30 25 July 1940: Admiral Hipper sailed for a two-week Arctic patrol.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 29 15 August 1940: Army transport departed Petsamo for New York City carrying American nationals from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. American Legion also carried Princess Märtha of Sweden with her children, and a Bofors 40 mm gun manufactured in Sweden which became the prototype for American manufacture of the primary United States Navy anti-aircraft gun of World War II.Cressman p. 29 25 August 1940: and sailed for a five-day patrol to Bear Island.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 32 16 October 1940: launched an airstrike against the Tromsø seaplane base.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 39
4 March 1941: and covered the Operation Claymore raid on Lofoten.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 53 11 April 1941: HNoMS Mansfield destroyed the Øksfjord fish oil factory.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 58 7 May 1941: Destroyers , , and captured code documents aboard the German weather ship München near Jan Mayen while covered by cruisers HMS Edinburgh, and . HMS Nigeria made a similar capture of the weather ship Lauenburg on 28 June.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 62&71
1941 – Invasion of the Soviet Union 25 June 1941: The Soviet troopship Mossovet brought reinforcements to Titovka; and Soviet destroyers Kuibishev and Uritski landed additional reinforcements on 30 June.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 70&71 1 July 1941: and are the first U-boats stationed in the Arctic.Ruge p. 222 12 July 1941: Kriegsmarine destroyers Richard Beitzen, Hermann Schoemann, Hans Lody, Friedrich Eckoldt and Karl Galster attacked a small Soviet convoy near Cape Teriberski.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 73 14 July 1941: Soviet destroyers Gromky, Gremyashchy, Stremitleny and Kuibishev delayed a German infantry advance near Zapadnaya Litsa River. 20 July 1941: The Soviet destroyer Stremitleny was sunk in Kola Bay by a LG 1 Junkers Ju 87.Brown p. 48 23 July 1941: Kriegsmarine destroyers Richard Beitzen, Hermann Schoemann, Friedrich Eckoldt and Karl Galster sank the Soviet survey ship Meridian near Teriberka.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 75 30 July 1941: HMS Furious and launched airstrikes on Petsamo and Kirkenes. Victorious launched an airstrike on Tromsø on 31 July. These airstrikes turned back a patrol of Kriegsmarine destroyers. 31 July 1941: HMS Nigeria, , and destroyed a weather station on Bear Island.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 76 August 1941: British submarines and were transferred to Murmansk.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 76&77 10 August 1941: Kriegsmarine destroyers , , and sank the Soviet patrol ship Tuman near Kola Bay. sank Soviet patrol vessel Zhemchug in the White Sea entrance. 19 August 1941: Troopship Empress of Canada sailed from Scapa Flow with HMS Aurora, Nigeria, , and to evacuate Soviet and Norwegian residents following destruction of Spitsbergen coal mines by Operation Gauntlet.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 77 The warships encountered a German troop convoy off Porsangerfjorden and sank the escort Bremse on 6 September.Brown p. 49 26 August 1941: sank 3870-ton Mariya Ulyanova. 31 August 1941: The Dervish Convoy arrived in Arkhangelsk initiating transport of Allied war materials around Norway to the Soviet Union. The convoy was escorted by , and Victorious, which launched airstrikes against Tromsø. 12 September 1941: Soviet submarine Shch-422 sank 1459-ton Ottar Jarl off Tanafjord. 27 September 1941: Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook and W. Averell Harriman arrived in Arkhangelsk aboard .Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 87 7 October 1941: HMS Victorious launched an airstrike against Vestfjorden.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 90
1942 – PQ convoys 11 October 1941: Convoy PQ 1 escorted by HMS Suffolk arrived in Arkhangelsk.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 89 17 October 1941: Soviet submarine Shch-402 sank the 682-ton Vesteraalen in Soroysundet. 18 October 1941: sank the 3487-ton Argun at the entrance to the White Sea. 30 October 1941: Convoy PQ 2 arrived in Arkhangelsk. Return convoy QP 2 departed on 2 November.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 93&96 24 November 1941: , Bedouin, , and Soviet destroyers Gromky and Gremyashchy shell Vardø.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 101 28 November 1941: Convoy PQ 3 and convoy PQ 4 arrived in Arkhangelsk. Return convoy QP 3 departed on 27 November.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 97&101 3 December 1941: Soviet submarine K-3 was forced to surface after damages caused by German sub chasers UJ 1403, UJ 1416 and UJ 1708. Submarine engaged the Germans in gunfire battle and UJ 1708 was sunk, while the others retreated. 7 December 1941: Anthony Eden arrived in Murmansk aboard HMS Kent.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 103 12 December 1941: Convoy PQ 5 arrived in Arkhangelsk. 21 December 1941: Soviet submarine M-174 sank the 4301-ton Emshorn off the Varangerfjord. 23 December 1941: Convoy PQ 6 arrived in Murmansk.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 106 25 December 1941: , and formed gruppe Ulan patrolling south of Bear Island for PQ convoys until 14 March 1942.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 111 26 December 1941: covered the Operation Anklet raid on Lofoten.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 110 11 January 1942: Convoy PQ 7 arrived in Murmansk after U-134 sank 5135-ton Waziristan.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 114
14 January 1942: Soviet submarine S-102 sank 1877-ton Turkheim off Sytlefjord. 17 January 1942: U-454 damaged 5395-ton Harmatris and sank from convoy PQ 8 as the convoy reached Kola Bay.Brown p. 56 The German battleship Tirpitz was based at Trondheim, where its presence required the Home Fleet to retain at least one modern battleship which might have otherwise been used in the Mediterranean or Pacific.Irving pp. 4–6 5 February 1942: Soviet submarine Shch-421 sank 2975-ton Konsul Schulte off Porsangerfjorden.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 117 10 February 1942: Combined convoys PQ 9 and 10 arrived in Murmansk escorted by HMS Nigeria, and Intrepid. The escort departed with return convoy QP 7 on 12 February.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 120&123 15 February 1942: Soviet submarine S-101 sank 1147-ton Mimona off Tanafjord.Rohwer & Hummelchen p. 123 23 February 1942: Convoy PQ 11 arrived in Murmansk. Admiral Scheer joined Tirpitz in Trondheim.Rohwer & Hummelchen pp. 121&125