On the 1 March 1942 HMS Verdun and
HMS Woolston were called upon to strengthen the escort of convoy PQ.12
to the Northern Russian Port of Murmansk (click on the link and them select PQ.12 from the column on the left). These convoys were described
by Winston Churchill as 'The worst journey in the world'. Although
these ships had been designed and built for working
the English Channel and the North Sea the dire need for extra escorts led to the trustworthy old V&W
destroyers being called upon. This convoy really put them to the test and the weather, as always, was to
prove the worst enemy, as illustrated by the fact that on
this convoy one of the rescue whalers iced up and capsized in the rough
seas.
On the 5 March the convoy was sighted by a German
reconnaissance aircraft. This was reported to the German High Command
in Norway and the mighty German battleship, Tirpitz, the most modern,
largest, and heavily armed battleship in the world at that time
accompanied by her screening destroyers set forth to intercept. Due to
the atrocious weather and a bad sighting report they failed to
make contact with the convoy and it arrived in the Kola Inlet on the 12 March without loss apart from the rescue whaler although
some of the
ships incurred ice damage. It is hard to imagine what the crews of the
two old V&Ws
endured during that convoy, for, with the exception
of a duffle coat they had not been issued with any extra cold weather
clothing.
Wally Randall had to be taken from his action station on X Gun at the
stern in a frozen state and defrosted on the wardroom table.
They sailed from the Kola Inlet with returning convoy QP.9 on the 23
March. One U-boat was rammed and sunk by the
Halcyon Class minesweeper Sharpshooter and they all arrived at Reykjavik on the 3
April, very glad to be home. The V&Ws having proved
their strength and worth were to be engaged in many more of those
awful convoys, but outbound convoy PQ.12 and return convoy QP.9 were only Arctic Convoys escorted by HMS Woolston. Seventeen V&Ws took part in 59 Russian
convoys (including return convoys).
Frank Witton was presented with the Ushakov Medal at the London Embassy of Russian Federation on the 12 March 2014
Photographed by Bill Forster
If you want to find out more about the wartime service of a member of your family who served on HMS Woolston you should first obtain a copy of their service record To find out how follow this link: http://www.holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/servicerecords.html
If you have stories or photographs of HMS Woolston you would like to contribute to the web site please contact Bill Forster or Vic Green
