The convoy runs to north Russia began in August 1941. Throughout the war, these runs were the primary responsibility of the Royal Navy. American vessels began sailing the convoy routes to Russia in December 1941. The first American merchant ship to sail, the 3,800-ton freighter SS Larranga, left Boston, Mass., with Navy Armed Guard personnel on Dec. 6, 1941. The ship connected with a convoy in Iceland and arrived in Murmansk on Jan. 19, 1942.
Ships heading south didn t leave Russia with empty holds.
They brought back to American ports chrome, wood products, furs, skins and even goose feathers. These were the dangers imposed by the enemy. Mother Nature had her say as well. Merchant seamen and Navy sailors sailed in darkness or in semi-twilight accompanied by a sun that never rose above the horizon. They encountered snow from September to May, gales, winds up to 88 miles per hour and spray that froze on the upper works of ships, adding the danger of tons of topside ice, which could cause a ship to capsize if not cleared away.