Convoy QP 11 Convoy QP 11 was an Arctic Convoy of World War II , made up of merchant ships returning from the Soviet Union to Britain after delivering their cargo to the Soviet Union . The convoy consisted of 13 merchant ships , escorted by 18 warships . The convoy was attacked by German destroyers and submarines , suffering the loss of one merchant ship as well as the light cruiser HMS " Edinburgh " . The German forces lost the destroyer Z7 " Hermann Schoemann " " . " Ships . QP 11 consisted of 13 merchant ships , mostly British or American , including five ships that had been a part of Convoy PQ 13 . The convoy sailed from the Soviet port of Murmansk on 28 April 1942 . The convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS " Edinburgh " , the destroyers HMS " Amazon " , " Beagle " , " Beverley " , " Bulldog " , " Foresight " , and " Forester " , the Corvettes " Campanula " , " Oxlip " , " Saxifrage " , and " Snowflake " , and the armed trawler " Lord Middleton . " " Edinburgh " was not only serving as an escort , but was also carrying $ 20 million in gold , a payment from the Soviet Union to the United States . Voyage . On 29 April , the convoy was spotted by a German Ju - 88 reconnaissance plane as well as by German U - boat s . Two days after leaving Murmansk , the convoy was attacked by several U - boats . On 30 May " U - 88 " and " U - 436 " both made unsuccessful attacks on the convoy . Later that day , however , " U - 456 " fired torpedoes at " Edinburgh " and scored two hits . One torpedo hit the cruiser ' s forward boiler room while the other hit the cruiser ' s stern , destroying its rudder and two of its four propellers . The " Edinburgh " was badly damaged , but still afloat . " Edinburgh " left the convoy and headed back towards Murmansk , escorted by " Foresight " and " Forester " . Several ships were sent from Murmansk to assist " Edinburgh " , among them the British minesweepers " Gossamer " , " Harrier " , " Hussar " , and " Niger " , the Soviet destroyers " Gremyaschi " and " Sokrushitelny " , the Soviet guard ship " Rubin " , and a tug . Attack on the convoy . The German command sent the three destroyers of " Zestörergruppe " " Arktis " , Z7 " Hermann Schoemann " , Z24 and Z25 under the command of Kapitän zur See Alfred Schulze - Hinrichs , to attack QP 11 and then sink HMS " Edinburgh . " The German ships reached the convoy in the afternoon on 1 May . The weather was cold , and intermittent snow and rain limited visibility . Z7 opened fire at 2 : 05 p . m . The four British destroyers formed up between the German destroyers and the convoy , and engaged them at a range of about 10 , 000 yards . " Amazon " was hit twice and severely damaged . At 2 : 30 p . m . a German torpedo salvo hit and sunk the Soviet freighter " Tsiolkovski " . Finally , the German destroyers retired at 5 : 50 p . m . , and turned to go after " Edinburgh " . Attack on the " Edinburgh " . The German forces found " Edinburgh " 250 miles east of the convoy at 6 : 17 am on 2 May . The cruiser was moving at only two knots . The " Edinburgh " was being escorted by " Foresight " , " Forester " , the four British minesweepers , and " Rubin " ( " Gremyaschi " and " Sokrushitelny " having returned to Murmansk due to a lack of fuel ) . The three German destroyers engaged the British ships . Due to the damage caused by " U - 456 " , " Edinburgh " was unable to maneuver , and could only steam in circles . A snow shower separated " Herman Schoeman " from the other German destroyers , so it attacked the British ships alone . " Edinburgh " s targeting systems had been destroyed by the torpedo strikes , but " Edinburgh " ' s crew nevertheless managed to hit and cripple " Hermann Schoemann " . At 6 : 45 p . m . , " Z24 " and " Z25 " arrived on the scene . " Z25 " hit and disabled " Forester " , and then badly damaged " Foresight " . Then at 6 : 52 a salvo of torpedoes from one of the German destroyers missed " Foresight " and " Forester " . One of the torpedoes from this salvo kept going and struck " Edinburgh " in the middle of its left side , opposite the hole made by " U - 456 " s torpedo . Shortly thereafter the German ships withdrew , possible because they overestimated the strength of the British minesweepers . At 8 : 15 am , " Z24 " rescued most of the crew of " Hermann Schoemann " who were still on " Hermann Schoemann " s deck , and then scuttled " Hermann Schoemann " . More survivors from " Hermann Schoemann " who were in life rafts were later rescued by " U - 88 " . Meanwhile , the minesweepers " Harrier " and " Gossamer " took survivors off of " Edinburgh " , which was later sunk by a torpedo from " Foresight " . Aftermath . The rest of QP 11 ' s voyage saw unsuccessful attacks on the convoy by the submarines " U - 589 " and " U - 251 " . The twelve remaining merchant ships of the convoy arrived in Iceland on 7 May .