Convoy PQ 15 Convoy PQ 15 was an Arctic convoy sent from Iceland by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II . It sailed in late April 1942 , reaching the Soviet northern ports after air attacks that sank three ships . Twenty - two ships arrived safely . Ships . The convoy consisted of 25 merchant ships and was accompanied by one auxiliary , the oiler " Gray Ranger " , which travelled with her own escort of destroyer s . The Close Escort was led by Commander J . Crombie in the minesweeper and consisted of two other minesweepers and four trawlers , joined later by four destroyers and the antiaircraft ship HMS " Ulster Queen " . There were two support groups : a Cruiser Cover Force led by Rear Admiral H . M . Burrough in the light cruiser , with the heavy cruiser and two destroyers ; and a Distant Covering Force led by Admiral John Tovey , comprising the battleship s and , ( Rear Admiral Robert C . Giffen , USN , commanding ) , the aircraft carrier , the heavy cruisers , and , the light cruiser , and 10 destroyers . The convoy was also covered by a patrol of four submarine s off Norway , guarding against a sortie by German warships . Action . PQ 15 sailed from Reykjavík , Iceland , on 26 April 1942 with its local escort . This was joined on 28 April by the ocean escort , giving the convoy an immediate total escort of 12 warships . German aircraft sighted the convoy on 28 April while it was 250 nautical miles ( 463 km ) southwest of Bear Island . However no attack developed for two days as the attention of German forces focused on the reciprocal Convoy QP 11 , which left Murmansk in the Soviet Union on 28 April . On 1 May the German " Luftwaffe " made its first attack on PQ 15 , by six Junkers Ju 88 s . The German bombers were unsuccessful , and lost one of their number . Also on 1 May , the Distant Cover Force suffered two losses when " King George V " and the destroyer collided in fog . " Punjabi " sank and " King George V " was forced to return to port . Her place in the group was taken by the battleship , which steamed from Scapa Flow to reinforce the task force . The escorts made an asdic contact on 2 May , which the destroyer and minesweeper attacked . The submarine was damaged and forced to the surface ; it was found to be the Polish " Jastrzab " , which was assigned to patrol off Norway but was some way out of position . " Jastrzab " was too badly damaged to continue and was abandoned and scuttled . On 3 May at 0130 in the half light of the Arctic summer nights , six Heinkel He 111 bombers of I . " Gruppe " , " Kampfgeschwader " 26 , the " Luftwaffe " s new torpedo bomber force , attacked the convoy , making the first German torpedo bomber attack of World War II . Three ships were hit . Two were sunk , and one was damaged and later sunk by the German submarine " U - 251 " . Two aircraft were shot down and a third damaged , which subsequently crashed . A further attack by German high - level bombers at dusk was unsuccessful . Deteriorating weather on 4 May prevented any German further attacks ; an Arctic gale quickly turning into a snowstorm . PQ 15 arrived at the Kola Inlet at 2100 on 5 May with no further losses . Aftermath . Three of PQ 15s ships had been sunk , " Botavon " and " Cape Corso " by torpedo bombers and " Jutland " damaged by torpedo bombers and later sunk by " U - 251 " . Of the escorting warships , the submarine " Jastrzab " and destroyer " Punjabi " had been sunk and the battleship " King George V " had been damaged . However , 22 fully laden merchant ships had arrived safely in Murmansk , the largest Allied convoy yet to arrive in the Soviet Union . The convoy was regarded by the Allies as a success , although it gave them a taste of the difficulties to come on the Arctic convoy run .