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In the summer of 2003 an international memorial expedition ‘Convoy-2003’ took place dedicated to the memory of vessels sunk in the Barents Sea in July 1942 during the mission of the convoy PQ-17.
The memorial expedition was organised on the initiative of the Vice-President of the Saint-Petersburg Public Association ‘The Arctic Allied Convoys’ and member of the Hydrographic Society of Russia (HSR) Rear-Admiral (Ret.) Vyacheslav Solodov, supported by government and voluntary organisations. The expedition headed to the memorial places near the archipelago Novaya Zemlya, where three US vessels and one British vessel were attacked by German submarines and lost.
At the beginning of September, Rear-Admiral Solodov spoke to a meeting of HSR members about the tasks and purpose of this expedition, explaining that had been tasked to find and survey the sunken vessels, as well as to determine the exact coordinates of the wrecks. The purpose of the expedition was also to pay homage to the crews of the lost vessels and ships of the convoys and to lay wreaths at the actual places of loss of the convoy PQ-17.
The expedition was carried out on board the hydrographic vessel SENEJ, operated by the Hydrographic Service of the North Fleet of the Russian Navy, and took place between 11th and 21st July 2003. Prior to the expedition, on the basis of data derived from archives, three areas had been identified where the PQ-17 vessels HARTLEBURY (Great Britain), OLOPANA and ALCOA RANGEÕ (USA) had presumably been lost. These areas were all surveyed during the expedition, which was joined by Mr William Lows (Britain), Mr Hill Wilson and Mr Robert Fairly (Canada), Mr H. Hermann (Germany), and Mr A. A. Nakhimovskiy, Mr A. L. Lifshits and Mr E. L. Yakovlev (Russia), all veterans of the Second World War.
Scientific and specialised technical support for the expedition was rendered by a group of experts from the Karpinskiy All-Russian Geological Institute (VSEGEI), Saint Petersburg in Russia under the leadership of Dr M. A. Spiridonov, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RAEN). Important contributions were made by Dr A. M. Gorodnitskiy, head of a Laboratory of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanography, Russian Academy of Science (IORAN) and an RAEN academician. Dr Gorodnitskiy is also a famous Russian bard.
Navigation facilities on board SENEJ and mobile technical means of VSEGEI were used in the task of searching. The technology used included a satellite navigation system GPS 126 with an attachment GBP 21, a side scan sonar CM (Great Britain) and a remote-operated underwater vehicle, F ISH-106, produced by the joint-stock company Intershelf and intended for video survey of the sea bottom and underwater objects.
In the areas of loss of the transport vessels OLOPANA and ALCOA RANGER, at depths of 94m and 132m, the sunken vessels were detected. Here, ceremonies paying homage to the lost crews of convoy vessels and ships took place and wreaths were laid on the water according to marine tradition.
The results of the expedition once more proved the feasibility of detecting sunken objects relating to the Second World War on the sea floor. According to Rear-Admiral V. Solodov, participants in the expedition concluded that special-purpose complex surveys were required to detect historical objects and develop maritime memorial cadastre under the motto “There are no nameless marine graves”.
Mr H. Hermann, a Luftwaffe officer during the war, told the International Conference devoted to this expedition in Saint-Petersburg on 21st July 2003, “Those ten days, I believe, produced on the veterans and on the whole crew a wonderful result, reinforced by the care taken of the veterans and success of the expedition itself. I extend my gratitude to all of you and I thank you very much for your hospitality. I assure you, this is the best event at the end of my life”.
The HSR members supported the proposal put forward by the participants in the expedition ‘Convoy-2003’ and agreed that hydrographers should take a most active part in the arranging and implementation of such surveys.
Contact
The Hydrographic Society, Russia (HSR)
Att. Viktor Rybine
Kozhevennaja linija 41
Saint-Petersburg 199106
Russia
Tel/Fax: +7 812 350 5026
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