I first learned about convoy PQ-17 while researching the Arctic convoys for my previous book, The Mathews Men, which chronicles the struggle between Hitler’s U-boats and the tiny maritime community of Mathews County, Virginia. Since no Mathews men were in convoy PQ-17, I mentioned it only briefly in the book. But it intrigued me, and I started reading all I could find about it. The story had everything—an exotic, perilous setting; dramatic twists; moral quandaries; heroic deeds; not-so-heroic deeds; and political intrigue at the highest levels. The more I learned about convoy PQ-17, the more I wondered why I had never heard about it before.
The story of convoy PQ-17 is far better known in Britain and Russia than it is in the United States, which strikes me as odd. Most of the men and ships in the convoy were American. The decision to send them into harm’s way originated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who regarded the Arctic convoys as vital to maintaining a fragile wartime alliance with Joseph Stalin and preventing World War II from evolving into the Cold War. I view the story of convoy PQ-17 as a forgotten chapter of American history with implications for the twenty-first century, and I have tried to tell it in that context. But at its most basic level, it is a tale of survival. To me, the most compelling part of the story is the voyage of the Ghost Ships, which fled into the polar ice to escape destruction by the Nazis. The odyssey of the Ghost Ships is the focus of this book.
Seventy-five years after convoy PQ-17 set out across the Arctic for North Russia, I was lucky to find detailed accounts of the Ghost Ships’ adventure.
I am indebted to James Baker North III of Santa Barbara, California, a survivor of convoy PQ-17. Jim, who in 1942 was an ordinary seaman on the freighter Troubadour, recounted his experiences to me in a series of interviews. At age ninety-five, he is still a feisty character and a lively raconteur. Jim also shared various documents and photos he had collected over the years.
Mac Carraway of Bradenton, Florida, whose father, Howard, commanded the Navy Armed Guard unit on the Troubadour, told me about his father’s life and provided me with a copy of a diary his father kept of the voyage of convoy PQ-17. I was astonished to find that the diary was 320 handwritten pages long, and was delighted to discover that Howard Carraway was an excellent writer. It’s hard for me to imagine a more complete and revealing record of the Ghost Ships’ voyage than his diary. Mac Carraway also gave me other documents related to his father, and directed me to a section of the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, that contains his father’s official reports about the convoy, as well as photos he took on the voyage.
Richard E. Carter of Dover, Delaware, whose father, William, commanded the Navy Armed Guard unit on the freighter Ironclad, told me his father’s story and graciously allowed me to quote at length from his father’s self-published book, Why Me, Lord? The book contains countless details of the Ghost Ships’ adventures that are not available anywhere else. While I was working on the book, Richard and I traveled together to Russia and to Hvalfjord in Iceland, the starting point of convoy PQ-17. Richard, who is a historian, also helped me find additional sources of information about convoy PQ-17.
I am grateful to the three children of Lieutenant Leo Gradwell, the commander of the British trawler HMT Ayrshire. Stephen Gradwell, Mary Corrigan, and the late Andrew Gradwell all gave generously of their time to tell me about their father’s life, and how his healthy distrust of authority made him one of the true heroes of convoy PQ-17. Mary Corrigan sent me a trove of photos and documents, including her father’s handwritten official reports and his decidedly unofficial account of the final stages of the voyage.
I’m indebted to Clare Howard, the granddaughter of Walter John Baker, a young sailor on the Ayrshire in 1942 who wrote a wonderfully detailed and lyrical account of the voyage. After her grandfather’s death, Clare self-published his account in a book, The Convoy Is to Scatter, which is another rich source of details about the Ghost Ships’ adventures. She was kind enough to allow me to quote from the book at length, and to provide me with photos of her grandfather and the Ayrshire. Thanks to Elise McDonald for allowing me to use photos taken by her grandfather Arthur McDonald of his fellow survivors from the freighter Washington on the rocky “beach” of Novaya Zemlya.
My thanks to Yury Alexandrov, Igor Kozyr, and Sergei Aprelev of the Polar Convoy Social Group, an organization of Russian military veterans and history enthusiasts devoted to preserving the memory of the Arctic convoys. Yury, Igor, and Sergei were my hosts for the Dervish 2017 conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, in August 2017. They helped explain to me how the supplies delivered by the convoys were handled and transported once they reached the Soviet Union. I also learned a great deal from Dr. Mikhail Suprun, a prominent Russian historian in Archangel, about life in wartime Archangel and how the Russian perspective on the Arctic convoys has changed over the years. Captain Maksym Melnikov, who was master of the cruise ship M/S Nautica during my voyage to Archangel, took time out from his busy schedule at sea to talk with me about sailing in the Arctic and about his own view of the Arctic convoys. Like many Russians, he learned about the convoys in school. Ivan Katyshev, the department head of Scientific Research at the Northern Maritime Museum in Archangel, helped me obtain Russian documents and photos related to convoy PQ-17.
Maya Crank, Irina Tsyroulieva, and Iryna Pugachova of Virginia Beach translated dozens of pages of Russian documents for me. Hilde Oppedal, a friend from Norway, translated Norwegian documents and showed me around Bergen, Norway. Simon Fowler, a researcher in London, gathered information for me from British sources and also helped me navigate the U.K. National Archives at Kew. Dr. Victoria Hill, an Arctic researcher at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, educated me about the Arctic environment and its ongoing transformation due to global warming.
My friends Paul Tyler and Bill Graves pored over drafts of the manuscript and greatly improved it. Rex Bowman provided me with Admiral Arseny Golovko’s memoir and other documents, along with advice and encouragement. Kayla Kipps, a librarian at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!), and my son Cody, a recent graduate of the University of Virginia (Go ’Hoos!), tracked down hard-to-find reference books in the universities’ libraries for me. Dave Schwind provided help and advice. Vikki Camp helped me with travel arrangements to Norway, Russia, and London.
I’m grateful to my agent, Farley Chase, who encouraged me to pursue the convoy PQ-17 story, and to my editor at Viking, Wendy Wolf. Others at Viking I’d like to thank include Bruce Giffords, Jane Cavolina, Roland Ottewell, Lorie Young, Terezia Cicel, Matt Varga, Lucia Bernard, Fabiana Van Arsdell, Tricia Conley, Jason Ramirez, Claire Vaccaro, and the marketing and publicity teams. Thanks also to Jeff Ward for his excellent maps.
I could not have written The Ghost Ships of Archangel without the love and support of my family. My wife, Kema, was involved in virtually every phase of the book, from discussing the concept with me to assisting me with my research, taking photographs, and reading drafts of the chapters.