Operation Dervish (1941)

Operation Dervish was the first of the Arctic Convoys of World War II by which the Western Allies supplied material aid to the Soviet Union in its fight with Nazi Germany. The convoy sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland on 21 August 1941 and arrived at Archangelsk on 31 August 1941. The Convoy Commodore was Captain J. C. K. Dowding RNR. On board Llanstephan Castle were two journalists, Vernon Bartlett and Charlotte Haldane of the Daily Sketch, also the artist, Felix Topolski.

Dervish
The convoy assembled at Reykjavik in Iceland and consisted of six merchant ships Lancastrian Prince, New Westminster City, Esneh, Trehata, the elderly Llanstephan Castle loaded with raw materials and 15 crated Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft, the fleet oiler RFA Aldersdale and the Dutch freighter Alchiba. The convoy was escorted by the destroyers HMS Electra (H27), HMS Active (H14) and HMS Impulsive (D11), the minesweepers HMS Halcyon (J42), HMS Salamander (J86) and HMS Harrier (J71) and the anti-submarine Shakespearian class trawlers HMT Hamlet, HMT Macbeth and HMT Ophelia. Distant cover came from the fleet carrier HMS Victorious (R38) and the cruisers HMS Devonshire (39) and HMS Suffolk (55). The old aircraft carrier HMS Argus (I49), a veteran of World War I, took part in the parallel Operation Strength with the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire (73) and the destroyers HMS Matabele (F26), HMS Punjabi (F21) and HMS Somali (F33). Strength delivered the personnel of 151 Fighter Wing Royal Air Force to Russia and the 24 Hurricanes were flown off Argus direct to Vaenga (renamed Severomorsk in 1951) airfield, near Murmansk. Largely owing to the scarcity of Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance aircraft in the region, the ships arrived safely.

Aftermath
Dervish was followed by a regular series of convoys numbered like their Atlantic counterparts. The first homeward-bound convoy, QP-1, left Archangelsk on 28 September 1941 and the first outward-bound convoy, PQ-1, sailed from Iceland, arriving at Archangelsk on 11 October 1941.