Barents Sea submarine campaign (1941)

The Barents Sea campaign in 1941 was a submarine operation in the Arctic waters of the Barents Sea during World War II. It was a combined Soviet and British campaign, with boats departing from Polyarny to harass the German shipping lines along the Norwegian coast.

Background
At the beginning of war, the Soviet Navy operated 15 submarines from Polyarny, later augmented by 8 vessels of the Baltic Fleet coming through channels. The Royal Navy reinforced this unit dispatching HMS Tigris (N63) and HMS Trident (N52), later relieved by HMS Sealion (72S) and HMS Seawolf (47S).

Actions

 * On 17 August, British submarine HMS Tigris (N63) torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant "Haakon Jarl" (1492 GRT)
 * On 19 August, British submarine HMS Trident (N52) damaged with gunfire the German merchant "Levante" (4769 GRT)
 * On 22 August, British submarine HMS Trident (N52) torpedoed and sank the German merchant "Ostpreussen" (3030 GRT)
 * On 30 August, British submarine HMS Trident (N52) torpedoed and sank the German merchants "Donau II" (2931 GRT) and "Bahia Laura" (8561 GRT)
 * On 13 September, British submarine HMS Tigris (N63) torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant "Richard With" (905 GRT)
 * On 27 September, British submarine HMS Trident (N52) torpedoed and damaged the German submarine chaser UJ-1201.
 * On 17 October, the Soviet submarine ShCh-422 torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant "Ottar Jarl" (1459 GRT)
 * On 17 October, the Soviet submarine ShCh-402 torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant "Vesteraalen"(682 GRT).
 * On 3 November, British submarine HMS Trident (N52) torpedoed and sank the German submarine chaser UJ-1213.
 * On 18 November, British submarine HMS Seawolf (47S) torpedoed and sank the Norwegian tanker "Vesco" (331 GRT)
 * On 3 December, the Soviet submarine K-3 missed with torpedoes the German merchant "Altkirch" (4713 GRT): she was subjected to depth charges and damaged by escort. Forced to surface, the submarine engaged in gun battle with the submarine chasers "UJ-1403", "UJ-1416" and "UJ-1708". During the fight, "UJ-1708" sunk and the other vessels fled allowing K-3 to return at base.
 * On 5 December, British submarine HMS Seawolf (47S) torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant "Island" (638 GRT)
 * On 11 December, Soviet submarine K-22 shelled and sank the Norwegian fishing vessels "Alphar" and "Borgar". Two days earlier, she also laid a field of mines (but they scored no success).

Minelayer submarines
Soviet submarine K-1 of the oceanic K class laid 3 fields of mines on 27 October, 29 October and 16 December. On the first and third fields sunk respectively:
 * German merchant "Flottbek" (1930 GRT)
 * Norwegian merchant "Kong Ring" (1994 GRT)

Soviet submarine K-23 of the oceanic K class laid a single field of mines on 5 November.
 * These mines were responsible for damaging the German minesweeper M-22 on 22 October.

Soviet submarine K-21 of the oceanic K class laid a single field of mines on 11 November.
 * On these mines was sunk German merchant "Bessheim" (1774 GRT).

Outcome
The Soviet results achieved from the campaign were modest, despite losing no vessel: success was hampered not just by the extremly harsh Arctic climate but also due inexperience while on contrast the British vessels gained more successes. The British officers instructed the Soviet submarine D-3 to follow their own tactics but despite many victories claimed, none was real.

Curiosity
Prior the departure from Polyarny after completing her first mission, the submarine HMS Trinidad received as gift a reindeer foal (named "Pollyanna"). The submarine endured a six-week patrol before returning home with the reindeer living on board. Once back in England, the animal was gifted to the Regent's Park Zoo.