For info, some of the ships in this convoy had previously arrived with Convoy HX 151, others with HX 152, HX 153 or HX 154 (see also HX 150).
For some return voyages, refer to subsequent HX convoys, as well as SC convoys from the same time period (for instance, SC 57).

Br=British, Norw=Norwegian, Sw=Swedish, Da=Danish, Du=Dutch, Pa=Panamanian, Am=American, Po=Polish

Empire Gem
Providence
(Br)

* King Arthur's destination was later changed to Philadelphia - See Nov. 7, Page 2. For some details on Alaska and Hardanger, see Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 on same page.

** The Commodore says that at 18:30 on Oct. 28 in 59 30N 7 40W a Danish ship transferred to Convoy PQ 3 "which was going direct to Iceland". In his narrative on Page 2 he gives the date as Oct. 29 and the name as Rota (station 94) and I've added her above for that reason, but she's not mentioned on the Convoy form for ON 30. She's not listed in Convoy PQ 3 on Nov. 9 in "Convoys to Russia 1941-1942" by Bob Ruegg and Arnold Hague, so it does not look like she continued to Archangel. See also this external site.

The Rescue Vessel Tjaldur also started out with this convoy from Clyde on Oct. 27 (on her first voyage as such) but had to return to port with engine defects the next day ("Convoy Rescue Ships 1940-1945", Arnold Hague). She's listed again in ON 35.

British Faith had previously been cancelled from Convoy ON 26.

As mentioned above, the information in this table comes from original convoy documents. When comparing it with what can be found in the late Arnold Hague's database at Ships in all ON convoys, it'll be noticed that he has also included the Norwegian Arosa in this convoy, adding she returned to port (not listed on the original document). She shows up again in ON 32. Also, he has listed the British Athelduke, saying she arrived with engine defects, but station number and destination are not given. This ship is not named on the original convoy form, but the Commodore mentions her under Oct. 27 in his narrative on Page 2. Additionally, A. Hague mentiones the British Cape Corso, with a note saying "probably this convoy, to join PQ 3". He also has the British Trekieve in ON 30, with a note saying "probably this convoy, to join PQ 3". Instead of Tae Billey he has the British Trevilley in station 56, and instead of Wichita he has Wichita Falls in station 65 (both joining from Iceland). He says Asbjørn was bound for Halifax, and has spelt Stad Maasluis with 1 s.

Average speed from Bar Light Vessel: 7.3 knots.
Average speed from Butt of Lewis: 8.3 knots.

Celtic Star stopped for engine repairs at 12:15 on Nov. 7 in 44 56N 44 34W, and did not rejoin. See text for Nov. 7 on Page 2.

A CAM ship dropped out in fog on Nov. 8; time and cause unknown, but the ship was missing from convoy in the morning - the Commodore calls her Eastern Star, but he probably means Eastern City(?). (Eastern Star was Norwegian and had been sunk in May that year).

When the convoy was dispersed, 45 ships were present.

Daily positions of convoy at 08:00 are available on request via contact address provided at the bottom of this page. Or, go to this page on Mike Holdoway's website (external link) - I sent him the coordinates, and he made a chart of the voyage (click on "Charted convoy routes"). Daily noon positions are given in the Commodore's narrative on Page 2, link below.

Tarana(n?)ki, Maaskerk, Pomella, El Argentino, San Gerardo, Port Alma, Alexia, Andrea Brøvig and Blankaholm were detached in 43 09N 52 15W.

A British aircraft was shot down by ships in the convoy on Oct. 30. The text for this date on Page 2 has more details on this.

Escorts:
From Western Approaches: Destroyers HMS Malcolm, Sardonyx, and Watchman, corvettes Arabis, Dahlia, Monkshood, trawlers Northern Spray, Northern Gem. - HMS Malcolm, Sardonyx and Watchman left convoy at 21:15 on Oct. 29 in 59 20N 8 10W.
At 11:20 on Nov. 2 in 57 12N 29 00W, the corvettes and trawlers were relieved by the American destroyers Charles F. Hughes, Lansdale, Gleaves, Madison, Simpson (these probably came from Iceland).

Air Escort was present at various times on Oct. 29 until Nov. 2.
U.S. aircraft were present on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.

A. Hague names the following escorts (extracted from this list of ON convoy escorts, received from D. Kindell; dates are European style, day/month/year):
Arabis - From 26/10/41 to 02/11/41
Dahlia - From 26/10/41 to 02/11/41
Malcolm - From 29/10/41 to 02/11/41
Monkshood - From 26/10/41 to 02/11/41
Northern Gem - From 26/10/41 to 02/11/41
Northern Spray - From 26/10/41 to 02/11/41
Sardonyx - From 29/10/41 to 02/11/41
USS Charles F. Hughes - From 02/11/41 to 09/11/41
USS Gleaves - From 02/11/41 to 09/11/41
USS Lansdale - From 02/11/41 to 09/11/41
USS Madison - From 02/11/41 to 09/11/41
USS Simpson - From 02/11/41 to 09/11/41
Watchman - From 29/10/41 to 02/11/41

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