SS Dekabrist

SS Dekabrist was a Russian steamship, built in 1903 and immediately converted to an

1n 1922 she returned to merchant service as Dekabrist, operating from Vladivostok.

In 1940 Dekabrist was used briefly as transport for Polish POWs from Vladivostok to Magadan en route to forced labour at the Kolyma gold mines in Siberia.

In December 1941, Dekabrist was employed on the Kola Run, the Allied supply route through the Norwegian Sea to the USSR's Arctic ports.

Dekabrist sailed in one east-bound convoy, PQ 6, in December 1941,^[3] returning with other empty Allied merchant ships in west-bound convoy QP 5 in January 1942.^[4][5]

Fate

In November 1942, Dekabrist took part in Operation FB, an attempt to run several independent-sailing merchant ships under cover of the Arctic night.

Dekabrist sailed on 3 November, but was spotted and attacked by German aircraft. She was hit by a bomb which tore a hole in her bow. Despite efforts to save her, Dekabrist was abandoned at midnight on 5 November, and sank the following day.^[5]

Dekabrist's crew of 80 were able to abandon ship in four lifeboats; of these only one reached land, the inhospitable Hopen Island, and of that boat's 20 crew-members, only three survived. These were picked up by a German vessel in October 1943, 11 months after the sinking.^[6][5]

Notes

References

• Hutson, Harry. Arctic interlude: Independent to North Russia Merriam Press (1997)
  ISBN 978 1 57638 059 8
• Walling, Michael. Forgotten Sacrifice Osprey (2012)
  ISBN 978 1 84908 718 6
• Woodman, Richard. Arctic Convoys 1941-1945 Murray press (1994)
  ISBN 0 7195 6617 7

• Dekabrist at wrecksite.eu; retrieved 3 July 2018
• Dekabrist at
  Lloyds Register
  , 1942; retrieved 3 July 2018