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HMS Trinidad's doomed escape from Murmansk

An account in The Arctic Convoys follows HMS Trinidad's attempted return from Murmansk and the air attacks that left the damaged cruiser beyond saving.

Notes

Schofield's account follows HMS Trinidad after steel plating allowed emergency repairs for a return voyage from Murmansk. Intelligence reports about German heavy ships delayed her departure until 13 May, while destroyers, cruisers, battleships, and distant cover were assembled for protection. Soviet air cover amounted to a brief appearance by three Hurricanes, allowing German reconnaissance aircraft to keep reporting the force's position. A low-level Ju 88 attack then set fires, breached a temporary patch, flooded a turret magazine and adjacent compartments, and left the cruiser listing by 14 degrees. Trinidad initially kept steaming and avoided torpedo bombers, but the fire soon became uncontrollable. Because Schofield was there, the book also offers an eyewitness account of the Arctic convoys.