The PQ 18 diagram shows merchant columns enclosed by close escorts and specialized anti-aircraft support. Vice-Admiral Schofield's Arctic Convoys is recommended for its maps, diagrams, and running first-hand account of convoy organization and service. The diagram also marks where submarine and air attacks broke through. The count given here is ten merchant ships lost and thirty delivered. Those losses remained serious, yet the three-to-one balance of arrivals over sinkings gives the clearer measure of the convoy's strategic result. Merchant arrivals were the main measure of success, while the losses showed where the next convoy's protection needed improvement.
Chapter · 27:42-29:50
PQ 18 measures success by merchant arrivals
PQ 18's outcome is measured by the merchant ships delivered: thirty arrived and ten were lost.