Wichita helped cover PQ 16, QP 12, and PQ 17 with Allied battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and the carrier Victorious. The heavy force stayed outside the worst German air and submarine zones so it would remain available against a surface attack. Swedish intelligence then reported Tirpitz and three heavy cruisers moving against PQ 17 while the covering units were too far away to intervene quickly. Admiral Dudley Pound ordered the convoy to scatter rather than risk a concentrated attack by the German force. The decision captures the difficulty of protecting an Arctic convoy from several threats while preserving scarce capital ships and accommodating American reluctance to risk heavy units in the Atlantic.
Notable Point · 36:28-38:17
PQ 17 and the Arctic convoy heavy-cover dilemma
Wichita's PQ convoy service shows why heavy covering forces had to balance air and submarine exposure against the possibility of a German surface sortie.