The Baltic Convoys

This week I have been commemorating Remembrance Day in the Russian Arctic port city of Murmansk, destination of the famous Arctic Convoys that ran the gauntlet of German submarines on the northern supply route between Britain and the Soviet Union during the Second World War.

I have also been reflecting on a different convoy in a different war.

There is a tradition in Russia for families to bring out the photos of their relatives who were war veterans when Victory Day comes round. So in this week of Remembrance, here’s mine – my great grandfather, Captain Andrew Brown. He was a captain in the Merchant Navy, and made his living transporting timber and manufactured goods across the Baltic Sea between the UK and Russia.

During the First World War his cargo was armaments for the Russian armed forces, and his ship, the SS Penelope, was commissioned by the Russian Navy as part of its Transport Fleet to take part in the Baltic Convoys. It was dangerous work, with attacks from German positions on the shore, from the air and from the dreaded U-boats that wreaked havoc on British merchant shipping throughout the war.

The SS Penelope was among their victims, struck by a torpedo in the Baltic Sea at 10.15pm on the 24th August. In a few seconds the fore deck was under water, but Captain Brown made every effort to save the ship staying on board for three more days until the situation was hopeless and he was taken off by a Russian destroyer. For his bravery he was awarded by two monarchs – the Tsar of Russia gave him the Order of St Stanislas and King George V the Distinguished Service Cross.

As one of the commanders of the ships in Baltic convoys he also received this beautiful silver and enamel badge, showing the flags and maps of Britain and Russia and commemorating the two nations’ cooperation in this joint war effort. It had pride of place in my grandmother’s cabinet in the front room of her home in Edinburgh, and represents a long link between my family and Russia which I maintain to this day.