'Greystoke' naval undertaking to ensure the safe passages of the JW.63 and RA.63 convoys to and from ports in the northern USSR (30 December 1944/21 January 1945).

At this stage of World War II the cycle of Arctic convoys had been trimmed for 35 to 30 days, which meant that most of the warships operating on this task were faced with the probability of undertaking consecutive operations, and this placed an exceptionally heavy burden on their crews. as had been the case throughout the campaign, the Soviet forces seemed little inclined to play a major role removing the U-boat threat from the approaches to the USSR’s Arctic ports, and ploys such as evasive routing and radio deception served little purpose when the U-boats lurked in the entrance to the Kola Inlet. Responsibility for the Arctic convoys was now alternated between Rear Admiral R. R. McGrigor and Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton, commanding the Royal Navy’s 1^st and 10^th Cruiser Squadrons respectively.

The JW.63 convoy of 35 laden ships and two escorts, which departed Loch Ewe on 30 December 1944, was the responsibility of Dalrymple-Hamilton, who flew his flag in the escort carrier Vindex and had under his command the light anti-aircraft cruiser Diadem, the destroyers Keppel, Myngs, Savage, Scourge, Serapis, Walker, Westcott, Zambesi, Zebra, Canadian Algonquin and Sioux, and Free Norwegian Stord, the sloops Cygnet, Lapwing and Lark, and the corvettes Allington Castle, Alnwick Castle and Bamborough Castle.

The corresponding homebound convoy, RA.63 of 27 unladen ships and three escorts, left the Kola inlet on 11 January 1945 under escort of the same force which had convoyed JW.63 but supplemented by the destroyer Scorpion. The double operation was wholly successful, the convoys and their escorts having no contact at all with the German forces, and both reaching their destinations (the Kola inlet and Loch Ewe) without loss on 8 and 21 January respectively. German intelligence had garnered no information about the two convoys, and the two or three U-boats on patrol in the Barents Sea did not gain touch with either convoy. However, a violent gale struck and scattered RA.63 when it had reached a point to the north-east of the Færoe islands group, and the escort commander had difficulty in re-forming the merchantmen.