D. IRVING. The Destruction of Convoy PQ-17. London. "Cassell" 1968. 337 p. As you know, the secret does not immediately become clear, and it often takes years before it finds its objective explanation. One of these events, over which a veil of secrecy hung for a long time, is the defeat by the Germans of the sea convoy PK-17, which was sailing from Iceland to the Soviet Union in early July 1942. The essence of this tragedy is the death of 24 transports out of 37 with cargo worth more than $ 700 million, so necessary for our country at that difficult time, when the Eastern Front was fighting hard against the fascist hordes that were rushing to the Volga and the Caucasus. I, at that time People's Commissar of the Navy of the USSR, well remembered the sad reports about the death of transports caused by the attack of German submarines and aircraft after the British and American short-and long-range cover ships" at full speed "departed to the west, and the escorted vessels were ordered to" disperse and follow to Russian ports." I have personally reported this to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. I remember him asking: "Was there a need to stop escorting?". I answered: "As far as I know, there were no serious reasons for this." On July 23, 1942, J. V. Stalin wrote to W. Churchill: "The order of the British Admiralty to the 17th convoy to leave the transports and return to England, and the transport ships to disperse and reach the Soviet ports alone without an escort, our experts consider incomprehensible and inexplicable. Of course, I do not believe that regular transportation to the northern Soviet ports is possible without risk and loss. But in a war situation, no big deal can be accomplished without risk and loss. You know, of course ,that the Soviet Union is suffering incomparably more serious losses. " 11 "Correspondence of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR with the Presidents of the United States and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain during the G ... Read more