Novaya Zemlya under naval escort to deliver desperately needed Lend-Lease supplies to northern Soviet seaports. Destruction of the Allied convoys was thus a top priority for the German Navy — and brought World War II to Novaya Zemlya. The most ill-fated and one of the largest Arctic convoys, code-named “PQ-17,” left Iceland on June 27, 1942. It consisted of thirty-four merchant ships, six destroyer escorts, fifteen additional armed ships (among which were two Free-French corvettes), and three small rescue craft. The fast-moving convoy encountered ice floes on June 30 and was forced to reduce speed. On the following morning, the convoy was
History of Franz Josef Land the southern and central parts of the archipelago had been explored. At the time there was a presumption that a large landmass, tentatively called Petermann Land, stretched northwards, possibly all the way to the pole. To the west another landmass was expected, Gillis Land, which it was expected might reach as far as Svalbard. Frederick George Jackson hoped to exploit the previous expeditions' experience with overwintering to launch an expedition to explore the northern parts of the island group. To prepare for the trip, in 1893 he took an expedition to Yugorsky Strait and Vaygach Island, south of Novaya Zemlya.