Very interesting read, thanks for posting.
My grandad sailed several times on the Arctic convoys to Murmansk during the war, and it's hard to reconcile the challenges faced back then with the excellent food and drink you show now. If anyone's interested, Jeremy Clarkson (yes, really) did a good documentary on PQ17 (one convoy which lost 21 out of 34 ships) for the BBC,
which is being shown again later this month.