axis convoys to north africa
In the Mediterranean Italy and Germany focused on eliminating the British air and naval base of Malta which was a major hindrance to their convoy routes to North Africa. How were the Axis in North Africa supplied if the Royal Navy was so good.
Tunisia And The End In Africa November 1942 May 1943 Part I Navy Aircraft Carrier Us Navy Aircraft Landing Craft
August 2011 marks the 69th anniversary of one of the most important British supply convoy operations of World War IIThe undertaking was designed to deliver desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta which was the island bastion in the central Mediterranean from which British warships submarines and warplanes sortied against the Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to.
. In 194142 Malta was effectively under siege blockaded by Axis air and naval. The control or the interdiction even for a short time of these supply lines could change the course of the war in North Africa. Only 30 tons of Axis supplies were shipped to North Africa in November 1941 and 62 percent of them were lost en route.
Axis convoys were routinely intercepted by aircraft and submarines operating out of Malta. 400 additional trucks from Metropolitan France shipped to North Africa with regular French convoys assembled in Tunisia and driven to Libya simultaneously with the Dankworth trucks above. As an important base for interfering with Axis convoys to North Africa Malta was the key to the Western Desert campaign.
It consisted of four German troopships Adana Arta Aegina and Iserlohn and an Italian. In December 1941 Fliegerkorps X was deployed to Sicily under Kesselring along with a squadron of U-boats. As the Allies consolidated their control over the northwest African coast the Axis pressure on Malta eased which in turn enabled the Allies to.
April 19 2020 by Rommelsriposte Axis merchants lost on the North Africa Route 1941-1943 Background In the appendix of the USMM Official History The most helpful Lorenzo Colombo owner of the excellent Con la pelle appesa a un chiodo blog. Malta was a base from which British ships submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys to Libya during the North African Campaign 19401943. Owing to the weakness of the Italian Air Force in Sicily the threat from Malta to the German-Italian sea route to North Africa has increased in the last few weeks It.
At this time the Axis submarine and air campaign was stepped up in order to eliminate Malta which was proving a thorn in the Axis supply route to North Africa. Could the Italians have stood a chance in a fleet battle. From 1940 to 1942 the Axis conducted the Siege of Malta with air and naval forces.
Boeing B-17B just after take off. Royal Navy Submarine Operations - Upholder Lt-Cdr Wanklyn attacked a strongly escorted North African troop convoy off the coast of Sicily on the 24th May and sank 18000-ton liner Conte Rosso. Operation Pedestal was a British operation to get desperately needed supplies to the island of Malta in August 1942 during the Second World War.
JUNE 1941 Malta - With German forces now in Greece and Crete the problems of. Convoys to North Africa from Italy were orgainzed and made fairly regularly. How were the Italians able to pass through the British fleet.
B-17s and their ten-man crews were used to bombard Axis positions and transport columns in North Africa. Rommel was able to be supplied by the Italian fleet as shown by his need to take Tobruk to secure oil shipments. As Rommel withdrew to the east the RAF continued to attack his supply convoys in the Mediterranean.
50 sanction trucks that Vichy was fined after airmen. In the early months of 1942 French merchant convoys sailed from Marseille to Tunisia with supplies of Italian military equipment pricipally lorries destined for the Axis forces in Libya Both of these quotes come from Martin Thomass article After Mers-el-KelbirThe Armed Neutrality of the Vichy French Navy 1940-43 published in the June97. The Axis position in North Africa was hopeless the final outcome clearly in the hands of the logisticians.
Primarily a struggle to overcome the U-boats in the North Atlantic and to protect their seaborne invasions of North Africa in November 1942. The Axis war effort in North Africa was beset by two major problems throughout the early 1940s the weakness of the Italian army and supply difficulties. Most had just a few 3 to 5 cargo ships and typically an escort of 2 to 4 destroyers maybe a light cruiser if some enemy action might occur.
Malta was the base from which surface ships submarines and aircraft attacked Axis convoys carrying essential supplies to the Italian and German armies in North Africa. Gardner Apr 16 2010 11 TiredOldSoldier Ace Joined. Royal Navy Submarine Operations - Upholder Lt-Cdr Wanklyn attacks a strongly escorted North African troop convoy off the coast of Sicily on the 24th May and sinks 18000-ton liner Conte Rosso.
The naval losses of the convoy war for Libya June 1940-January 1943 and Tunisia November 1942-May 1943 are quite well known. Its air defences at one point early on were reduced to three obsolete biplanes named Faith Hope and Charity. In mid-April 1941 a five-ship Axis convoy sailed from Naples en route to Tripoli.
Axis convoys to North Africa supplied the German and Italian armies there and British attacks were based on Malta itself dependent upon convoys. In June 1940 the naval war in the Mediterranean started as a confrontation between two fleets in search of a decisive victory but rapidly changed in a battle around the convoys that crossed the Central Mediterranean. JUNE 1941 Malta - With German forces now in Greece and Crete the problems of supplying Malta are even greater.
As the Allies gained the edge B-17s took part in a massive bombing campaign against ports and supply facilities crippling the enemys infrastructure. But are there any statistics about how many aircrafts Italian German British American were lost in Allied attacks against Axis convoys to North Africa for Allied planes and in the defense of these convoys for Axis planes. The latter issue was particularly acute as the Allies had a significant air and naval presence in the Mediterranean and were able to interrupt Axis supply lines from southern Europe to Libya.
These losses impacted greatly on the ability of the Afrika Corps to conduct the land campaign. I dont have a list of the specific convoys however.
