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In World Wars I and II, merchant ships carrying supplies to both Russia and Britain were targeted heavily by German U-Boats (submarines). Since there were not enough destroyers and destroyer escorts to protect each individual ship, convoys were formed. In these convoys, a large number of merchant ships were grouped together and protected by a small number of escort vessels.

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9y ago
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11y ago

The term "convoy" was used during World War I and again in World War II to mean a group of ships (especially freighters) that moved together across the ocean with an escort of military vessels.

Generically, it is used for a group of vehicles traveling together for safety, i.e. protected from harm or attack. The term was popularized for US truckers during the heyday of CB radio (late 1970s) and is still used for groups of military trucks, and for the escort of civilian vehicles by police during fog or blizzards.

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9y ago

During World War I, the "convoy system" was developed by the British Empire as an attempt to overcome the terrible losses suffered at the hands of German submarines. Grouping merchant ships into large or small convoys proved to be a decisive tactic, as losses dropped considerably once the convoys were organized along with protective escorts of "guardian" warships.

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11y ago
AnswerThe convoy was large group of shipping, with a smaller number of destroyers and similar protecting them. If a ship was attacked, the remainder just kept going.

If a destroyer could engage the attacker, well and good, but the safety of the convoy was of over riding importance. Often the ships of a convoy would be out of sight of each other - they just followed a communal sailing pattern.

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The significance of the system is simple: groups are easier to protect that those alone. As the number of defenseless civilian cargo ships greatly outnumber that of potential protecting warships, it is more effective to group those cargo ships together and protect them as a group.

That is, if each cargo ship travelled independently, and the warships attempted to individually patrol the shipping lanes, hunting for U-Boats, then the following would happen:

  • Every time a U-Boat discovered a cargo ship, the cargo ship would be sunk.
  • If a U-Boat came upon a warship, it would generally flee. Few U-Boats would be sunk.
  • It would be modestly easy for a U-Boat to find a cargo ship, as the shipping lanes were well known, and all the U-Boats had to do would be lie in wait for one to come along
  • Warships would have a very difficult time finding U-Boats, because the U-Boats were far fewer in numbers than cargo ships, and the shipping lanes were vast areas.
  • The result is that the vast majority of U-boat attacks could be done safely (for the U-Boat), with very few chances for the warships to sink a U-Boat.

When putting several dozen cargo ships in a group, and protecting them with 10 or so warships, the following would happen:

  • U-Boats would be forced to attack convoys, as there were no other targets
  • When attacking a convoy, the U-Boat would have to expose itself to detection; since there were warships with the convoy, they would then automatically have a chance to sink the U-Boat.
  • Thus, U-Boat attacks always ran the risk to the U-Boat of being sunk
  • When U-Boats attacked convoys, they would be forced to fight the warships, giving valuable time to the cargo ships to flee the area. Thus, the total amount of "exposed" time would be significantly lower

Overall, the convoy system did two things: it lowered the loss of cargo ships to U-Boat attacks, and it significantly increased the losses to the U-Boat force, which in turn reinforced the first effect.

Overall, prior to the convoy system being put into place in both WW1 and WW2, the U-boats were winning very significantly - cargo ship losses were atrocious (well above replacement capabilities, and critically impacting delivery of desperately needed war material and food), and the U-Boats had few losses. After the convoy systems were put into effect, cargo ship losses were reduced to acceptable levels - while significant, the losses were not so much as to exceed replacement construction or endanger delivery of enough material. U-Boat losses after the convoy systems started, however, became exorbitant, and eventually unsustainable.

This made all the difference in both WW1 and WW2 for Great Britain. In both wars, prior to the convoy system being used, the UK was in critical danger of being starved into submission, or, at the very least, being rendered militarily impotent due to the strangulation of its ocean trade, which the UK depended on to survive. After the convoy system was implemented, the UK was able to resupply sufficiently to regain its fighting strength and make a war-winning contribution.

For an opposite situation, Japan in WW2 never bothered to implement a convoy system, allowing the US Pacific submarine force to virtually annihilate Japanese shipping by the end of the war, with devastating effects on the Japanese industrial output.

For comparison: in WW2, by the end of the war, allied shipping losses in the Atlantic accounted for about half of the pre-war total available ships, but less than a quarter when taking into account all mid-war ship construction. Almost 75% of the losses to allied shipping were in the pre-convoy days. On the other side, roughly 75% of all U-Boats (both pre-war and constructed) were lost, with most of the losses in the post-convoy days.

In the Pacific, the Japanese merchant marine lost close to 95% of all ships it had or built, while the US Submarine force lost roughly 18% of its subs. No convoy system was ever used by the Japanese for merchant ship protection.

The end result is that the convoy system saved Great Britain (not once, but twice).

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14y ago

That is also similar to my question, why is it effective? If commercial ships are accompanied by military ships, then they have protection in case the enemy wishes to attack them.

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13y ago

to establish a good healthy system

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Q: What was the significance of the convoy system?
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Related questions

How do you use convoy system in a sentence?

The military vehicles traveled through town in a convoy system.


Why did the convoy system happen?

The convoy system was developed as a defense against Nazi U-Boat attacks called 'Wolf Packs' .


The convoy system used by the British to combat the wolf packs was an effective defensive strategy?

One, the convoy system allowed the British to limit their number of losses. Second, without the convoy system, the Allies lost one out of every 10 ships. With the convoy, the number of ships lost changed to 2 out of 100 ships.


What did convoy system do?

The convoy system was used to prtect American ships carrying materials to Great Britain in 1940 and 1941. These merchant ships were protected by American Warships.


What is a synonym for convoy system?

Some of the synonym for convoy systems are group, fleet, cavalcade, motorcade, cortège, caravan, line, train.


The convoy system helped decrease?

the attack on shipped goods


Was the convoy system an effective defensive stratgy?

The convoy system was an improvement but it was not perfect. Since the U Boats were underwater it was still hard to protect all the ships. But, they had little choice but to use the convoy system. They did not have the technology we have today to find subs so the convoys were as effective as they could be given that the U Boats would strike in the dark.


What did US use to overcome the threat of Germany you-boats?

Convoy system


How did the convoy system avoid u-boat attacks?

The convoy system helped avoid U-boat attacks due to its sheer size, and the difficulty that U-boats had when positioning to attack a large number of ships.


What is the collective noun for convoy?

The collective noun 'convoy' is used for a convoy of lorries, a convoy of trucks.


Us naval leader that developed convoy system?

William S. Sims


Using the the British were able to limit their number of losses of ships.?

Convoy system