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Letters
Did the breaking of the Enigma-codes facilitate the location of the raiders and their supplyships? Hi, First of all, I want to congratulate you with your marvellous website. It already helped me a lot during my study of the German merchant raiders during the Second World War. I still have one question unanswered: did the breaking of the Enigma-codes facilitate the location of the raiders and their supplyships? Hope you can help me out. Thanks, Vincent, Thank you for your kind remarks about AHOY, it is a joint effort between my very great friend Terry Kearns in Atlanta Georgia, who turns all my writing into what appears on the web. We do get a lot of favourable comment about this site from around the world, and without all the help from Terry, all my ramblings would not see the light of day. Now about Enigma, it was used by all the German Navy, and when the British captured one when the Bulldog sank the German U-Boat U-110, it meant the Allies could read all of Admiral Donitz's signals to his U-Boat fleet at sea in the Battle of the Atlantic. I think that the basic use of this fact by the British Admiralty was to re route their convoys crossing the Atlantic from North America with all the supplies of food, oil, and the equipment needed to prosecute the war against German and Italy, so they might avoid the waiting U-Boat packs. No doubt many ships survived because of this use of the information gleaned about the U-Boat intentions. In 1941, after the sinking of the Bismark, who with Prinz Eugen had been ordered to disrupt British shipping, over three months five German tankers and two supply ships were sent to resupply them at prearranged points in the vast wastes of the Atlantic Ocean. Two German scout ships also sailed to keep a look out for and warn about enemy warships. These were all at sea when Bismark was sunk and her consort Prinz Eugen escaped. By the end of May 1941, Britain was reading Enignma messages, perhaps with a delay of but 2/3 days, she learned of the positions of the support ships, and attacked them. The Belchen was found and sunk, then a message to the Esso Hamburg which had refueled Prinz Eugen, was intercepted, and she too was found and sunk by the cruiser London. Other German ships in other locations were found and sunk including Gedania, and Gonzenheim, who were both destroyed on the 4th. of June in 1940. So by the 21st of June, all 5 tankers and the 2 supply ships were sent to the bottom, over 3 successive days. But these losses alerted the German command to the possibility of Enigma being read by the British, and they took measures to tighten up their security. Vincent, I don't know if you are aware of the excellent book by David Kahn,: Seizing the Enignma." Published by Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston in 1991. I am not really aware of the German Armed Merchant Raiders or their Supply ships being located through the medium of the cracking of the Enigma Codes, I can not find any references to that happening, in the main, their being caught and sunk was the result of a search being made after a victim had sent out a distress message on being fired upon by a particular Raider, and the Royal Navy had a number of their ships always on the lookout for specific German Raiders. Notwithstanding, some Raiders made it home to Germany as you will have read from my accounts of their activities. Thank you again for your interest, I have been away from home visiting Sydney, hence my delay to answering your mail. With kind regards, Mac. Gregory.
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