Axis convoys

Hi all
Am looking for information on Axis convoys
Particulary in the med but all over if can get it

Search the net and you will find all sorts of info on allied convoys in one site with complete listing
Axis convoys are much harder to grasp

I use http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/ already as well as the RN day by day site

Just wondering if anyone knew of a comprehensive list ? - convoy number and ships etc
Or indeed knows of a book that may have it
Have a rough grasp of German so if site/book is in that format not a problem

Thanx
Off to read some of the great threads in here

 

This lists seems pretty comprehensive but mostly allied. You might find the axis on it or hanging on a link off of it:
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/guides/World_War_2_Convoy_Names

 

Thanx lwd but all allied and no links am afraid
But appreciate the list all the same

 

There has been a fair amount of disscussion of Japanese convoys over on the J-aircraft ijn board. There may also be some on combined fleet.

 

Try this web site. Quite a few experts on italy lurk there.

Comando Supremo Forum

 

Thread from this site ROMMEL DEMYTHOLOGIZED has a good general outline of Axis convoys

 

Ah thank you all
Some interesting threads there
Also points me to a book that should have all the info
Thanks again

 

Does anybody know about the use of caiques by the Germans? I've read some reports about how British submarines would often surface and sink these sailing ships with their deck guns, i was wondering what kind of transport the Germans were using them for.

 

The Germans and Italians occupied most of the Greek islands; they used caiques and other locally available craft for everyday logistics, moving people and supplies, pretty much what they did in peacetime. Speaking of which a lot of them were probably just ordinary Greeks trying to go about their business despite the occupation.

 

Thanks

 

Convoys to North Africa from Italy were orgainzed and made fairly regularly. 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.
I don't have a list of the specific convoys however.

 

The convoys to North Africa were usually small, 3 to 5 ships looks like a good average. I can't recall an instance were the escort included a single light cruiser, Italian cruisers operated in squadrons of 2 - 3 ships and a full squadron would be detached for escort duties and most of those I recall were heavy or mixed cruiser squadrons (operations Duisburg, M42, M43 and K7).
Later in the war the close escort was nade up of torpediniere di scorta (roughly equivalent to a US DE) and corvette (similar to the British corvettes) rather than fleet destroyers. A couple of convoys even had battleship escorts but that effort was not sustainable due to the Regia Marina fuel shortages .

I'm still looking for a list of the axis Mediterranean convoys but can't find a comprehensive one. Apart from North Africa and the Greek and "dodecannese" Islands there were convoys to Sicily, Sardinia and Albania and to Corsica after it's occupation in late 1942. I also suspect the oil from the Rumanian fields to Italy came by sea. Many of these "convoys" involved Siebel ferries and their Italian Motozattere equivalents so were not "blue sea" operations.


So even just for the Med making up a comprehensive list is a big undertaking,

This site (unfortunately in Italian) has a listing of tonnages shipped to North Africa by time period, as the source is the Ufficio Storico della Marina Militare the figures are likely to be the offficial ones. The info about the air bridge is also fairly interesting, hadn't seen that data anywhere else (and I think I've read over 50% of the extensive bibliography they have at the end ).
Regio Esercito - Varie - La battaglia dei convogli

EDIT: Looking at that site we have monthly tonnages for North Africa up to the loss of Tripoli, it may be possible, with a lot of work, to create a list of convoys to match it by looking at individual ship histories, the losses are relatively easy to find info about, individual ships making a succesfull crossing are harder, but I guess it should be possible to account for 60 to 80% of the stated tonnage with just readily available sources. I would try contacting Ufficio Storico before doing that, as someome else must have done this sort of work before!!!.

 

You might want to try on one of the naval oriented forums or axis history forums. Several I'm on have an Italian or two who post frequently and they may have access to resources we don't.