II wojna światowa: Kulisy bitwy o aliancki konwój atlantycki TM-1

If you like my content, you can buy me a virtual coffee: https://buycoffee.to/nieznaneoblicza Thank you. My book: "Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1945": https://www.legimi.pl/ebook-bitwa-o-a... Link to my book "U-Boots. Incredible Missions of World War II": https://www.legimi.pl/ebook-u-booty-n... Free excerpt from the book "U-Boots. Incredible Missions of World War II": https://drive.google.com/file/d/16efP... Get interesting additional bonuses!!! If you enjoyed this episode, you can support the channel's development through Patronite.pl and receive extra bonuses: https://patronite.pl/Nieznane.oblicza You can also buy a symbolic coffee as a token of gratitude for the prepared material by clicking this link: https://buycoffee.to/nieznaneoblicza Thank you in advance for all your support. In early November 1942, the German side had some fragmentary information that could indicate preparations for an Allied landing operation on the Vichy French-controlled northern coast of Africa. However, they were initially not perceived as such, and when repeated reports over the following days alerted both Donitz and Hitler to the possibility of an Allied landing in North Africa, it was already far too late for an effective German counterattack… Indeed, Hitler believed that the Western Allies would never decide to land in French North Africa, as he believed such a move could bring Vichy France closer to the Axis camp. He did not rule out a landing in the area of ​​Rommel's immediate rear operations around Benghazi and Tripoli. Therefore, in response to this concern, he ordered Donitz to transfer seven Type VII submarines from the Atlantic Front in early November, which would secure the area of ​​operations from the sea for the Axis forces fighting in North Africa. Ultimately, Hitler's fears proved misplaced, although it should be noted that even a correct reconnaissance of the Allied invasion forces preparing for Operation Torch would have been of little use, as the naval superiority the Allies had gained at that time was overwhelming. The landing operation of Allied land forces in North Africa began on November 8, 1942, and for the most part, it was successfully completed without any complications. The Allied forces carrying out Operation Torch were divided into several groups tasked with capturing key areas around the larger cities of Vichy French-controlled North Africa, such as Casablanca on the Atlantic, and Oran and Algiers in the Mediterranean. However, when Allied land forces captured the North African coast, a pressing problem for the Allies was the issue of supplying these forces with the fuel necessary for warfare. At the end of 1942, it was decided to launch special Atlantic convoys carrying crude oil from Allied-controlled fields in South America, and the first such convoy was designated TM-1. This convoy consisted of nine large tankers, under the protection of the British 5th Escort Group, commanded by the experienced Royal Navy captain (?), Richard C. Boyle. The group under his command consisted of a fragile Royal Navy force consisting of just four vessels: The destroyer Havelock, the ship commanding the screening group, and three Flower-class corvettes: Pimpernel, Godetia (goldisha), and Saxifrage. The TM-1 convoy, which was filled with The oil tankers, loaded with oil, set sail from British (?) Trinidad in South America on this dangerous Atlantic voyage, and their crews were supposed to target the port of Gibraltar… Interestingly, all these tankers belonged to a group of fast vessels, and this fact theoretically minimized an effective attack by Atlantic U-boat groups, but the need to conserve fuel for the corvettes that were part of the convoy's escort contributed to the decision to reduce the convoy's speed to only eight knots… In this way, convoy TM-1 became vulnerable to possible attacks from German submarines operating on its route to the North African coast…