Scharnhorst and Gneisenau depended on merchant auxiliaries for fuel and supplies during their extended cruise. The more completely Allied trade sailed in convoys, the more conspicuous any lone merchant ship became to British patrols. Convoy organization therefore supported identification and intelligence as well as direct protection. The same system that concentrated vulnerable merchants also made the raiders' dispersed logistics network easier to distinguish from normal Allied traffic.
Notable Point · 1:22:20-1:23:14
Convoy discipline exposed lone German supply ships
Concentrating Allied merchants in convoys made independent ships easier to flag as possible German auxiliaries supporting the raiders.