The convoy combined German and Italian merchant ships with tankers carrying fuel. Its cargo included about 390 vehicles, munitions, troops, and fuel in barrels as well as the tanker loads. These were resources for maintaining the war in North Africa, so losing the ships also meant losing equipment and supplies needed ashore. The mixed cargo explains why destruction of the convoy mattered beyond the number of hulls sunk.
Notable Point · 5:03:56-5:05:12
What the Duisburg convoy carried to Libya
The convoy concentrated vehicles, munitions, troops, and fuel needed to sustain Axis operations ashore.