After refuelling between Iceland and Canada, the German battlecruisers attacked scattered merchant shipping and used an Arado floatplane to locate a vessel with a powerful wireless set. Long-range shooting consumed valuable ammunition, reducing the reserve available if the raiders met a stronger warship. Old British battleships had to escort convoys while faster and refitted ships formed hunter groups or reinforced the Mediterranean, leaving little opportunity for rest, repair, or further refits. Lutjens shifted south, used U-boat reports to find traffic, and directed submarines against a convoy protected by Malaya rather than violating his orders by attacking the battleship. Supply ships carried fuel and stores, took prisoners off the raiders, and later acted as scouts and herders to drive merchantmen toward the German guns. Renown intercepted captured merchant ships and Rodney threatened Gneisenau near the end of the raid, although British and German accounts differ over the pursuit. The raid covered 17,800 nautical miles in 59 days and depended throughout on this distributed support network.
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Raiding logistics and the strain on Royal Navy escorts
Operation Berlin combined tankers, reconnaissance aircraft, captured ships, U-boats, and supply vessels while forcing Britain to spread battleships across escort and hunter roles.