The argument is that a blockade campaign succeeds or fails by reducing critical imports and transport below a meaningful threshold, not by sinking every merchant ship. That requires sound estimates of the enemy economy and disciplined targeting priorities, two areas in which the German assessment of British needs was uneven. It also shapes the defender's response: escorts first protect the most important routes, and hunter-killer groups become practical only when enough forces are available. Aircraft patrols add another layer because submarines of the period must spend much of their transit time exposed on the surface.
Notable Point · 1:31:15-1:32:41
Commerce warfare needs a realistic target set
Trying to stop all British shipping is less realistic than targeting the traffic and cargoes that matter most to the British war economy.