Tres puntos de vista diferentes con algunos datos concretos muy interesante. La
http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/c ... /Ultra.pdfAbundando en lo comentado por Von Kleist, un relato del HX-228
On the 11 th the V-boat command ordered group
Ritter to establish a patrol line, going southwest, from the
14th. Four days later he ordered a second line Neptun for
the 18th. Both were to search for the convoy HX.228,
expected according to the time table.
On the 16th the German xB.Dienst decrypted a
position of this convoy going northeast, so the V·boat
command ordered the group Ritter north and the group
Neptun to take its position immediately. But Bletchley
Park decrypted this order on the 17th. The HX.226 was
re-routed north of the German lines. Also the west-going
convoys, ON.166 and ON .167. the routes of which were
planned to go through the area of the German lines, were
re-routed south of group Ritter.
On the 18th the German xB.Dienst reported a
position of the ON.166, and the V-boat command now
ordered Ritter and Neptun to a long patrol line along 30°
West, to cover both possible routes on the estimated
passing date, the 20th. On the 19th this new German
order was decrypted by Bletchley Park, and the ON.166
was re-routed again south of the combined line. But on
the same day the xB-Dienst decrypted a new position of
the convoy, indicating the southwestern direction of
ON.166. So the V-boat command ordered four new
boats to form immediately an additional short
patrol line-Knappen-southeast of Ritter. This new
order was also decrypted at Bletchley Park on the 20th,
but now it was too late.
While the next re-routing order was going out, V·604
already had established contact, and the V-boat
command had ordered Knappen and Ritter to close and to
attack. In a fierce convoy battle which lasted for six days
and covered 1100 miles. the V.boats sank 15 ships and
lost two of their number to the counter-attacks of the
escorts.
En fecha tan tardía como Febrero marzo de 1.943, no parece que los mastines estuvieran en condiciones de despedazar a los lobos. Como señala el mismo artículo
In the period from July to December 1942 there were
24 V·boats on the average on the North Atlafltic convoy
route, few more than in the second half of 1941. But
against only 4% of convoys intercepted during the time of
current reading of German signals in June to August
1941 and the 18% intercepted during the following period
of decrypting with short time lags to the end of December
1941, in the second half of 1942, without decrypting, the
V·boats intercepted 34% of the running convoys.
Fourteen percent of these convoys were attacked by more
than two V-boats. Most of the other 20% could shake off
the shadowers by skillful use of HF/DF, which was, I
think, of greater importance than radar in most of the
convoy operations of this period.
Then, in December 1942, Bletchley Park succeeded
again in solving the main problems of the Triton cipher
circuit. It is not dear at this time if it was a success of
cryptanalysis alone, or if it was arrived at by a new
capture of cipher materials, perhaps of V-559 in the
Mediterranean. But we know from the newly released
Anerican study, which was made by OP-20-G at the end
of the war, that the average time lag in decrypting the
German V-boat traffic was up to three days at the end
of December 1942; then, in January 1943 decrypting
was very often current. although it dropped off somewhat
towards the end of the month, but from the 5th to 28th
February the traffic was decrypted with seldom more than
24 hours time lag. This led toa sharp drop in convoy
sightings during January. The number of operating U.
boats rose to an average of 40, but the number of convoys
sighted dropped sharply to only 20%, and only 4% had
larger losses. All others were reported outside or at the
edges of German patrol lines, so that no successful
operation was possible.
¿Qué hubiera pasado si los aliados no hubieran derrotado a los submarinos alemanes hasta 1944, o 45?
Quizá, aunque ULTRA no fuera decisiva para el resultado final de la guerra, si lo fuera para el mundo tal y como lo comocemos.
Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side now here in this country of ours...
).
