19 August 1943 Part 6

19 August 1943 Division comments convoy cohesion and missed radio order

Secret. Commander, 3rd Security Division, G 5469 AIII, 19 August 1943. To Commander Security Forces West, copy to 46th Minesweeping Flotilla. The diary for 1–15 July is submitted in one copy, engineering section in duplicate.

Page 21, 10 July 00:15: the convoy commander must not have to be prompted to pay “greater attention”. Instead of leading ahead, he should have taken a flank escort position, giving a better overview. He noticed the convoy's dispersal too late, causing the planned task to fail.

Page 30, 6 July 22:35: after the Harbour Commandant ordered immediate readiness for sea, the commander should personally have inspected the radio log of a neighbouring boat whose wireless was operating, to check for messages addressed to him. This would have bridged the supposed gap. Transmission from the Naval Signals Officer through the Harbour Commandant also appears to have failed.

T-1022 Roll 3129, 46th Minesweeping Flotilla and reviewing commands. Supplied English translation T1022_R3129_English_Translation.docx. Record 408 | Source PDF scans 408.