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Spezia on the 13th January. On the 29th 3 cruisers were reported by air reconnaissance at Palermo, and one Pola-class cruiser was escorting a southbound convoy of 3 merchant ships off Lampedusa (S.W. of Malta).

U-Boats.

17. Two to three Italian and 5 to 6 German U-Boats have been operating in the North-Western Approaches during the week, and according to the latest estimate at least one of the German U-Boats is returning. In the Azores-Canaries and North-West Africa area there have been two or three Italians and probably one German. The Italian U-Boat which entered Las Palmas on the 20th January, left in the early hours of the 24th January.

Raiders.

18.

The raider situation is again obscure. Two raider reports have come in from a position 700 miles west of Freetown on the 29th January, and it is thought that this may be the ship which sank the s.s. British Union on the 18th January, though it is possible that this may be a new arrival.

In the South Atlantic there have been a number of D/F bearings which indicate at least two ships, but whether they are raiders or supply ships is not clear. A raider has been active in the Southern Ocean, where she probably captured three Whale Factory ships and their catchers on the 14th and 15th January.

There may be a total of six raiders active at present :-

One in North Atlantic.

One or more in South Atlantic (these might be supply ships). One in the Southern Ocean.

One in the Indian Ocean. Two in the Pacific.

Enemy Attack on Seaborne Trade.

19. During the period the 22nd to 29th January 5 ships, a total of 12,518 tons, have been reported lost by enemy action, all of which were British. One ship (4,980 tons) was sunk by U-Boat, but this is a delayed report from December. Two ships (6,286 tons) were sunk by aircraft in the North- Western Approaches, and 2 ships (1,252 tons) by mines. Twenty-seven ships, 19 of which are British, are reported damaged, 18 of them by enemy aircraft attack. Full details are given in Appendix I.

20. A homeward-bound convoy was attacked by a U-Boat early on the 29th in the North-Western Approaches, and it is known that 3 ships (14,407 tons) were torpedoed and sunk, but these are not included in the above figures.

Focke Wulfe Condor aircraft were operating on the 23rd, 28th and 29th in the North-Western Approaches, and several attacks on shipping were made. On the 29th a Sunderland flying-boat, while escorting a convoy, engaged, damaged and drove off one of these aircraft.

East Coast convoys were attacked several times on the 26th, and the S.S. Meriones, which was aground on the Haisboro Sand shoal, was set on fire. Four of the attacking aircraft were shot down by the escorting ships and one by the merchant ships' guns.

Protection of Seaborne Trade.

21. During the week ended noon Wednesday, the 29th January, 665 ships, including 111 Allied and 18 Neutral, were convoyed, of which two were lost by enemy action. Since the start of the war 216 ships have been lost in convoy, or 1 ship in every 240. Two Battleships, 7 Armed Merchant Cruisers, 39 Destroyers, 37 Sloops and corvettes and 1 Submarine were employed on escort duties.

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