Convoy System- a group of motorized vehicles or ships who travel together to maintain support and protection.Before the convoy systems, ships were targeted by the German submarines. Once they were fully loaded, ships would set sail by themselves and unprotected.In WWI, the British would send merchant ships back and forth across the Atlantic in groups, thankfully losses began to decrease.From Scotland to Norway, across the North Sea, the U.S. Navy set up barriers. This was a 230 mile barrier of mines designed to keep the German U-Boats out of the Atlantic Ocean. It became more and more difficult for the Germans and only 637 of 2 million Americans that sailed to Europe were lost.If ships sailed in convoys they were less likely to be sunk. Many convoys had escorts, but when they werent provided, ships were still less likely to be sunk. Also, ports liked it when ships traveled in convoys because they would arrive more on time and could plan loading and unloading.I think this really helped in the war and began to be used more frequently. It was good because only 637 people died out of 2 million. In later years, it helped the US in other wars. This is a clever advantage made by the US.
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