SLAUGHTERED
"MILK COWS"
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A fantastic Allied intelligence coup quickly sealed the fate of all ten Hitler's all-important submersible U-tankers.
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The signal was short and terse. U-66 was dangerously low on fuel and in dire need of a doctor for a seriously injured crewman. It's captain urgently wanted to know if there was a "milk cow" in the area - a supply sub that could render medical air and provide fuel. The replay from Germany was a somber "nichts." There had been on word from the milk cow assigned to that area of the mid-Atlantic for some time. Headquarters had to assume the worst. U-488 had disappeared without a trace; overdue and presumed lost. The ninth of ten supply submarines sunk, she had vanished in the North Atlantic while trying to provide vitally needed provisions, fuel and torpedoes to German U-boats in mid-ocean rendezvous.
Unable to secure fuel to carry on its partrol, nor able to help a dying sailor because she carried no doctor. U-66 had no choice but to cease its partol and return to Germany. With her departure there was one less German U-boat for the Allied sub-hunters to be concerned with; one less torpedo-firing menace able to send an allies ship to the bottom. But if fate of U-488 was an unconfirmed suspicion to the German High Command, its status was no secret to the U.S. Navy's Tenth Fleet, nor the hunter-killer group of destroyer escorts built around the escort carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25). On that balmy 26th of April 1944, .........U-488 met a swift demise.
Above is the lead-in of how the U.S. detected the "Milk Cows"....and come to realize if we can get rid of the "supply source" to the U-boats....we can cripple them to the point of having to limp back to home base...and in the process being more vulnerable to complete destruction.
Ok folks....if you wish to give this one a read....you can get to the article by clicking on this title: SLAUGHTERED "MILK COWS"
Hope you enjoy!!
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