Lack of shipping was only a minor reason : one should begin with the beginningMarkN wrote:
And, more specifically, you have written on at least two occasions that supplies shipped in 1942 were lower than previously and conclude that this means the Axis were shipping what they needed when they needed it. A rather outlandish conclusion in my opinion, but each to his own. Have you considered that the lesser amount shipped was due to a lack of shipping. A lack of shipping based upon former transport ships sitting on the bottom of the sea?
A Were the supplies for NA available ?
B Could the German /Italian railways transport the available supplies to the Italian harbours ?
C Was the stockage capacity of these harbours sufficient for the arriving supplies?
D What about the loading capacities of the harbours ?
E How many MV were daily available ?
F Could the RM provide the needed escorts?
G What about the needed fuel ?
H What about the unloading capacities of the ports of NA ?
I What about their stockage capacities?
J What about the transport capacities in NA ?
If something happened in this chain, it would influence all the other parts of the chain : ONE example : if due to a shortage of coal or bad weather, the railways were transporting less supplies to the Italian harbours,this would influence the rest of the chain .But how much, that's an other point, reserved to an experienced logistician .
The problem was not only to send supplies to the Italian harbours, but also to get them out of these harbours and it was the same for the NA harbours : one ton of supplies in Tripoli did not help Rommel, a ton of supplies at the front was helping Rommel .
About the comparison 1941/1942 : in the first 3 months of 1941 220000 ton arrived in NA, in the first 3 months of 1942 171000.