The records need to be used with caution. They were based on
reports from survivors, and other ships in the convoy, and `the fog
of war` meant that sometimes the cause of the loss was not clear.
For instance, it was not always obvious whether an explosion that
sank a ship was due to it hitting a mine or being torpedoed by a
submerged submarine. Not surprisingly, the survivors had other
things on their minds! After the Second World War (1939-45),
comparing British records with those of the German Navy gave a much
clearer picture. Some of the books listed are the result of
painstaking comparisons of these records, but in many cases it is
still only possible to say what is likely to have happened.
