Background
From the start of the war, the Allies had maintained a blockade against the import by Germany of seaborne goods. Although rich in many basic industrial materials, Germany, like Britain, could not produce some essentials. These included rubber, tin and tungsten.
Until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa), the blockade was evaded via the Trans-Siberian Railway and large quantities of materials were shipped by this route. Once this was closed, German and Italian ships, stranded in Japan and Occupied Singapore, were used to bring in these essentials to ports in Occupied France. These were the blockade-runners.
Although an organised interdiction against these blockade-runners could not be set up until December 1943, several ships were intercepted and sunk in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Few actually managed successful runs.
Read more about this topic: Operation Stonewall
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