Convoy

convoy

Vessels sailing under the protection of an armed escort. Since the 17th century, neutral powers have claimed the right of convoy in wartime, providing warships to escort their merchantmen and keep them secure from search or seizure. In World War I the British organized transatlantic convoys protected by a cordon of warships; the same system protected Allied shipping from German submarines during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980–90), oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz into and out of the Persian Gulf were escorted by warships of the U.S. and other Western navies.

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convoy

a group of merchant ships with an escort of warships

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convoy [′kän‚vȯi]

(ordnance)

An accompanying and protective force on sea or land, such as a fleet or troops.

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Convoy 

(1) A military subunit (unit) or team designated to guard and escort transports, prisoners, arrestees, and the like and in the prerevolutionary Russian Army also designed to guard the headquarters of large units and commands. In the Russian guards there existed what was called the Personal Convoy of His Majesty (created in 1828). In the early 20th century this unit consisted of four troops of Kuban’ and Terek cossacks.

(2) A detachment of military transports and merchant vessels and the warships protecting them, organized during sea crossings. During World War II (1939–45) special convoy ships (escort destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and convoy aircraft carriers) were built to guard transport ships.