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Half a dozen boats could effectively block off a sea area almost 100 nautical miles wide. If one of the boats discovered a convoy, it informed the others using fixed short signals. Together, the "pack" then circled the enemy. This tactic led to its first major success in mid-October 1940 during the attack on convoy SC-7. Of the 42 ships, including seven corvettes, 20 were sunk; not a single submarine was lost. In this battle alone, seven German submarines destroyed almost 80,000 tons of shipping. Overall, October 1940 was the "most successful" month for German submarines in World War II: more than 300,000 tons of Allied shipping were sunk. Now Goebbels cheered even louder and proclaimed Britain's impending defeat.