By 14 00, Hipper's force had crossed the convoy route several times but had found nothing.
However, Hipper's battlecruisers crossed the convoy's path several times without sighting any ships; it was later discovered that German intelligence had miscalculated the date the convoy would depart Britain.
"This cross-lines convoy was not a one-off mission, but part of on-going humanitarian delivery efforts to get supplies to children and their families in some of the most hard-to-reach areas," he added.
Many aid workers who spoke to the Guardian said the UN's preference for cross-line convoys from Damascus did not always make sense.
There are two broad ways of delivering supplies into affected areas: either from other countries, mainly Turkey, via "cross-border" convoys, or from within Syria, which may take deliveries from government-held to rebel-held areas, referred to as "cross-line" convoys.
Dust clouds hovering over the sun-baked hills of Uruzgan herald its coming, stirred up by the seemingly endless platoons of 40-ton trucks, heavily laden pickups, and taxis, all crossing in convoys of up to 100 vehicles, in both directions.
UNICEF has already positioned supplies ready for the first cross-border convoys supported by the new resolution, including blankets, water purification materials, hygiene kits and syringes.
But Ukraine's government seemed unwilling to let the convoy cross into its territory.
We're gonna roll this truckin' convoy 'Cross the U-S-A".
After pausing by the side of the road until nightfall, the convoy crossed into Ukrainian territory, using a rough dirt track and clearly crossing through a gap in a barbed wire fence that demarcates the border.
As soon as the convoy crossed into Syria, Abu Bakr and his men struck.
