German intelligence about British warships visiting Ponte Delgada, São Miguel, Azores were sent via Italian diplomats in1941

In his letter No. 1261 dated Lisbon 17 September 1941 reported the German naval attaché in Portugal to the Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine at Berlin that the reports dealing with British warships visiting Ponte Delgada, São Miguel, Azores seemed to be based on Italian sources. The reason was that the German consul at Ponte Delgada didn’t posses encipher tools for his intelligence in telegrams. He sent his reports to his Italian colleague who after enciphering forward the news to the Italian Embassay at Lisbon which handed it over to the German naval attaché.

Source

Bundesarchive. RM 11-17. German naval attaché in Portugal.