Mediterranean U-boat campaign of World War II

Mediterranean U-boat Campaign
Part of the Battle of the Mediterranean of the Second World War
U-617 aground near Melilla, at position 35°23′N 3°16′W / 35.38°N 03.27°W / 35.38; -03.27 after British air attack on 12 September 1943
Date 21 September 1941 to May 1944 Location Mediterranean Sea 35°N 18°E / 35°N 18°E / 35; 18 Result Allied Victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy  Royal Australian Navy  United States Navy Other Allied navies	Kriegsmarine  Regia Marina
Strength
	62 U-boats
Casualties and losses
95 merchant ships sunk 24 big warships sunk	62 U-boats lost

The Mediterranean U-boat Campaign lasted from about 21 September 1941 to 19 September 1944 during the Second World War. Malta was an active British base strategically located near supply routes from Europe to North Africa. Axis supply convoys across the Mediterranean Sea suffered severe losses, which in turn threatened the fighting ability of the Axis armies in North Africa. The Allies were able to keep their North African armies supplied. The Kriegsmarine tried to isolate Malta but later it concentrated its U-boat operations on disrupting Allied landing operations in southern Europe.^{[clarification needed]}

Some 60 German U-boats made the hazardous passage into the Mediterranean Sea from 1941. Only one completed the journey both ways.^[1][2] Karl Dönitz, the Commander-in-Chief, U-boats, Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (BdU) was always reluctant to send his boats into the Mittelmeer but he recognised that natural bottlenecks such as the Straits of Gibraltar were more likely to result in shipping being found and attacked than relying on finding it in the vast Atlantic Ocean.

The U-boats were sent to assist the Italians, although many were attacked in the Strait of Gibraltar and nine were sunk while attempting the passage and ten more were damaged. The Mediterranean is a clear and calm body of water which made escape more difficult for the U-boats.^[3] The Axis failed in their objective.