The Second World War Allied Submarine Campaign in the Mediterranean

Introduction The Allied submarine campaign in the Mediterranean Sea lasted from June 1940, when Italy entered the war, until November 1944 when German forces had largely withdrawn from Greece and the eastern Mediterranean. The most important area of action was centred around Malta, where submarines of the Tenth Submarine Flotilla successfully attacked Mussolini’s convoy supply lines to the Axis forces in North Africa. During the critical year of 1942, less than a score of submarines were responsible for over half of the sinkings of Italian shipping on this vital route. They were, undoubtedly,…