SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - Uboats crossing Gibraltar

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Raf1394

02-21-25 01:28 PM

Uboats crossing Gibraltar

I got a question, about the Uboats who crossed the strait of Gibraltar during WW2.

Was it possible that the Uboats who crossed the Gibraltar strait.
actually went as close as possible leaning towards the North African shores. Especially not far from the Moroccan coast. And this way trying to enter the Mediterranean Sea?

I know the depth would be very shallow. And some parts of the Moroccan coast were Spanish property/enclaves so i guess neutral? Would British warships still patrol this neutral area? If i remember correctly, there was a small international zone off the coast of Morocco, around Tanger. Were international ships/warships could patrol?

blackswan40

02-21-25 04:20 PM

Uboat crews called the Mediterranean the mouse trap

http://www.formontana.net/uboats.html

Aktungbby

02-22-25 10:57 AM

...in SH-V, I get into the Med along the Moroccan coast which I hug tightly and which is deep. (I can see Rick's off Casablanca:O:) The only threat at that juncture is two gunboats that get too close....and can be dealt with with the deckgun or avoided altogether. This should be done swiftly though before a more dangerous follow-on unit arrives with larger vessels from the Gibraltar side. It's a long way to Spezia for a refuel.

KaleunMarco

02-22-25 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aktungbby (Post 2944914)

... It's a long way to Spezia

isn't that a song that you dough-boys used to sing in The Great War?
:har:

Raf1394

02-23-25 11:17 AM

You also had a natural current passing through the Gibraltar strait.

One from the Atlantic towards the Mediterranean
A uboat could turn off the engines. And use the current to slip inside.
But uboats trying to get in the Atlantic had real trouble, they were forced to use there engines. There engine powers had also little speed.

Thats why there is no recordings, of a German uboat crossing Gibraltar to enter the Atlantic.

Correct me if i'm wrong :)

mapuc

02-23-25 11:31 AM

I made a search and found this wiki-page

Quote:

Some 60 German U-boats made the hazardous passage into the Mediterranean Sea from 1941. Only one completed the journey both ways. 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. The Axis failed in their objective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medite...f_World_War_II

Markus

Aktungbby

02-23-25 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaleunMarco (Post 2944917)

isn't that a song that you dough-boys used to sing in The Great War?
:har:

:huh:No dought(boy) the frigid (can't pick-a-dilly) midwestern wasteland along the greasy banks of Lago Michicano has rendered you 'tipporarily' insane!:arrgh!::Kaleun_Goofy:

Raf1394

02-26-25 12:49 AM

I think most of the uboats crossing Gibraltar were actually sunk by aircraft patrols. Not sure.

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