From Adm. Doenitz's memoirs:
"Of the first group of U-boats which penetrated into the Mediterranean Sea in September [1941] not one was lost during the passage through the Straits [of Gibraltar]. Of the second group one boat was lost. Of those that followed later, by which time the defenses had been very considerably strengthened, three were destroyed and five were so severely damaged by aircraft bombing attacks that they had to abandon their attempt and return to their bases on the Bay of Biscay. This corresponded to a loss of one-third of the boats engaged."
Memoirs - Ten Years and Twenty Days, pp. 160-161.
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