Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto Fuhrmann
It is crazy how many where lost going through the Gibraltar Straits...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor Steve
Ninety-three boats attempted to pass the Straight of Gibraltar. Sixty-two made it, thirty-one didn't. Only one survived the trip both ways. Considering what they accomplished there, BdU probably thought it was an acceptable risk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediter..._(World_War_II). |
95 merchant ships sunk
24 major warships sunk
Actually, though being a relatively small water basin, Mediterranean was the core of the British maritime empire as it provided a fast access to many of its oversea colonies and to their inestimable resources. It is not a coincidence that UK controlled both its ends (Gibraltar and Suez), something that Hitler and Mussolini, for different reasons, couldn't accept.