General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
Posted by:
Rich Mickle
()
Date: August 19, 2001 11:55PM
<HTML>Scott,
While I do not know the extent of Uboat operations off of Spain, at the time, the Spanish Civil War was going on and the German Navy was lending nominal assistance to the Nationalist forces. Hitler actually opposed the dispatch of warships at the outbreak of the conflict in 1936, fearing an incident but Grand Admiral Raeder convinced him to show German involvement in the matter and to protect German interests in Spain, just as Italy, France, and Britain were doing for their own. The Germans paid lipservice to the peacekeeping and often did more than simply patrol, as did the Italians, Soviets, and to some degree the French. The latter two supporting the Republicans, the Germans and Italians, the Nationalists.
The German Navy became much more active after one their freighters, the Kamerun, was stopped at sea by the Republican cruiser Libertad, in breach of International Law.
I know German vessels on a number of occasions shelled Republican positions or ports and that a few Uboats were sent to patrol Spanish waters but I do not know of any other successes other than the sinking of Republican C-3. One the German Pocket Battleships, the Deutschland, was actually bombed by Republican aircraft off Ibiza on 29 May, 1937. A turret was knocked out and 31 sailors killed, 78 wounded.
The Italian submarines, on the other hand, sank a large number of vessels (12-15 if I remember correctly). These vessels were mostly Spanish Republican ships but also included Soviet merchant ships, and two or three British cargo vessels. The Italians denied the actions, saying that the attacks were probably Spanish Nationalist subs. A conference was held in Nyon France to discuss the issue--the British insisted that because these subs were not identified with any nation as yet, they would consider them pirates and sink them on discovery. This was mooted by the other main issue settled at the conference, the seas around Spain were divided into patrol sections with each country\'s Navy--with Soviets added to the original four--receiving its own patrol sectors. Rather than international squadrons, they each were now able to concentrate their ships in specific areas. The Italians were therefore able to blockade the portions of Spain whose sea they controlled. The Soviets were not pleased, but could do little about it as everyone knew they were helping the Republicans a great deal, while pretending to remain neutral.
I hope this helps....
V/R
Rich</HTML>
While I do not know the extent of Uboat operations off of Spain, at the time, the Spanish Civil War was going on and the German Navy was lending nominal assistance to the Nationalist forces. Hitler actually opposed the dispatch of warships at the outbreak of the conflict in 1936, fearing an incident but Grand Admiral Raeder convinced him to show German involvement in the matter and to protect German interests in Spain, just as Italy, France, and Britain were doing for their own. The Germans paid lipservice to the peacekeeping and often did more than simply patrol, as did the Italians, Soviets, and to some degree the French. The latter two supporting the Republicans, the Germans and Italians, the Nationalists.
The German Navy became much more active after one their freighters, the Kamerun, was stopped at sea by the Republican cruiser Libertad, in breach of International Law.
I know German vessels on a number of occasions shelled Republican positions or ports and that a few Uboats were sent to patrol Spanish waters but I do not know of any other successes other than the sinking of Republican C-3. One the German Pocket Battleships, the Deutschland, was actually bombed by Republican aircraft off Ibiza on 29 May, 1937. A turret was knocked out and 31 sailors killed, 78 wounded.
The Italian submarines, on the other hand, sank a large number of vessels (12-15 if I remember correctly). These vessels were mostly Spanish Republican ships but also included Soviet merchant ships, and two or three British cargo vessels. The Italians denied the actions, saying that the attacks were probably Spanish Nationalist subs. A conference was held in Nyon France to discuss the issue--the British insisted that because these subs were not identified with any nation as yet, they would consider them pirates and sink them on discovery. This was mooted by the other main issue settled at the conference, the seas around Spain were divided into patrol sections with each country\'s Navy--with Soviets added to the original four--receiving its own patrol sectors. Rather than international squadrons, they each were now able to concentrate their ships in specific areas. The Italians were therefore able to blockade the portions of Spain whose sea they controlled. The Soviets were not pleased, but could do little about it as everyone knew they were helping the Republicans a great deal, while pretending to remain neutral.
I hope this helps....
V/R
Rich</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Jorge | 08/17/2001 02:30PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Antonio Veiga | 08/17/2001 05:22PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Jorge | 08/17/2001 06:45PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Scott Parkinson | 08/18/2001 01:44AM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
walter M | 08/18/2001 06:43PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Rich Mickle | 08/19/2001 11:55PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
Jorge | 08/20/2001 05:48PM |
|
RE: Spanish submarine C-3/U-573
|
ken dunn | 08/18/2001 06:01PM |