Strangling the Axis: The Fight for Control of the Mediterranean during the Second World War (Cambridge Military Histories)

"This is a major reassessment of the causes of Allied victory in the Second World War in the Mediterranean region. Drawing on a unique range of multinational source material, Richard Hammond demonstrates how the Allies' ability to gain control of the key routes across the sea and sink large quantities of enemy shipping denied the Axis forces in North Africa crucial supplies and proved vital to securing ultimate victory there. Furthermore, the sheer scale of attrition to Axis shipping outstripped their industrial capacity to compensate, leading to the collapse of the Axis position across key territories maintained by seaborne supply, such as Sardinia, Corsica and the Aegean islands. As such, Hammond demonstrates how the anti-shipping campaign in the Mediterranean was the fulcrum about which strategy in the theatre pivoted, and the vital enabling factor ultimately leading to Allied victory in the region."-- Provided by publisher Cover Half title Series information Title Copyright information Contents List of Illustrations List of Maps List of Tables Acknowledgements A Note on Terminology: ‘British’ and ‘Allied’ List of Abbreviations Maps Introduction Sea Power and the Global Second World War Historians, Shipping and the Mediterranean War 1 The Descent to War in the Mediterranean Artery of Empire: The Mediterranean in British Imperial Policy and Grand Strategy Planning for War in the Mediterranean From Peace to War Axis Shipping, Routes and Port Facilities British Attitudes and Policy on Attacking Merchant Shipping 2 Resisting Mare Nostrum: The Early Anti-shipping Campaign, June–December 1940 Early Priorities The Campaign in Earnest: Early Anti-shipping Operations War on a Shoestring: Assessing the Early Campaign 3 Enter Germany: January–July 1941 Gradual Increases in Campaign Priority and Inter-service Disputes Anti-shipping Operations and Tactical Developments, January–July 1941 The Beginnings of Attrition: Assessing the Campaign, January–July 1941 4 Progress: August–December 1941 A New Emphasis in Priority Anti-shipping Operations prior to and during ‘Crusader’ Operational Effects: Tobruk, ‘Crusader’ and the War at Sea 5 Axis Ascendency: January–August 1942 Shifting Priorities Weathering the Storm: Anti-shipping Operations Attrition versus Operational Effect 6 The End of the Beginning:̀ Alam Halfa and El Alamein Return from the Nadir From Desperation to Optimism: Anti-shipping Operations, September–November 1942 ‘Screaming for Fuel’: Operational Effect from Alam Halfa to the Axis Withdrawal from El Alamein 7 The End in North Africa and the Shipping Crisis: December 1942–May 1943 The Road to Tunis ‘La rotta della morte’: Anti-shipping Operations, December 1942–May 1943 ‘Supplies Disastrous’: Operational Effects during the Tunisian Campaign For Want of a Ship: Shipping Losses and the Collapse of the Axis Position 8 After North Africa A Theatre Transformed Anti-shipping Operations through to the End of the Campaign The Final Collapse Conclusion Notes Note on Terminology Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Conclusion Bibliography Unpublished Primary Sources Published Primary Sources Newspapers Secondary Sources: Official Histories Secondary Sources: Articles and Chapters Secondary Sources: Books Secondary Sources: Unpublished Theses Index This is a major reassessment of the role of the war at sea in Allied victory in the Mediterranean. Richard Hammond demonstrates how the anti-shipping campaign was the fulcrum about which strategy in the theatre pivoted, and the vital enabling factor ultimately leading to Allied victory in the region.