Maybe you should have read the other posts...The Italians didn't exactly have the best of records during WWII (Greece threw them back). I imagine their attack would fail with their fleet destroyed.
The British would never retreat from Gibraltar pending Spain joining the Axis.
Why does the RN need to exit the Gibraltar straights when the frogmen and the necessary equipment (i.e. the manned torpedoes) can be hauled by train to any German-controlled port in France or Norway and board a U-boot?
Just a helpful question. How big would an airship have to be to carry a 50,000 ton battle ship from Naples to New York?
Why does the RN need to exit the Gibraltar straights when the frogmen and the necessary equipment (i.e. the manned torpedoes) can be hauled by train to any German-controlled port in France or Norway and board a U-boot?
I agree with the majority of posters that the attack would probably not be worth the effort.
On the other hand, what happens to Gibraltar is not very relevant in this context. Italian submarines operated in the Atlantic and German submarines operated in the Mediterranean, without either being attacked from Gibraltar.
On top of that, the article to which BlackWave had provided a link states that the Italian submarine Leonardo da Vinci was already at Bordeaux to be fitted out with the midget submarines for the attack on New York. Bordeaux is on the Bay of Biscay, which is part of the Atlantic, which means that the Leonardo da Vinci had already passed Gibraltar!
http://www.regiamarina.net/xa_mas/ny/ny_us.htm
Just some macaroni wet dreams, that plan ever being reality is a pure ASB.
I did not say it was easy, or a recommendable strategy from the Axis point of view, I just wanted to emphasize that the whole discussion about Gibraltar was superfluous because the submarine in question was already in the Atlantic. Of course what you say about the Bay of Biscay is perfectly true, but only from circa 1943 onwards. If the attack is made earlier, it just might (might!) succeed. But then again, I have already questioned, in my earlier post, whether it would be worthwhile.So instead of trying to pass Gibralter, which was extremely dangerous, the sub has to get across the Sea of Biscay, which is at least the second most dangerous place for an Axis submarine.
Most of the Axis' subs which were sunk were lost in the Sea of Biscay.
Subs of those days still had to do most of their trip on the surface and with the RAF's cover over the Sea of Biscay didn't exactly make it a walk in the park.
To make matters worse, you'd have to do so in a big submarine (probably not the fastest diving sub around) but with several minisubs attached to the outside of your sub. And that's before you cross the Atlantic...
Probably didn't happen OTL because the chance of success were slim and the chance of losing the sub 99%. The Italians weren't exactly crazy. There are about a gazillion Allied ports just as important or which will provide just as significant a moral boost when attacked, which aren't thousands of miles away.
Dude, we've said the attack relied on subs. Which were demonstratably capable of entering the Atlantic.
Just some macaroni wet dreams, that plan ever being reality is a pure ASB.
Racist?Stop the racist slur!
New York is a LONG way to go to try a minor raid by some frogmen.
It might be symbolic, even if successful, but beyond that?
The USN had also improved in the ASW and patrol game by 12-1-1942, and New York was not the nice soft target it had been in January.