Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Rommel: The Italian Perspective" video.

  1. So, the Italian submarine fleet', 'the world's greatest in terms of tonnage' sank almost 750,000 tons of Allied shipping in three years? Would it be churlish to point out that between April & June, 1941, the German U-boat fleet, with less than 40 operational front line boats, sank 927804 tons? As to surface ships sunk by the Italian air force, you claim 72 Allied warships. As the allies lost 76 warships in the whole of the campaign, totalling 315,500 tons, are you claiming that, between them, mines, the Italian surface fleet, the Luftwaffe, and the German U-boat arm, sank just 4? I fear you will struggle to justify this claim, especially since, in terms of tonnage, 145800 is recorded as sunk by Italian means, and 169,700 to German forces. Moreover, would you care to comment on axis shipping losses to RN submarines in the Mediterranean over the period June, 1940 to September, 1943? 328 vessels of 815,800 tons. All except 14 of the vessels were Italian, by the way. The attack on Valiant & Queen Elizabeth, which disabled both of them, was an outstanding feat of arms. Less outstanding, however, was the fact that absolutely no advantage was taken of it. Valiant, by the way, was back in service by June 1942, although her repairs were completed by March, after which she was sent to Durban for a major refit before joining the Eastern Fleet. Queen Elizabeth took longer to repair, 18 months in fact, although much of this time was spent in the US undergoing a thorough refit. Would you care to provide evidence for your remarkable assertion that 'By mid-1942, Mussolini's navy had fought its way back from crushing defeats to become the dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea' by describing the occasions upon which this dominance was demonstrated? The triumphant annihilation of the RN surface forces protecting 'Pedestal' by the battlefleet would perhaps be a good starting point? I won't bother with most of the rest, except to say that I cannot find any references to any Italian nuclear weapons programme earlier that the 1960s, and the flight of the P.108 would have been remarkable, given that New York is almost 7000 kms from Rome, and the operational range of the P108 was less than 3300 kms. You are a total fantasist, albeit a remarkably amusing one. Still, I am sure you remain proud of that wonderful day in September 1943 when the triumphant Italian battlefleet steamed into Valetta harbour to accept the surrender of the fortress of Malta.
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