 U-boats patrolled the eastern Mediterranean from the 23rd flotilla base on Salamis Island in Greece.On 7 December, control of the 23rd Flotilla was transferred from Kernével to The Commander in Chief in the South ("Oberbefehlshaber Süd", OB Süd) Albert Kesselring.Additional bases were established in Pula in Croatia and La Spezia in northern Italy as more U-boats were ordered to the Mediterranean, until focus shifted to the western Atlantic through the Second Happy Time.