The War Under Sea. The Submarine Operations in the Dutch East Indies, December 1941-March 1942

Germany & Italy

By mid January 1943 the Anglo-American naval blockade of Germany had reduced, step by step, the stocks of those strategical materials the German were already short of (namely rubber, tungsten, molibdenum, copper, vegetal substances, quinine and some kinds of oils) and which were absolutely necessary to carry on the war. All these goods, uncommon in Europe and whose production was rather difficult, were on the contrary largely available in the Asiatic regions conquered by the Japanese during the war. The Indonesian Archipelago, the large and rich Dutch colony, invaded by the Japanese in the spring of 1942 after a rapid aeronaval offensive, could supply Germany and the Axis countries with the strategical materials they needed on condition that they were able to build ships fit for a voyage out and home on a very long and dangerous course....

The U-Boat War in the Indian Ocean by  Alberto Rosselli

Soviet Union

In 1939 the Soviet Pacific Fleet, under command of Vize-Admiral Ivan Jumasev, had 14 destroyers, 30 minesweepers, 92 patrol boats and more than 80 submarines. The fleet in 1941 had slightly changed with 2 light cruisers, built recently in that year, each of 8,800 tons, and could do 35 knots, there were also 16 destroyers and now 94 submarines. The submarine fleet had various vessels, thirteen of Type 'L, forty-one of Type 'Shch, thirty-three of Type 'M, six of Type 'S and only one of Type 'K. Of the main Soviet naval base at Vladivostok for the Pacific Ocean it was said that no other Soviet fleet in other seas had such power, which is understandable if we consider the large number of submarines and destroyers. Wartime operational activities and patrols occurred mainly during August 1938 when Japanese Army invaded the Soviet Union near Hasan Lake....

Soviets sail the Seven Seas by  Miltiades Varvounis