The Medditeranian sea was very much a region under control of the allies from 1941 onwards with the Italian Navy suffering big losses and the allies controlling Gibraltar as the 'gate'. The Germans sent 62 U-Boats into the Mediterranean despite the risks in order to limit the overwhelming control that the allies had there.
However it was a very risky arena for the U-Boats, calmer water, allied air-cover with radar, and they had to get past Gibraltar. No U-Boats ever made it back from the Mediterranean.
It was not a universally popular policy in the German military, Donitz (Commander of the submarine fleet before being elevated to Grand Admiral) considered it wasteful of resources as each U-Boat sent into the Med was no longer ever available in the Atlantic.
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