Allied Blockade of Gibraltar (The Era of Relative Peace)

The Allied Blockade of Gibraltar was a naval blockade of the Straits of Gibraltar composed of a flotilla of NATO ships blocking the passage to the Atlantic Ocean. This was an strategic campaign in which the Soviet Navy was denied access to the Atlantic after a large amount of NATO ships were sunk, capsized, or destroyed during the First Battle of the Mediterranean.

The Battle
NATO/Allied forces suffered a heavy setback in the Mediterranean Sea after the Soviet Navy decimated the U.S. 6th Fleet alongside allied ships in the First Battle of the Mediterranean. Following the Soviet victory, the Soviet Union launched an amphibious invasion of Sardinia, Corsica, Malta, the Balearic Islands, and the coast of southern France.

Remaining allied ships retreated to the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, which is a known Mediterranean base of the Royal Navy. American, British, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese vessels effectively formed a blockade of the Straits of Gibraltar. The non-NATO member of Morrocco also contributed to the naval flotilla.

The blockade prevented any Soviet submarine and destroyer from escaping into the Atlantic. However, there were cases of Soviet submarines having successfully sneaked past the blockade and then bombarded the Spanish coastal cities. These were quickly dealt by the U.S. Air Force fighter jets based from Moron AB alongside with the Royal Air Force and the Spanish Air Force.

It was notable that this was the first time Spain and the United Kingdom cooperated in the Iberian peninsula, marred by centuries-old dispute of Gibraltar, which was ceded to the United Kingdom in perpetuity in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. For the first time, Spanish ships were able to dock the Gibraltar naval base, working alongside their British and NATO counterparts.

Aftermath
TBA