 Comparing the respective tonnages sunk by U-boats compared to the Italian submarines and their respective losses (16 Italian submarines lost against 247 U-boats), the respective "exchange rates" (gross tonnage sunk divided by the number of submarines lost) were respectively 40.591 t for the German units and 34.512 t for the Italian ones.The strategic significance of Italy's participation in the Battle of the Atlantic was however small, as the number of Italian submarines that operated in the Atlantic was 30 at its peak, whereas the Kriegsmarine committed over 1,000 submarines to the battle of the Atlantic between 1939 and 1945.Overall, Italian submarines operating in the Atlantic sank 109 allied merchant ships totalling 601,425 tons, and lost 16 boats.