British submarines operated a highly successful campaign against Axis shipping in the Mediterranean. Operating mainly out of Malta and Egypt, they had a major effect on the North African campaign. They also operated in the North Sea, against German shipping in the Heligoland Bight, the Skagerrak and along the Norwegian coast. They carried out minelaying operations, and towards the end of the war, ran a quite successful ASW campaign against German U-boats based in Norway. While on such operations, HMS Venturer became the first sub to sink another submerged submarine, when it sank U-864 in February 1945. British submarines sank or damaged several German capital ships, including the light cruisers Leipzig and Karlsruhe and heavy cruiser Lutzow.