Battleships and submarines over a balanced fleet

Submarines could contribute to sea denial, especially when coordinated with the surface fleet, but a force plan centred on battleships and submarines alone left serious gaps. Cavagnari halted the heavy-cruiser line and failed to complete many planned light cruisers even though Italy's existing heavy cruisers are assessed as a major strength. Battleships could tie down enemy capital ships, but they did not supply all the manoeuvre, escort, and convoy capabilities demanded by a Mediterranean war. Cruisers, destroyers, and escorts would have been more useful complements if Italy expected war with France and could not freely break out into the Atlantic.