Could Cavagnari have confronted Italy's shell-quality problem?

Did Cavagnari know about Italian shell-manufacturing deficiencies, and what could he have done?

The evidence does not establish what Cavagnari knew, but he should have known and used his position to force a response to substandard munitions.

Whether Cavagnari knew about defective shell manufacture before the war remains uncertain. As naval chief, he should have known, or at least acted decisively if the problem reached him. One proposed tactic was to use Mussolini's fear of communist sabotage to trigger factory inspections without directly confronting the owners who supported the regime. The case shows how a procurement failure can persist when senior leadership does not turn technical warnings into political pressure.