Corfu as an Ionian naval base

Corfu was valuable less as an isolated possession than as infrastructure for a sailing fleet: a place to replenish, maintain ships, and control movement between the Adriatic, Ionian, and eastern Mediterranean. Its position could support operations toward Naples or Ottoman territory while also threatening traffic entering and leaving the Adriatic. Holding Corfu together with a base around Taranto would give a power leverage on both sides of that entrance. The island's terrain made it defensible, but a useful base still needed a garrison. The service station analogy makes the strategic point concrete: geography turned the island into leverage over several sea routes.