Royal Navy night power stops the seaborne landings

The proposed seaborne component depended on slow, improvised craft that could not cross quickly enough to avoid night operations. That placed them in the environment where the Royal Navy could still impose local control despite German air superiority by day. Control of the same waters could shift with the time of day and the balance between ships and aircraft. After the convoys failed, Maleme became the route by which the invasion had to be sustained.