Turning convoy losses into a North African advantage

Submarines and aircraft from Malta could impose attrition by taking one or two ships from repeated convoys. Force K was intended to deliver larger shocks by destroying whole groups of merchantmen in a single interception. Italian shipbuilding could not quickly replace losses on that scale, so every successful raid reduced the transport system's future capacity as well as its current cargo. Destroying that shipping capacity translated into shortages of fuel, ammunition, food, and spare parts for Axis armies in North Africa.