Fleet strength depends on availability as well as permanent losses. Italian frogmen planted limpet mines on recently refitted British battleships and put them out of action for months without sinking them. Repair time could therefore shrink the Royal Navy's usable battle fleet even when the hulls remained on the official list. The exchange praises the skill and courage of the Italian specialist personnel while blaming senior leadership for wider failures in Italy's war effort.
Notable Point · 22:02-22:58
Italian frogmen and the attrition of repair time
An Italian limpet-mine operation illustrates how damage could remove battleships for months even when it did not sink them, reducing an already stretched Royal Navy's usable strength.