The map explains why the main movements converged around the central and eastern Mediterranean. Italian bases lay across the centre, while British forces depended on Gibraltar in the west, Alexandria and the Suez approaches in the east, and Malta between them. Vichy-controlled Algeria was not formally fighting Britain, yet British planners suspected that reconnaissance information could reach Germany or Italy. The result was a theatre in which geography, intelligence, and uncertain neutrality all influenced how safely a convoy or fleet could move.
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Bases and uncertain neutrality shaped the Mediterranean routes
Italian bases occupied the central Mediterranean, British strength lay at Gibraltar and in the east, and Vichy-controlled Algeria complicated western reconnaissance security.