Italy's trade routes could be blocked at Gibraltar or Suez, while a likely war with France concentrated operations inside the Mediterranean. Convoy escort to Libya was strategically necessary but politically unglamorous. Planners instead emphasized speed, fleet support, limited raids, and national display. Those assumptions encouraged short range and thin armor because designers imagined cruisers free to maneuver rather than tied to merchant ships.
Chapter · 37:33-44:47
Mediterranean geography narrows the cruiser mission
British control near Gibraltar and Suez made oceanic commerce warfare unrealistic, leaving Italian cruisers as fleet reinforcements, raiders, and prestige symbols.