Sea power provided the medium through which industrial strength and military forces moved into the theater. The strategic stakes differed sharply: Germany treated the Mediterranean largely as a sideshow, Italy regarded it as central, the United States prioritized a cross-Channel attack, and Britain feared losing Egypt, Suez, imperial routes, and Middle Eastern oil. Convoys carrying troops, fuel, and matériel connected naval control directly to the land campaign and required cooperation among all three services. Generic language about Axis forces can obscure the Regia Marina's central role in that struggle.
Chapter · 2:05:30-2:10:41
Mediterranean sea control linked fleets, armies, and commerce
A chapter on Taranto and Cape Matapan explains why control of Mediterranean communications determined whether men, fuel, and matériel could reach land campaigns.