Aggression as Royal Navy doctrine

Royal Navy officers were taught to fight with the forces available and to trust that tactics could make imperfect systems work. A globally dispersed fleet often had fewer ships in a particular theatre than its opponent, so it needed to behave as if reinforcement and renewed attack were always possible. In the Mediterranean, persistent aggression denied the Regia Marina a durable sense of moral ascendancy even when Italian forces held local numerical advantages. The Italians could gain strategic benefits or claim a draw without feeling that they had become the dominant fleet. The Royal Navy's status as the benchmark against which opponents measured themselves reinforced that psychological effect. Reputation and pressure became operational assets rather than questions of morale alone.