Background
Italy's declaration of War on 10 June 1940 brought World War II to the Mediterranean Sea and placed the Regia Aeronautica astride England's traditional sea route to Indian Ocean ports, while the Regia Marina roughly tripled the numbers of battleships, cruisers, and submarines available to challenge British sea power. The Royal Navy had been prepared to defend the eastern Mediterranean so long as France could control the western Mediterranean, but the Second Armistice at Compiègne removed the French navy from the alliance on 25 June 1940. From bases at Gibraltar and Alexandria the Royal Navy attempted to convoy supplies to sustain Malta as a base in the central Mediterranean. As Italy attacked Egypt from Libya in September 1940 and Greece from Albania in October 1940, the Royal Navy maintained most of their Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria while Force H at Gibraltar was used for raids. Early November 1940 successes including halting the Italian offensive in Greece and disabling Italian battleships Littorio, Conte di Cavour and Caio Duilio at the Battle of Taranto provided incentive and opportunity to resupply Malta and Greece.
Read more about this topic: Operation Excess
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