 The declaration of war by Italy on 10 June 1940 placed the Italian Royal Air Force () astride the traditional British sea route to Indian Ocean ports via the Mediterranean and the Italian Royal Navy () roughly trebled the numbers of battleships, cruisers and submarines available to the Axis against the Royal Navy.The British had held the eastern end of the Mediterranean and France the western end but the defection of France removed the French Navy from the Mediterranean on 25 June 1940.The British-based Force H at Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Fleet at Alexandria.