From mid-1940, ships of the RAN, at the request of the Admiralty, began to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea to take part in the Battle of the Mediterranean against Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. In September 1939, the Admiralty and the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board agreed to deploy the RAN Destroyer Flotilla outside the Australia Station; the five ships of what was to become known as the Scrap Iron Flotilla arrived at Malta in mid-December. HMAS "Sydney" deployed in May 1940 and was later joined by "Hobart". When Italy declared war on 10 June 1940, the Australian warships made up five of the twenty-two Allied destroyers and one of the five modern light cruisers on station in the Mediterranean. The RAN then offered the services of "Australia" to the Admiralty, and was accepted. When "Australia" arrived in the Mediterranean, the RAN had sent nearly the entire combat fleet to the Northern Hemisphere, leaving Australia open to possible attack.