Slowly the initial Italian setbacks (suffered mainly in the African colonies) were corrected with German help and in spring 1941 the Italians started an offensive in the Balkans (Greece and Yugoslavia) and in North Africa (Libya).
In summer/autumn 1942 Italy controlled the European seashores of the Mediterranean from the Rhone river in occupied France to Mount Olympus in Aegean Greece. A similar situation happened in the African shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where Mussolini's control went from Tunisia to El Alamein in Egypt. This Italian domination was increased by the fact that most of the remaining shores of the Mediterranean were controlled by the fascist Spain of General Franco, the France of "Vichy" and the Turkey of Kemal Atatürk, all of them with friendliness toward Mussolini.
In those months Mussolini referred to the Mediterranean Sea as "Mare Nostrum", in the same manner as the Romans had done when they dominated the Classical World. However, the Roman Mare Nostrum lasted for roughly six hundred years, while Mussolini's Mare Nostrum lasted a few years until the Italian armistice in September 1943.
All the overseas possessions of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea (Dodecanese, Libya, Saseno island, etc.) were lost formally as a result of the Treaty of peace with Italy (1947).
When Italy entered World War II on 10 June 1940, the Italian Royal Navy ("Regia Marina") was the fourth largest navy in the world. The Italian Navy had a mix of modernised and new battleships and challenged the Allies, mostly the British Royal Navy, for supremacy of the Mediterranean Sea.
Air support was provided by the Italian Air Force Auxiliary to the Navy ("Aviazione Ausiliara per la Marina"), the naval air service during wartime. The Air Force Auxiliary was in charge of all land-based aircraft, shore-based hydroplanes amongst of vessel-based aircraft, and hydroplanes of Italian Navy.
Italian warships had a general reputation as well-designed and good-looking. But some Italian cruiser classes were rather deficient in armour. All Italian warships lacked radar for most of the war, although the lack of radar was partly offset by the fact that Italian warships had good "rangefinder" and "fire-control" systems. In addition, whereas Allied commanders at sea had discretion on how to act, Italian commanders were closely and precisely governed by Italian Naval Headquarters ("Supermarina"). This could lead to action being avoided when the Italians had a clear advantage (e.g., During "Operation Hats" . Italian Naval Headquarters was conscious that the British could replace ships lost in the Mediterranean, whereas Italian Navy resources were limited).
The Allies had "Ultra" intercepts, which predicted the Italian movements, and radar, which enabled them to locate the ships and range their weapons at distance and at night. The better air reconnaissance skills of the "Fleet Air Arm" and their close collaboration with surface units were other major causes of the initial Italian defeats (like in the "Battle of Cape Matapan").
The most successful attack performed by the Italian Navy involved divers planting mines on British battleships in Alexandria harbour (19 December 1941): HMS "Queen Elizabeth" and HMS "Valiant" were sunk in shallow water by the "maiali" of Luigi Durand De La Penne.
On the same night, "Force K", comprising three cruisers and four destroyers based at Malta, became stranded in an Italian minefield off Tripoli. A cruiser (HMS "Neptune") and a destroyer (HMS "Kandahar") were lost, three other ships were seriously damaged, and more than 900 men died. "Force K" was put out of action and Malta's offensive capabilities were reduced to a minimum.
This sudden series of Allied defeats allowed the Regia Marina to achieve naval supremacy in the central Mediterranean, her supply routes were almost untouched by the enemy for several months. This is the beginning of nearly one year in which the Mediterranean sea was effectively an "Italian Mare Nostrum".
The Italian fleet also took advantage of the situation and moved onto the offensive, blocking or decimating at least three large Allied convoys bound for Malta. This led to a number of naval engagements, such as the "Second Battle of Sirte", the "Battle of Mid-June" or Operation "Harpoon" (plus Operation "Vigorous") and finally to Operation "Pedestal", all of them favourable to the Axis but sufficient supplies had been delviered to Malta for it to survive as a British base. The biggest success of the Italian Fleet was the aerial and surface attack on the "Harpoon" convoy, which sank several Allied warships and damaged others. Only two transports of the original six reached Malta. This was the only undisputed squadron-size victory for Italian surface forces in World War II.
During these months the Regia Marina even planned an attack to New York harbour for December 1942, but it was delayed for many reasons and was never done .
However, this was only a brief happy time for Mussolini. The oil and supplies brought to Malta, despite heavy losses, by "Operation Pedestal" in August and the Allied landings in North Africa, "Operation Torch", in November 1942, turned the fortunes of war against Italy. After years of stalemate, the Axis forces were ejected from Libya and Tunisia in six months after the "Battle of El Alamein", while their supply lines were harassed day after day by the growing and overwhelming aerial and naval supremacy of the Allies in what has just been the Mussolini's "Italian Mare Nostrum".
The Regia Marina performed well and bravely in its North African convoy duties, but remained at a technical disadvantage. The Italian ships relied on a speed advantage, but could easily be damaged by shell or torpedo, due to their relatively thin armour. The fatal and final blow to the Italian Navy was a shortage of fuel, which forced her main units to remain at anchor for most of the last year of the Italian alliance with Germany .
From summer/fall 1941 to November 1942 the Mediterranean sea was effectively an "Italian Mare Nostrum", fully controlled by the Italians in the central area around the Italian peninsula and Tunisia/Libya. These were the main battles/events in those months:
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