Mare Nostrum Mediterranean Fleet, with bases in UK-controlled Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, Egypt, and Mandatory Palestine remained the only threat to Italian naval power in the Mediterranean. The invasions of Albania, Greece and Egypt, and the Siege of Malta sought to extend Axis control over the Sea. This policy was so far-reaching and potentially intrusive, that it threatened neutral nations like Turkey, a threat that İsmet İnönü, the president of Turkey at the time of war, countered by promising to enter the war only if the Soviet Union joined the Allies. Mussolini dreamed of creating an Imperial Italy in his "Mare Nostrum" and
Mare Nostrum (1926 film) the Allies, arming her with a deck gun, replacing his crew with French military sailors, and transporting munitions to Salonica. Only longtime family friend and sea cook Caragol refuses to leave him. On the voyage, they are intercepted by the "U-35". With the "Mare Nostrum" torpedoed and doomed, Ulysses mans the abandoned deck gun and sinks the "U-35". As Ulysses descends into the ocean depths, Amphitrite rises to embrace and kiss him. The young Michael Powell worked as an apprentice grip on the film, having been introduced by set designer Harry Lachman. The part of The Triton was played by