Sea of Crete Sea of Crete The Sea of Crete (, "Kritiko Pelagos") or Cretan Sea, is a sea, part of the Aegean Sea, located in its Southern extremity. The sea stretches to the North of the island of Crete, East of the islands of Kythera and Antikythera, South of the Cyclades, and West of the Dodecanese islands of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kassos. The bounding sea to the West is the Ionian Sea. To the Northwest is the Myrtoan Sea, a subdivision of the Mediterranean Sea that lies between the Cyclades and Peloponnese. To the East-SE is the rest of the Mediterranean Sea,
Battle of the Mediterranean holding these points, the Mediterranean Fleet held open vital supply routes. Malta was the lynch-pin of the whole system. It provided a needed stop for Allied convoys and a base from which to attack the Axis supply routes. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini saw the control of the Mediterranean as an essential prerequisite for expanding his "New Roman Empire" into Nice, Corsica, Tunis and the Balkans. Italian naval building accelerated during his tenure. Mussolini described the Mediterranean Sea as "Mare Nostrum" "(our sea)". The warships of the "Regia Marina" (Italian Royal Fleet) had a general reputation as well-designed. Italian small attack