From 1935 to 1940 the (Italian Royal Navy) laid plans for an ocean-going "escape fleet" () equipped for service in the tropics. The plans varied from three battleships, an aircraft carrier, twelve cruisers, 36 destroyers and 30 submarines to a more realistic two cruisers, eight destroyers and twelve submarines. Even the lower establishment proved too expensive and in 1940 the Red Sea Flotilla had seven ageing fleet destroyers, the 5th Destroyer Division with the Leone-class destroyers "Pantera", "Leone" and "Tigre" and the 3rd Destroyer Division with the Sauro-class destroyers "Cesare Battisti", "Francesco Nullo", "Nazario Sauro" and "Daniele Manin". There were two old local defence destroyers (torpedo boats) "Orsini" and "Acerbi", a squadron of five first world war "Motoscafo Armato Silurante" (MAS, motor torpedo boats).