Marina had a number of fast new cruisers with good range in their gunnery, the older classes were lightly built and had inadequate defensive armor. Numerically the Italian fleet was formidable, but there were a large number of older vessels, and the service suffered in general from insufficient time at sea for crew training. Italy's lack of raw materials meant that they would have great difficulty building new ships over the course of the war. Thus, the assets they did have were handled with caution by Supermarina. Whereas Allied commanders at sea had a fair degree of autonomy and discretion to fight their vessels as circumstance allowed, Italian commanders were required to confer with their headquarters before committing their forces in an engagement that might result in their loss. This led to delays in arriving at decisions and actions being avoided, even when the Italians had a clear advantage. An example occurred during "Operation Hats", in which the Regia Marina had superior forces but failed to commit them to take advantage of the opportunity. A further key disadvantage in the convoy support and interception battles that dominated the Battle of the Mediterranean was the intelligence advantage granted to the British in intercepting German Ultra and, through this, the key information on Italian convoy routes, times of departure, time of arrival, and make up of the convoy. The warships of the Regia Marina had a general reputation as being well-designed. Italian small attack craft lived up to expectations and were responsible for many successful actions in the Mediterranean. Though Italian warships lacked radar, this was partly offset in fair weather by good optical rangefinder and fire-control systems. The Italian Navy lacked a fleet air arm. The high command had reasoned that since the Italian navy would be operating solely in the Mediterranean, their vessels would never be far from an airfield, thus the time and resources needed to develop a naval air arm could be directed elsewhere. This proved problematic on a number of occasions. Though the Italians did have the aircraft carriers and under construction at the start of the war, neither one was ever completed. Lastly, the lack of natural oil reserves and subsequent shortage of oil precluded extensive fleet operations. Mediterranean The Regia Marina and the Royal Navy engaged in a two-and-a-half-year struggle for control of the Mediterranean. The Regia Marinas primary goal was to support the Axis