Battle
A handful of aircraft turns a protected harbor into a vulnerable target.
Military history
During the night of 11–12 November 1940, Swordfish aircraft from Illustrious attack the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto. Recent reconnaissance, night training and extra fuel tanks make the long-range raid possible. Flare aircraft illuminate the targets while torpedo bombers and bombers approach along several axes. Three battleships are put out of action; three others remain undamaged. The significance goes beyond the damage: fewer Italian battleships are available, and their move to Naples reduces pressure on British convoys.
The Italian battleships at Taranto threaten British movements in the Mediterranean. The operation is part of a series of convoys and reinforcement movements; striking the fleet in port may reduce the forces needed to protect them.
Reconnaissance photographs reveal the anchorages, nets and balloons. Recent photographs are retrieved in Malta on 11 November; new reports help plan the targets and approach routes.
Eagle remains absent because of fuel problems, but provides aircraft and crews. Illustrious launches twelve Swordfish, then nine. One of the latter turns back after a technical problem: twenty aircraft actually attack the harbour.
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Military history
London Gazette, 24 juillet 1947, pp. 3471–3477 ; Boyd §§2, 6–20 ; note corrective p. 3472
Preparation, departures of both waves, crew accounts, encountered defences and the corrected damage tally.
View ↗Chapitre R.A.N. Ships Overseas June–December 1940, pp. 233–236 (PDF pp. 98–101)
Italian concentration, links with British operations, and consequences for bases, battleships and escorts.
View ↗Plan au 1:10 000, collection Perry–Castañeda, université du Texas
Geography of the old town, canal and Mar Piccolo; a later plan, not evidence of the 1940 berths.
View ↗Reproduction dans l’atlas Madsen, page PDF 21
Relative arrangement of berths and islands, eastern route of the flare-droppers and western approaches; the plate’s original reference is not identified in the reproduction.
View ↗Carte du 31 janvier 2011
Cross-check of the basins’ topology and moorings. Cruiser losses are checked against the more precise Admiralty note.
View ↗Rubriques Cavour Class et Littorio Class, planches et photographies de reconnaissance
Battleship silhouettes and turret layout; 1942–43 plates do not prove every fitting present in November 1940.
View ↗Photographie A 3532, S. J. Beadell, vol d’entraînement depuis Crail en 1940
Aircraft type, wings, fixed landing gear and illustrated silhouettes; it does not depict the raid itself.
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