Battle of Taranto
Events Leading up to the Battle
The Italian navy was still considered a threat by Admiral Cunningham and in late 1940 he devised a plan whereby he would considerably reduce the power of the Italian navy . The plan called for an airstrike on the Italian port of Taranto where the bulk of Italy's big ships were located .
Executing the raid
In November 1940 Admiral Cunningham's fleet was reinforced by the arrival
of the aircraft carrier HMS Illusttrious with her 34 planes which inclueded 22
Fiary Swordfish Torpedo Bombers ,
Cunningham set sail from his base in Egypt with his force of 4 battleships
the Illusttrious and a number of supporting cruisers and destroyers , although
the HMS Eagle could not take part in the battle due to a fire which had damaged
her main hangar 5 of her bombers transferred to the Illus
trious
to take part . On the 11 November the fleet was in position to launch the attack , two
strike forces left the carrier the first consisted of 12 Swordfish and the
second which followed roughly an hour later consisted of 9 . The attack took
the Italians by surprise as they had no idea that the British fleet was so near . The
swordfish achieved a considerable success and with 3 torpedo's they sank the battleship Littorio
and hit the Conte di Cavour and the Caio Duilio with a
single torpedo each putting them out of action for a lengthy period of time .
The Aftermath
This daring raid by Cunningham is a foretaste of the changing form of naval warfare where a single plane can hit and sink even the mightiest of battleships . It also restored the British Navy's dominence in the Mediterranean .