War Stories: Battle of Taranto, precursor to Pearl Harbor?

 

Swordfish Bomber, as depicted in the game Kards

As World War 2 broke out in Europe in 1939, Italy decided to join forces with German a year later. To maintain control of the Mediterranean, the British decided to crush the Italian fleet at Taranto. 

Little did they know, the Japanese were watching.

Italy in WW2

Although there are many jokes about the Italian fighting performance during World War 2, the Italian Navy (Regia Marina) actually had the fifth biggest navy in the world. Thus it competed with the British Navy (Royal Navy) in the Mediterranean.

The British could ill-afford to ignore the Mediterranean -- its control of Gibraltar and the Suez in Egypt was vital to allow the transport of goods from and to its Asian and African colonies. Furthermore, this control also denied Italy and German resources for a long war.

While much larger than the Regia Marina, the Royal Navy could not decisively defeat them. The Italians were overly cautious, rarely moved their main fleet away from their port in Taranto. Thus the Royal Navy knew they had to strike the Regia Marina in the Italian home base.

Operation Judgement

The original plan, called Operation Judgement, called for the use of 36 Swordfish bomber planes and the use of HMS Eagle and HMS Illustrious. However, HMS Eagle suffered a fuel breakdown and reduced the number of involved planes to 21.

After confirmation of Italian battleships present at Taranto, Operation Judgement began.

11 November 1940

2100 - the first wave of 12 Swordfish bombers launched from HMS Illustrious. The second wave of 9 bombers left 90 minutes later. 

2258 - the first wave of bombers engaged from the Southwest of Taranto, Dropping flares for better visibility, three of the bombers launched torpedoes. The Italian battleship Conte di Cavour was struck and a 8.2 m hole appeared below the waterline. One of the three bombers was shot down. Both crew members survived and were later captured

2315 - the two remaining bombers struck the battleship Andrea Doria with minimal damage. Another three bombers attacked the battleships Littorio and Vittorio Veneto. Littorio receives two torpedos hits, but Vittorio Veneto avoided a hit.

12 November 1940

0000 - the second wave of 8 bombers (1 bomber had to abort due to fuel failure) approached Taranto from the Northwest. 

0101 - the battleships Littorio and Caio Duilio are hit with torpedoes. Another Swordfish was shot down, but this time both pilot and co-pilot were killed.

0122 - the attack is over.

Casualties

The British lost two aircraft. Of the four crew in those aircraft, two were captured and two were killed in action.

The Italians suffered way more causualties with 59 dead and 600 wounded. Half their battleships (Littorio, Caio Duilo and Conte di Cavour) were disabled. The Italians were force to relocate their battleships to Naples after the attack.

Precursor to Pearl Harbor?

Taranto and the night of November 11–12, 1940, should be remembered for ever [sic] as having shown once and for all that in the Fleet Air Arm the Navy has its most devastating weapon.
-- Admiral Andrew Cunningham

The attack on Taranto would assert the superority of air units in naval combat. It also confirmed the feasibility of using torpedoes on shallow water ports 

This attack caught the interest of the Imperial Japanese. Lieutanent Takeshi Naito, the Japanese naval attache to Berlin flew to Taranto and communicated his findings to Tokyo. The Japanese would then emulated the attack on Pearl Harbor at a larger scale 1 year later. But that is another war story for another day.