Mediterranean & North Africa · 11 Nov 1940 – 12 Nov 1940
Raid on Taranto
On the night of 11–12 November 1940, twenty-one Royal Navy Fairey Swordfish biplanes launched from HMS Illustrious and struck the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto, disabling three battleships for the loss of two aircraft.
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Following Italy's entry into the war in June 1940, the Regia Marina maintained its primary battlefleet at the fortified naval anchorage of Taranto. Operating under the fleet-in-being doctrine, six Italian battleships, accompanied by cruisers and destroyers, posed a persistent threat to British convoy lanes between Gibraltar, Malta, and Alexandria. Seeking to eliminate this surface threat without risking a costly fleet engagement against shore fortifications, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham revived pre-war operational concepts for an aerial torpedo raid against the anchorage.
Designated Operation Judgement, the strike formed part of the complex Mediterranean fleet and convoy movements of Operation MB8. Mechanical breakdowns on the older carrier HMS Eagle forced her withdrawal, leaving the newly commissioned carrier HMS Illustrious to conduct the raid alone after embarking five of Eagle's aircraft. Aerial reconnaissance conducted by RAF Martin Marylands from Malta located the Italian warships and identified barrage balloon lines protecting the harbour. On the evening of 11 November, Illustrious and her escorting cruisers and destroyers assumed launch positions in the Ionian Sea, roughly 170 nautical miles southeast of Taranto.
The attack unfolded in two waves. At 20:35, the first wave of twelve Fairey Swordfish biplanes, led by Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Williamson, lifted off into overcast skies. Six carried torpedoes fitted with Duplex magnetic exploders, set to run deep enough to pass beneath the harbour's anti-torpedo nets, while the remainder carried bombs and illuminating flares. Arriving over the Gulf of Taranto after 22:30, flare-droppers silhouetted the ships against the water. Despite heavy anti-aircraft barrage from 101 shore guns and warship batteries, the torpedo bombers penetrated the Mar Grande anchorage, striking the dreadnought Conte di Cavour once and the newly completed battleship Littorio twice. Williamson's aircraft was brought down in the harbour, and its two-man crew captured.
The second wave of nine Swordfish, reduced to eight when one suffered fuel tank trouble and returned, struck an hour later. Guided by burning fuel depots and previous fires, the torpedo bombers pressed through intense flak. They scored a third torpedo hit on Littorio and a torpedo hit on Caio Duilio. Minor bomb damage was also inflicted on the heavy cruiser Trento and shore facilities, at the cost of one second-wave Swordfish shot down with the death of both crewmen.
By morning, the results of the raid were evident. Conte di Cavour had settled to the bottom with her decks awash, never to return to operational service. Littorio and Caio Duilio suffered catastrophic flooding and had to be run aground to prevent sinking, putting both out of action for many months. The Italian naval command immediately transferred its surviving capital ships to Naples, ceding surface control of the central Mediterranean to the Royal Navy.