7. The British Raid on Taranto
The Cuxhaven Raid demonstrated the potential of sea power wedded to aircraft, but it took decades – and another world war – before that potential was fully realized. It occurred on the night of November 11th – 12th, 1940, when the British Royal Navy launched 21 obsolescent Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious against Italian warships anchored at Taranto. It was history’s first naval engagement that relied exclusively upon carrier aircraft to attack heavily defended warships and was a transformational moment for the Royal Navy’s Fleet air arm.
For years before the outbreak of WWII, the Royal Navy had mulled plans to attack the Italian fleet in Taranto. It was well-positioned to sortie out and cut British supply lines across the Mediterranean, and so it had to be dealt with in case of hostilities. The best plan, codenamed Operation Judgment, called for an attack by torpedo bombers launched from an aircraft carrier. The warships anchored in Taranto were protected by torpedo nets, surrounded by barrage balloons and antiaircraft guns, and the Italians thought they were immune. As seen below, they were not.
