Osprey's Taranto 1940

In late 1940, the Royal Navy was concerned. Italy had joined the war and the British had so ticked off the French by sinking their fleet at Oran, that they were basically alone in the Mediterranean. Thanks to the requirement to keep much of the British fleet busy doing other things, like convoy escort, keeping German ships bottled up or chasing them around the oceans that there wasn't much left over for the folks in the Mediterranean.

On paper, the Italian fleet was formidable and more than a match for the somewhat antiquated ships based in Alexandria and at Gibraltar. The Royal Navy only had one carrier, an old and rather small one at the start of the war in those waters. It was sunk in Norwegian waters during the middle of 1940, leaving quite a gap in the Mediterranean fleet.

It was felt that the Italian fleet, based at Taranto in southern Italy, had to be neutralized in order to allow free passage of supplies to the British fighting in North Africa, supplies that had to cross the length of the Mediterranean to reach Alexandria or half of it to supply Malta.

In the late 1930s, when Italy's aggression in Abyssinia was at its height, the British developed a plan to use carrier aircraft to attack the Italian fleet, but with the culmination of that crisis, the plans were put away. Fast forward to late 1940 and the man who drew up those plans was now in a much higher position and able to influence those British admirals who felt naval aviation was good for little more that gunfire spotting and reconnaissance. The plans were brought back out and adjusted for current events.

The Mediterranean fleet also got the brand new aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious along with its two squadrons of Swordfish. The British frequently practiced night maneuvers so when it was decided to attack the Italians in Taranto at night, there was a high expectation of success, though it was felt that the losses would also be relatively high.

Taranto had been heavily built up with numerous anti-aircraft gun positions, barrage balloon fields and torpedo nets, though even more were planned. Reconnaissance of the fleet anchorage on an almost daily basis provided the intel needed and so the plan was put into operation.

In order to help mask the attack, the British came up with a convoluted mass of operations that would have made Japanese planning look simple. Unlike the Japanese, this one actually worked and late at night on 11 November two waves of Swordfish, totally about 20 aircraft, attacked the Italian fleet.

In this book, the author has done a superlative job of telling the story of the operation, including all the build-up and a look at the personalities and equipment involved. I have to say that I was duly impressed by how he was able to tell the story of every FAA crew that participated in the attack. The story is so well told that even knowing how it turned out, the reader (as in I), was metaphorically on the edge of my seat the whole time.

FIlled with excellent period photos, some great artwork and maps, the story unfolds before you. Such was the success of the mission that later the Japanese military mission in Italy were able to speak to many of the Italians involved. It is felt that the insights they gained helped them to plan the Pearl Harbor attack a year latter. In all, it is a superb addition to Osprey's Campaign series and a book that I can highly recommend to you.

Copyright ModelingMadness.com October 2015

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