This month, seventy years ago, the Royal Navy established a blue print for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when carrier-based planes attacked the Regia Marina Italiana at its base in Taranto.
    Taranto is located at the southern end of the Italian Peninsula and had been chosen as the main base of the Regia Marina Italiana because it was close to the British lines of communication in the Mediterranean. Less fuel would be required for a strike on Malta from Taranto than from Naples. The Italian Army had wanted the Regia Marina Italiana to base in Naples since it was entrusted with war defenses and Naples was easier to defend.  However, fuel dominated the Regia Marina’s thinking.
    Taranto was protected by 21 batteries of four inch antiaircraft guns, 84 automatic cannons and 109 machine guns. In addition, the six battleships, seven cruisers and 28 destroyers based there mounted more than 600 antiaircraft guns between them. The harbor was further protected by 22 modern searchlights, 13 huge electrical devices able to detect a plane miles away and 30 barrage balloons trailing steel cables ringing the anchorage. Finally, the Italians had installed 4,600 yards of underwater steel torpedo nets.
    The British had originally planned the attack to occur on October 21, 1940, the day England celebrates the victory of Admiral Lord Nelson’s fleet over the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar in 1805. But a few days before the planned attack a fire destroyed two of the planes and damaged five others.
    Nothing like this had ever been attempted. The original plan called for two carriers, Eagle and Illustrious, to launch 36 planes in two waves. The planes that were to be used were Fairey Swordfish. The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane which, because of its appearance, was dubbed the “Stringbag.”  It was manufactured by the Fairey Aviation Company Limited, founded by Charles Richard Fairey in 1915. By the time of the assault on the Taranto naval base, the Fairey Swordfish was obsolete and resembled a refugee from The Great War.
    The attack was rescheduled for Armistice Day, November 11, 1940. A few days before launch, HMS Eagle came up lame.  Five of its planes were transferred to Illustrious, making for a total of 24. Two days before the scheduled strike, three planes were lost. Now there were only 21.
    The Illustrious was accompanied by cruisers Gloucester, Berwick, Glasgow and York, and four destroyers, commanded by Admiral Arthur Lumley St. George Lyster. The Illustrious had only recently joined the Royal Navy. It displaced more than 28,000 tons and carried a crew of 1900.
    At 9:00 p.m. on November 11, 1940, the first wave of 12 Fairy Swordfish, launched from H.M.S. Illustrious, opened the attack. Half were armed with bombs and half were armed with torpedoes. The first wave arrived over target at 10:58 P.M.  They were met by a hail of anti-aircraft fire. The Italians were not surprised.
    Two planes attacked the oil tanks.  Three planes, led by Lt. Commander K. W. Williamson, attacked the Conte di Cavour. The battleship was struck by a torpedo, which blew a 27-foot hole under its waterline, and killed 16 of its crew. The damage was so extensive that it never returned to the war.
    Commander Williamson’s plane was shot down and the other two attacked the battleship Andrea Doria, without success. Commander Williamson and his observer, Lt. N. J. Scarlett, were rescued and made prisoners of war. The next three planes attacked the battleship Littorio, which was struck by two torpedoes, loosed by planes piloted by Lieutenants N. M. Kemp and H. A. I. Swayne, and put out of action for five months. Twenty-three of its crew were killed. By 11:30 P. M., the first wave was returning to the Illustrious.
    The second wave, led by Lt. Commander J. W. “Ginger” Hale, was supposed to consist of nine planes, but one was delayed and one had to turn back. One was shot down by the heavy cruiser Gorizia.  Both crewmen, Lieutenants G. W. Bayley and H. J. Slaughter, were killed. At about midnight, the seven planes of the second wave arrived. During the second wave’s attack, the battleship Caio Duilio was struck by a torpedo from Lt. C. S. C. Lea’s plane and put out of action for six months. One Italian sailor was killed.
    During the raid, Italian shore batteries had fired 12,800 rounds of all calibers. This does not include those fired by the ships.
    At a cost of two planes, the British sank the battleship Conte di Cavour and heavily damaged the battleships Littorio and Caio Duilio, and destroyers Libescio and Pessagrio. But the British weren’t finished. Admiral Lyster advocated a return the next night. Although Admiral Cunningham was uneasy about a return, he left the decision to Admiral Lyster. When one of the pilots was asked his opinion, he said, “After all, they only asked the Light Brigade to do it once!” But foul weather put an end to a second night of raiding.
    The remainder of the Italian fleet was then moved to Naples. Even though Admiral Arturo Riccardi had been in command of the fleet at Taranto during the disaster, he was, on December 7, 1940, promoted to Under Secretary of Navy and Chief-of-Staff of the Regia Marina, replacing Admiral Domenico Cavagnari. He could not be promoted any higher then Under-Secretary because the Secretary of each of the three War Departments was the Supreme War Lord himself, Il Duce, Benito Mussolini.
    Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, said, “Taranto, and the night of November 11-12, 1940, should be remembered forever as having shown, once and for all, that in the Fleet Air Arm the Navy has its most devastating weapon.”
    Several days after the attack, Lt. Takeshi Naito, assistant air attaché to the Japanese Embassy in Berlin, arrived and began a detailed inspection of the harbor, making detailed notes on depths and distances. That was followed, on May 18, 1941, by a large Japanese delegation, which included Rear Admiral Koki Abe. The delegation arrived with an enormous list of questions and stayed until June 8, 1941. Six months later, the Japanese would strike.

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.