Hi Guys,
I have always loved the story of the Swordfish vs the Italian "Navy"
Well, you might like this, then. This was text I wrote for an airshow brochure a number of years ago on Operation Judgement:
Taranto and Matapan; Torpedoplanes Triumphant
With a keen sense of history, C-in-C Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet Admiral Andrew Cunningham, better known as ‘ABC’ to his subordinates, originally chose the 21st of October – the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar as the date on which the Fleet Air Arm would strike at the Italian naval base of Taranto, but due to a fire aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, an attack on Trafalgar Day was ruled out. So, at 8:35 pm on the night of the 22nd anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended hostilities in the First World War, the first wave of twelve Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers took off from Illustrious and made their way toward the Italian coast.
‘Operation Judgement’ as the epoch marking attack was officially called was a complete success; two waves of 21 Swordfish biplanes successfully sank naval vessels and badly damaged dockyard facilities in the first aerial torpedo attack against enemy ships in their own harbour. Eleven of the Swordfish carried torpedoes and the rest were armed with 250 lb semi armour piercing bombs. The bombers also carried marker flares, dropping them on the oil storage depot a quarter of a mile from the harbour and the seaplane hangars on the shore of the Mar Piccolo (Small Harbour), before dive bombing each target just before the torpedo aircraft went in, to confuse the Italians into believing a bombing raid was taking place. Then, the torpedo carriers unleashed their ‘tin fish’.
The results were devastating for the Italian Navy. Reconnaissance prior to the raid showed that six battleships were moored in the Mar Grande (Great Harbour); of these three of them, the Conte di Cavour, Caio Duilio and Littorio were sunk. A number of other naval vessels were also torpedoed, including the large cruiser Trento. Two torpedoes were fired at the flagship of the Italian Fleet, the battleship Vittorio Veneto, but both missed. Of the 21 Swordfish launched, only two were lost during the raid.
Although two of the three battleships were eventually raised and repaired, the deterrent value of the raid was enormous; the Italian fleet outnumbered the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet and was equipped with more modern vessels, but these were moved north out of harm’s way after the attack. A few months later in March 1941, units of the Royal Navy, including the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable and the battleship HMS Warspite encountered an Italian squadron off Cape Matapan in Greece.
Once again, the Fairey Swordfish went into action alongside its stablemate the Albacore, torpedoeing the Vittorio Veneto, missed at Taranto, and the cruiser Pola, one of the unfortunate Zara Class, which lost three of its number during the fighting. Zara and her sister Fiume were dispatched by Warspite’s 15-inch gunfire after turning back to rescue survivors from the sinking Pola.
The actions at Taranto and Matapan demonstrated the value of the aircraft carrier as a major unit of the modern battle fleet, and the effectiveness of torpedo aircraft in naval engagements. After the Battles of Matapan and Taranto the Italian Navy never again ventured out to threaten the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.
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