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In an era of all-metal monoplanes, it was a two-seater biplane with a fabric skin. Designed in the early 1930s and entering service in 1936, it looked like a relic from World War I. The Fairey Swordfish, lovingly called the “Stringbag,” was one of aerial warfare’s unlikeliest heroes. The opportunity was too good to pass up.įairey Swordfish III aircraft in flight. This included the battleships Littorio, Vittorio Veneto, Giulio Cesare, Caio Duilio, Andrea Doria, and Conte di Cavour, the first two of those being brand new, along with several cruisers and destroyers. More important, the Italian Navy possessed a potent collection of modern warships that, if deployed properly, could dominate the Mediterranean Sea and close the Suez Canal, Britain’s best route to India and the rest of Asia.īritish planners had been considering an attack by carrier-based aircraft on the base at Taranto for several weeks before reconnaissance on November 9 confirmed that Italy’s entire battleship strength was based there. Although the Italian Army was not very formidable, aircraft operating from mainland Italy and Sicily could strike at the strategically vital island of Malta. Nazi Germany, with no overseas possessions and no significant surface navy, was a major land power in Europe but posed no serious threat to the British empire. In doing so, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini opened a dangerous new front. Italy declared war on Great Britain on June 10, 1940. The events of the next few hours would change the balance of power in the Mediterranean, and set the stage for the world-shaking events of December 7, 1941, on the other side of the world at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The aircraft were lumbering Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm their target: Italian Navy warships anchored at the port of Taranto. On the evening of November 11, 1940, 21 obsolete biplanes took off from the British aircraft carrier Illustrious.
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