How did the Royal Navy navigate nighttime air strikes to the target before radar?
Short answerObservers used practiced star fixes, compass and map work, and mental arithmetic; the discussion separately notes early work on airborne radar for fleet shadowing.
NotesPre-radar navigation for night strikes depended on star fixes, compasses, maps, and repeated mental arithmetic. Small lights let crews consult their charts, and practice made these methods usable during an attack. Observers carried much of the navigation work. Taranto provides the example: the account describes leaking auxiliary tanks in torpedo-carrying aircraft and observers sitting in aviation fuel while approaching heavy anti-aircraft fire. A separate point concerns work on airborne radar for fleet shadowing before World War II. That development does not establish that the Taranto strike itself used radar navigation.