Taranto's planned night strike contrasts with six Swordfish sent into an exceptionally hostile Channel Dash attack. Numerous RAF aircraft, motor torpedo boats, and other forces lay within reach but failed to combine effectively. The Swordfish crews therefore attacked without the wider operation that should have supported them. The resulting losses were real, but using them as a universal verdict on the aircraft mistakes a badly organized mission for a controlled test of design quality.
Notable Point · 4:28:19-4:29:20
The Channel Dash was a coordination failure, not a Swordfish test
The destruction of six Swordfish during the Channel Dash says more about British coordination and command failure than about the aircraft's value in its intended role.