Glorious could join Eagle and Illustrious in the Mediterranean, giving the Royal Navy a much larger aircraft pool than the historical Taranto raid used. A larger strike could field roughly sixty Swordfish rather than the historical twenty-one aircraft and leave Italy with few usable battleships. The damage would strain Italian repair capacity rather than suppress the fleet for several months. Crete, Malta, fleet allocation, and the ships available to deter Japan all change when Italy cannot force Britain to concentrate so heavily in the Mediterranean.
Chapter · 2:02:17-2:09:24
Glorious turns Taranto into a larger carrier strike
If HMS Glorious survives Norway, three British carriers can bring far more Swordfish to Taranto and cripple Italian sea power more decisively.