The layout of Taranto's Mar Piccolo and Mar Grande, its defences, fuel tanks, and anchorage geometry mattered to the attackers. Peacetime visitors and midshipmen had accumulated sketches, soundings, and observations that wartime planners could revisit. Current reconnaissance identified newer anti-aircraft positions and searchlights, while preserved institutional knowledge supplied the more durable understanding of harbour shape and depths. Taranto shows the wartime value of professional observations that the Royal Navy had systematically retained during peace.
Notable Point · 21:20-24:02
Harbour knowledge built from institutional memory
Old harbour sketches, depth knowledge, and current aerial photographs combined to give the Royal Navy unusually detailed planning intelligence.