Pearl Harbor surprise compared with wartime readiness at Taranto

New Orleans was drawing power and light from the dock while her engines were under repair when the Japanese attack cut yard electricity. Engineers raised steam by flashlight, sailors broke the locks on ready-use ammunition lockers, and deck personnel fired rifles and pistols while the five-inch guns were aimed manually. With the powered ammunition hoists disabled, supplying the gun crews became extremely difficult. Italian ships at Taranto gave a more effective anti-aircraft account while lying alongside. The difference was readiness as much as hardware: Italy was already at war, so precautions remained in place even where an attack seemed unlikely, whereas Pearl Harbor turned ordinary maintenance dependencies into immediate combat liabilities.