A surprise attack by 54 aircraft might have had a narrow chance against a wholly unprepared anchorage. The shallow-water torpedo solution used at Taranto shows why carrying torpedoes alone did not solve the problem of attacking ships in harbour. British tension wires made the weapons belly-flop instead of diving deeply on entry, and debris after the raid did not reveal the modification clearly. Surprise, numbers, and weapon adaptation all had to work together.
Notable Point · 11:08-14:31
Operation Tan's inadequate strike scale
The earlier Operation Tan shows that even a surprise raid needed enough aircraft and weapons adapted for a shallow anchorage.