Somerville learned only after the missed contact that the Japanese force contained five rather than two carriers. Had the night search succeeded, air-to-surface radar could have guided Swordfish and Albacores toward the largest ship contacts without requiring visual identification at long range. The Japanese group appears to have lacked useful radar for warning and fighter direction, so machine-gun fire would have been its immediate defence. Slow British torpedo aircraft that were vulnerable to Zeros by day had been selected for stability, range, and reliable work in darkness. The same qualities that looked obsolete in daylight therefore matched this narrow night-attack opportunity.
Notable Point · 1:13:10-1:17:22
Radar could guide torpedo aircraft to Kido Butai's largest ships
British surface-search radar could distinguish the largest contacts, directing slow torpedo aircraft toward carriers that lacked radar-directed night defence.