Why the Regia Marina became the immediate target

Italy’s concentrated fleet presented a more tractable strategic problem than German naval forces. German ships could shelter beyond the Kiel Canal on the Baltic coast, forcing an attacker either into the Baltic or over Denmark and through Luftwaffe cover. Italian capital ships were both more numerous than their German counterparts and concentrated within a theatre where British forces could reach them. The Royal Navy therefore wanted to remove the Regia Marina before its numerical and positional advantages could dictate the Mediterranean campaign. Taranto was a deliberate attempt to change the whole theatre’s naval balance, with spectacle secondary to strategy.