The raid used one available carrier and roughly twenty Swordfish, a much smaller force than the Japanese used at Pearl Harbor. Its planners faced a different fleet, harbour, and strategic problem with the force they could assemble. The Swordfish looked old-fashioned, but its crews knew the mature aircraft well, much as a long-serving modern combat aircraft can remain dangerous beside newer types. A useful comparison considers proportional effect and operational context instead of asking which raid was more impressive.
Notable Point · 4:30-6:00
Taranto and Pearl Harbor in proportion
Taranto and Pearl Harbor are comparable carrier strikes, but their scale, aircraft, and strategic settings were very different.