Taranto and Pearl Harbor had different aims

The Royal Navy's Taranto operation was backed by the wider Mediterranean Fleet rather than conducted by an isolated carrier force. Admiral Andrew Cunningham hoped damaged or slowed Italian battleships would sortie under political pressure and give his battle line the decisive engagement it wanted. The carrier attack was therefore intended to shape the next fleet action, not simply destroy ships at anchor. Other British carrier operations also attacked reconnaissance bases to blind one side of the theater before the main fleet moved. Applying that logic to Pearl Harbor would mean finding the Royal Navy outside the harbor, with aircraft damaging ships and airfields at night so the fleet could finish the operation at sea.