An aviator's description of Alexandria after the raid opens the episode and places Taranto within the shift from concentrated battleship fleets to the threat of carrier aircraft. The returning fleet still contained battleships, carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, so the victory did not instantly replace one ship type with another. Japanese planning for Pearl Harbor had earlier origins of its own, while Taranto demonstrated that a carrier strike against ships in harbour could succeed. The episode asks how the raid was created, how it unfolded, and what its result changed.
Chapter · 0:07-2:56
Taranto and the changing balance of sea power
The opening frames Taranto as a major Fleet Air Arm victory and examines the limits of what it demonstrated about carrier air power.