Hiding Taranto inside a crowded operational picture

Operation Coat, convoys MW3, ME3, and AN6, Ark Royal's raid near Cagliari, the Taranto attack, and a cruiser sweep all gave Italian reconnaissance plausible explanations for British movements. Each task was straightforward, but their simultaneity produced a crowded picture from fragments of air reports. Ark Royal, the carrier Italians were likeliest to regard as the main striking platform, was conspicuously occupied elsewhere. Illustrious could therefore approach its real mission behind genuine convoy and reinforcement movements. Taranto becomes a lesson in operational design: many real activities can collectively conceal one decisive purpose.