Taranto through a Swordfish pilot's memoir

With Naval Wings follows a Swordfish pilot from HMS Eagle as crews and aircraft are redistributed for the Taranto strike from Illustrious. The passage makes the raid concrete: eight Eagle crews competed for five available Swordfish, torpedo pilots were selected by experience, and one aircraft nearly disappeared after a difficult night search for the fleet. Updated weather and target briefings followed while ground crews checked aircraft and flushed contaminated fuel systems through the night. The wider fleet also had to cover convoys, reinforce Malta, and protect the carrier against Italian aircraft and submarines while the strike was prepared. Taranto emerges as an operation assembled from crew selection, navigation, maintenance, fleet cover, and technical preparation rather than as a single famous outcome.