Current reconnaissance was indispensable because the Mediterranean Fleet needed to know which battleships were in Taranto and how the harbour defences had changed. Cunningham credited the RAF's No. 431 Flight at Malta, whose Martin Marylands flew under difficult conditions and fighter opposition. Those aircraft could provide the photographic detail that Sunderland flying boats could not reliably deliver for this mission. Taranto depended on current intelligence as well as carrier execution.
Chapter · 24:01-24:54
RAF reconnaissance makes Taranto possible
No. 431 Flight's Martin Marylands supplied the current photographs and reports needed to plan a carrier strike against ships and defences inside Taranto.