John Wellham's account can be compared with a plan of Taranto harbour to reconstruct a flight path that the diagram does not explicitly mark. His references to San Pietro and to features on either side of the aircraft narrow the likely approach. Those spatial clues suggest that he attacked Littorio from the lower side of the plotted formation. Other aircrew accounts also support the inference that his torpedo hit rather than missed. The reconstruction shows how a participant's remembered geography and a battle plan can be combined while keeping the conclusion tentative.
Notable Point · 4:04-5:50
Reconstructing John Wellham's torpedo run
John Wellham's landmarks and exit route support a tentative reconstruction in which his Swordfish attacked Littorio and scored a hit.