Material damage alone does not capture the night's effect. Italy could eventually repair several ships, but it could not recover the precious fuel lost at Taranto or erase the fact that its fleet had been attacked in a supposedly safe harbour. Force X simultaneously violated the Adriatic, a sea central to Fascist claims of maritime control, while British submarine-borne coastal raids continued from Malta. Those operations showed that the Regia Marina could not reliably protect its main base or shipping in its maritime back garden. Fuel scarcity and the blow to Benito Mussolini's naval prestige made the result harder to undo.
Notable Point · 5:16-7:30
Taranto strikes fuel, prestige, and protected waters
Damaged warships might return to service, but lost fuel and the violation of waters Italy considered secure made the combined Taranto and Adriatic blows harder to undo.