Vittorio Veneto narrowly escaped several torpedoes because the Italian battleships were distributed around the harbour. Once a Swordfish crew committed to one target, a weapon that ran off line was unlikely to strike another capital ship. Battleship Row at Pearl Harbor presented a different geometry, with adjacent hulls able to catch weapons that missed their intended aim point. The comparison shows how anchorage layout affected hit probability independently of aircraft numbers or crew skill.
Notable Point · 1:48:55-1:49:32
Taranto's dispersed targets versus Battleship Row
Widely spaced Italian battleships gave errant torpedoes fewer secondary targets than the closely packed ships at Pearl Harbor.