The Taranto preparations included different fuel arrangements for bomb-and-flare aircraft and for the Swordfish carrying torpedoes. The torpedo crews received a new weapon with both contact and magnetic firing mechanisms, intended to explode against a target or beneath a battleship's vulnerable underside. They set it to run at 27 knots and 33 feet, with a very short 300-yard safety distance. A cable unwinding from a spool was meant to stop the weapon porpoising, diving too deeply, or sticking in the harbour bottom. The passage turns a famous raid into a precise engineering problem whose success depended on settings, handling, and meticulous maintenance.
Notable Point · 58:07-59:00
How Swordfish torpedoes were prepared for Taranto
The memoir details the duplex pistols, depth and speed settings, short safety run, and anti-porpoising cable used for the harbour strike.