The proposed air group uses 48 Swordfish across three 18-aircraft waves, with torpedo, bombing, and flare-dropping roles. The projected hit pattern is a scenario rather than a certainty, but it would sharply reduce Italian fleet availability for months. Three hits are assigned to Conte di Cavour and Duilio, six to Littorio, with additional damage to Andrea Doria and Vittorio Veneto. Bow-on torpedo hits could be especially damaging because the ships' underwater protection was less effective from that direction. The figures were explored with dice and a Second World War adaptation of the Harpoon simulation, keeping them in the realm of structured counterfactual analysis rather than historical fact. Even allowing for uncertainty, the larger raid could remove most Italian battleships from the next phase of Mediterranean operations.
Chapter · 1:53:06-1:55:28
What Glorious could add to Taranto
Adding Glorious could turn Taranto into a larger multi-wave attack, potentially disabling far more of the Italian battle fleet.