Taranto damaged Italy without ending the fleet threat

Taranto produced a strategically awkward success: it inflicted a major defeat without permanently eliminating the Italian fleet. Ships sunk in harbour could settle on the bottom, be raised, and return after repair, whereas ships sunk at sea were far less recoverable. At the same time, the damage was serious enough to make the surviving fleet cautious instead of provoking it into meeting Cunningham’s battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Cunningham even considered a second-night strike because he wanted to convert air damage into either a more complete harbour result or an opportunity for decisive battle at sea.