Why torpedoes mattered more than bombs

Could the Swordfish have used a battleship shell as a bomb, and would it have helped at Taranto?

It was technically possible, but the Royal Navy trusted torpedoes more for disabling ships and had poor confidence in its bombs' quality control.

Adapting a naval shell into a bomb was technically possible. A Swordfish could carry the roughly 1,590-pound British 14-inch shell because it already lifted an approximately 1,800-pound torpedo. The Royal Navy preferred a torpedo that could breach the hull below the waterline and sink or disable the target. A bomb had to penetrate the decks and function correctly before it could deliver a comparable effect against a battleship. The bombs supplied to the Fleet Air Arm at Taranto also had serious quality-control problems. Reliability improved after responsibility for supply moved to the Ministry of Supply.