A Taranto raid with a dawn follow-up

The proposed raid begins with a British Swordfish night attack and follows with Japanese aircraft at dawn. If an American carrier joined the operation, its aircraft could take part in the daylight strike. Most Japanese and American pilots would not immediately be qualified for night attacks, although some scout pilots offered a possible exception. Ships damaged during the night would then face dive bombers and torpedo bombers while immobile or attempting to leave harbour. Littorio is the example of a battleship whose initial damage could become far harder to repair after repeated attacks. The dawn timing also catches the harbour while anti-torpedo nets are being removed to let ships out. American torpedo failures remain a risk, but the Japanese torpedoes and combined dive-bomber force would still make the follow-up dangerous.