Date in History: November 11th.1940
Taranto Harbour Raid



The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11-12 November 1940 during the Second World War.
The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history,
flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea.
The attack struck the battle fleet of the Regia Marina at anchor in the harbor of Taranto
utilizing aerial torpedoes despite the shallow depth of the harbor.
The devastation wrought by the British carrier-launched aircraft on the large Italian warships
was the beginning of the rise of the power of naval aviation, over the big guns of battleships.




The attack on Taranto was the first major victory for naval air power in the world
and blueprint for the strike on Pearl Harbor. The Fleet Air Arm played an active part
in the fight against the Axis forces in the Mediterranean.
Their greatest achievement was the strike against the Italian Fleet at Taranto, 11 November 1940
by four Fleet Air Arm squadrons and 40 or so men who carried out this daring raid.


Here's a link;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Taranto


Cheers mates
David