Category: The Attack on Taranto

A useful American view which is very supportive of the RN and its role in developing carrier borne warfare. A new edition was published in 2001.

The first full account of the raid by planes from Illustrious in 1940. Gives a detailed if dramatised account of this crippling attack on the Italian fleet, with most of the book concentrating on the experiences of the individual Swordfish used in the attack.

In the usual excellent format of this series, an account of the Fleet Air Arm attack on the Italian Fleet. Republished in 2011 by Pen & Sword with Schofield's account of the attack on Bismarck as Stringbags in Action. ISBN: 9781848843882.

A military historian gives a brief account for the general reader. American edition subtitled Prelude to Pearl Harbor.

A good account which focuses on the personalities and looks at the implications for Pearl Harbor.

SCHOFIELD, B. B. Stringbags in Action: The Attack on Taranto 1940 & The Loss of the Bismarck 1941. 192p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Maritime, 2011. ISBN: 184884388.

Originally published as two volumes in the 1970’s as part of the Sea Battles in Close-Up Series from Ian Allan, these are reformatted into a single volume.

Fleet Air Arm Operations against Taranto on 11th November, 1940. Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday, 22 July 1947, Number 38023, pp.3471–3477.

A despatch submitted by Admiral Cunningham, which includes a narrative of the attack by Captain Boyd of Illustrious. Includes a plan of Taranto Harbour. Reprinted in 2014 in a collection of nine despatches edited by John Grehan as  The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944  and published by Pen & Sword Maritime (ISBN: 1783462221).

KEMP, Ross. Raiders. x ,294p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Century, 2012. ISBN: 1780890559.

A popular account of six raids: The FAA attack on Taranto (JUDGEMENT); the raid on Vaagso (ARCHERY); the raid on radar sites at Bruneval  (BITING); the raid on the heavy water plant in Norway (GUNNERSIDE); the raid on St Nazaire (CHARIOT); the D-Day raid on Pegasus Bridge (DEADSTICK).

HOBBS, David. Taranto and Naval Air Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1940-1945. 456p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Seaforth, 2020. ISBN: 9781526793836.

A comprehensive account of the Mediterranean sea war as seen from a Fleet Air Arm perspective. An excellent account from this expert in the subject.

MACE, Martin & GREHAN, John. The War at Sea in the Mediterranean 1940-1944. xvi, 256p., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2014. ISBN: 1783462221.

Reprints nine despatches from the London Gazette with a brief introduction, namely 38273, the Action off Calabria; 38023, the attack on Taranto; 38281, the Battle of Cape Spartivento; 38031, the Battle of Matapan; 38287, action against an Italian convoy in April 1941; 38377, the major Malta convoys of 1941-42; 38073, the Battle of Sirte; 38432, Coastal Force Actions in the Levant in 1942-3; 38426, Actions in the Aegean in late 1943.

CARNE, W.P. The Making of a Royal Naval Officer. 350p., illus., index. London: Uniform, 2021. ISBN: 9781913491598.

The story of a distinguished career, compiled by his grandson, from letters, diaries, memoirs and official documents, many of which are reproduced. Born in 1898, he joined the Navy in 1914 and served for over fifty years. He had an active First World War including the battle of Jutland and rose steadily in rank. By 1940 he was Fleet Torpedo Officer of the Mediterranean Fleet and it is on his service in the Mediterranean that the book largely then focusses. There are full accounts of the Battle of Calabria, the bombardment of Bardia, the battle of Matapan and the attack on Taranto and the capture of Tobruk. In May 1941 he was appointed Captain of the cruiser Coventry. Within ten days he saw dramatic action in the evacuation of Crete, including the rescue of many of the crew from Calcutta. The rest of his career is then briefly summarised. He left Coventry a few months later, served on the Admiralty Delegation in Washington for a year, then in mid-1943 took command of the escort carrier Striker serving in the Arctic then moving on to the Pacific.