On November 11, 1940, 21 slow, canvas-covered British warplanes, launched from the carrier Illustrious, attacked the harbor at the Italian port of Taranto and put most of the Italian navy out of commission. This all-but-forgotten operation, the authors argue, deserves historical recognition as an inspirational precedent for the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor 13 months later. Taranto demonstrated that battleships in a shallow, heavily defended harbor could be sunk by a handful of torpedo-bombers. That lesson Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet, learned well-while the American military virtually ignored it.

“By this single stroke the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean was decisively altered.” –Winston S. Churchill

About The Authors

Thomas P. Lowry

John Wellham

Product Details

Publisher: Stackpole Books (September 15, 2017)
Length: 174 pages
ISBN13: 9780811726610

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History > Military > World War II

Raves and Reviews

“The Attack on Taranto is far more than a ‘prelude.’ If this exciting, convincing book had been published in 1940, it could well have prevented the disaster of Pearl Harbor. As it is, Dr. Lowery and Cdr. Wellham show how America must always be alert to the activities of our enemies and those of our Allies, too, so as to avoid ‘future military surprises.’” –Bruce Lee, coauthor of Pearl Harbor: Final Judgement, and author of Marching Orders: The Untold Story of World War II.

– Bruce Lee

“This book portrays, in a most readable form, one of the daring acts of naval power that greatly acted to turn the fortunes of war at a time of grave peril not only for Britain but for all the Western world. The author shows that Taranto was an unmistakable blueprint for the shattering attack on the U.S. Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The Attack on Taranto is not only a book for the naval historian, but also for the lay reader. It must be read. –Group Captain J.F.W. Pembridge AFC, RAF (Ret.)

– J. F. W. Pembridge, Group Captain, AFC, RAF (Ret.)