The first daring raid by carrier aircraft wasn't the attack on Pearl Harbor but by the allies against the axis in Italy. The Royal Navy's attack on Taranto in 1940 heralded a new age of warfare

It was the decisive moment in a struggle for dominance of the Mediterranean that had gone on for months, as the British and Italian navies both looked to secure maritime supply routes for their colonies. With the enormous demands of a global war beginning to tell, the British capital ships were simply too thinly spread for a large fleet action against Taranto, where the bulk of the Italian fleet lay menacingly. How was the Royal Navy to eliminate the threat of the Regia Marina? This is the story of one of World War II's most devastating raids, recounting how a handful of obsolete Fairey Swordfish biplanes swooped in and destroyed an Italian battleship and badly damaged two more. With expert analysis, detailed color illustrations and a gripping narrative, this book explains the origins of the attack, its planning and execution, and what happened in the aftermath.

Written by Angus Konstam and illustrated by Peter Dennis, this 96 page book is broken down into the follow section:

-Origins of the campaign
-Chronology
-Opposing commanders
-Opposing armies
-Orders of battle
-Opposing plans
-The operation
-Aftermath
-The battlefields today
-Further reading
-Index

This publication is available now in several formats:

Paperback - $21.95 (US) plus shipping.
ISBN:9781472808967

eBook (ePub) - $15.95 (US)
ISBN: 9781472808981

eBook (PDF) - $15.95 (US)
ISBN:9781472808974

Orders can be placed at Osprey's webstore.