Battle of Taranto
The first all airplane ship-to-ship battle was not the attack on Pearl Harbor, nor any of the early battles of the Pacific War. It was an attack launched by the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean against the Italian fleet in its anchorage at Taranto, in the arch of the Italian boot. The Italians believed that their fleet was safe in the anchorage, which was well defended against attack from the sea, and their strategy was to keep the fleet, which included six powerful battleships, in place as a fleet in being. Prior to the war the Italian fleet had been developed as a counter to the French fleet, which by November of 1940 was in the hands of the collaborative Vichy government. The British moved to eliminate the threat from the Italians.
The British launched 21 Fairey Swordfish – obsolete biplane torpedo bombers – in a night attack from the deck of the aircraft carrier Illustrious. The bombers launched their torpedoes at the moored Italian ships in two waves, delivering a heavy blow to the structure and morale of the Italian navy. One battleship was sunk, two others were heavily damaged, at the cost of two British aircraft. The Italians were unable to replace lost capital ships, and were challenged even in restoring damaged ships to service, due to inadequate supplies of steel. The Italian Navy was forced to relocate the fleet to Naples, and two of the battleships were eventually restored to service, but for a time control of the Mediterranean shifted to the Royal Navy.