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Attack on Taranto (Stackpole Classics) Paperback – September 15, 2017

by Thomas P. Lowry (Author), John Wellham (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 33 ratings
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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
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    174 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Stackpole Books
  4. Publication date
    September 15, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.94 x 0.47 x 9.06 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0811726614
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0811726610
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...immenesly readable, compelling and convincing account." From FLY NAVY, the publication of the Fleet Air Arm Officers Association.

"This is a very well written book by two well-qualified authors in possesion of the facts." THE GLOBE & LAUREL.

From the Author

A great joy in my life was meeting and working with the late John Wellham, a true hero of the Second World War. In his canvas-covered Fairey Swordfish biplane he help sink two Italian submarines and several battleships. His collaboration gave the the book a true "You are there" flavor, because he really was there! To attempt a British description, John was "a splendid chap," and I am honored to have known him.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stackpole Books; First Edition (September 15, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 174 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0811726614
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0811726610
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.94 x 0.47 x 9.06 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 33 ratings

About the author

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Thomas P. Lowry

Thomas P. Lowry

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I am a product of northern California -- beaches, high Sierras, high school in the East Bay, plane spotting in World War II, seven years at Stanford. Starting in 1957, I was a physician and psychiatrist -- an always interesting life -- in California and New Mexico, publishing several very dull medical books. Around 1995, with my wife Beverly, we began reading the Civil War records of misbehavior at the National Archives. Just like today's tabloids, only wilder. We found that high school history left out all the interesting stuff.

As you can see from my titles, I don't do battles or famous generals or comment on grand strategy. We do "human interest" stories (all true) of men terrified in combat, of women who miss having their men in bed, of abused horses, of loyal friends, of political conniptions, and of the surpringly ubiquity of prostitution. And little byways: Was Lincoln gay? Why were so many of his bodyguards drunks? Was Robert E. Lee's favorite ranger just a horse thief?

Leaping ahead fifty years, I've tackled a new aspect of history -- the Titanic. In my new book, TITANIC MADNESS, I show the very strong evidence that the captain had Alzheimer's Disease. All those people died because his brain was dying. Seems impossible? Check my book, now on Amazon in print and Kindle, or my website http://TitanicMadness.com

So, I retired from scuba diving (damaged ears), and from medicine (forty years is enough), and I'm having a great time. About my books -- I don't think you'll find a boring one.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
33 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars For WW2 buffs
Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2021
Verified Purchase
Well writen book on a litle known part of ww2 -- a set piece model for the Japanese and Pearl Harbor.
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Neal A. Wellons
4.0 out of 5 stars The attack is only a small part of the book
Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2007
Verified Purchase
The other reviews give a good overview but I will add a little. The 143 page book (including appendix, notes, bibliography and index but not including 16 pages of pictures) includes about nine pages on planning, 15 on the attack, and three pages on the post-attack. The rest of the book is more general with a good bit of coverage on Pearl Harbor and some minor actions. Appendix includes British Naval Aviation, Flight Crews at Taranto, Italian Naval Ships at Taranto and more. Because of the lack of maps and aerial photos, it is interesting to use a web aerial photo program like Google Earth to aid in following the action.

Another book with a major section on Taranto is "To War in a Stringbag," a Bantam War Book that covers many actions involving Swordfish airplanes. To me it was a better read.
6 people found this helpful
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ROBERT SENIOR
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2017
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EXCELLENT.
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Neil N.
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 7, 2014
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Outstanding
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Ranto
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but not for everyone
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020
Verified Purchase
The book was boring matter of fact history. But the raid on Taranto’s importance is clearly laid out. The connection to Pearl Harbor is made. The failures by Americans that allowed the attack are laid out. For the first time, I realized why Japan felt they should attack, despite the seemingly foolishness of bringing the US into the war.
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David Caney
5.0 out of 5 stars A Short Historical Jewel
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2001
This short history of the birth of one of the truly significant innovations in modern military tactics and technology is nicely written, very well researched (the co-author was a leading participant), and offers up just the kind of occassional riveting statements that military history buffs love, such as:
-the names of two African American pilots who flew biplane fighters for Haile Salasse against Mussolini (now there's college paper topic for you).
-that Adm. Yamamoto was once banned from casinos in Monaco because he won too much.
-that a German named Schwartzkoff (sp?) stole the plans of the first practical torpedo from a British engineer in the 19th century.
The story itself is short and economically written, but the book is beefed up with divergent historical lines of inquiry, from the overall strategic position of the British Mediteranean
fleet to the British use of of American Martin B-20's, a plane type apparently unknown to other WW-II history writers.
Although the narrative goes a little far afield once or twice, and makes some brisk statements begging for better source notes, it is an overall good read, about the right length, and should be in every 20th century naval historian's collection.
5 people found this helpful
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HMS Warspite
4.0 out of 5 stars Decisive Attack in Obsolete Biplanes...
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2011
"The Attack on Taranto" describes in tactical and exciting detail the British Royal Navy's dramatic raid on the Italian Naval Base at Taranto in November 1940, using carrier-based Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers. The raid at least temporarily crippled the Italian surface fleet at a crucial moment in the Second World War in the Mediterranean theater.

Authors Lowry and Wellham spend considerable time explaining both the planning and the execution of the mission, including its multi-faceted deception plan. As the authors repeatedly remark, the British fliers courageously made the attack at night in obsolete open-cockpit biplanes into the teeth of a heavily defended target. In fact, the Swordfish biplanes, nicknamed "stringbags", would provide good service at sea throughout the war.

Lowry and Wellham emphasize the parallels to the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, including the intense Japanese interest in Italian and German after-action reports and an inspection of the base at Taranto. Their further speculation on Pearl Harbor is perhaps less well-founded. "The Attack on Taranto" is well-recommended to student of naval aviation, as a solid account of a lesser-known but important event in the development of carrier aviation.
3 people found this helpful
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Jeffrey T. Munson
5.0 out of 5 stars Japan was watching
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2002
This is the story of how a small force of obsolete British Swordfish torpedo planes flew into Taranto harbor, surprised the Italian fleet, and sank three battleships. The attack force consisted of about twenty torpedo bombers which flew from a single British carrier in the Mediterranian sea. Although this book is short, the author does a good job of explaining the events leading up to the attack, and how this small force managed to take the Italians complelely by surprise. Furthermore, the Japanese used this attack as a model for their Pearl Harbor operation. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Pearl Harbor. The similarities between the two attacks are uncanny.
4 people found this helpful
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Bernhard Schaefer
3.0 out of 5 stars Interessant gepaart mit Mängeln
Reviewed in Germany on March 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
Kein Fehleinkauf aber man fragt sich schon, was aus einer "Seefahrernation" die ja einstmals die Meere beherrschte, geworden ist, wenn Autor und Lektorat über eine grandiose Unkenntnis in Sachen "Schiffe" verfügen. Die historischen Zusammenhänge - zumindest zwischen Tarent und Pearl Harbor (die abgehängte Analyse zu Midway ist eher oberflächlich) - geben zumindest Denkanstöße, auch wenn sie nicht gerade nicht tiefschürfend sind, allerdings kommt der Autor bei der Beschreibung der italienischen Schiffe völlig in Schräglage - er verwechselt munter den Ausrüstungzustand der grundlegend umgebauten Schlachtschiffe aus der Zeit des I. Weltkrieges mit dem nach der Modernisierung und unterliegt auch der anscheinenden englischen Faszination für die "Acht-Acht" indem er sie gleich auch auf das neue Schlachtschitt "Littorio" verfrachtet etc. ..alles nicht von weltbewegender Bedeutung aber ein einziger Blick in die im Vereinigten Königreich doch reichlich vorhandenen Flottenhandbücher hätte gereicht, diese offenkundigen Fehler festzustellen und zu beheben... das ist leider nicht geschehen und da hilft dann auch die Aufzählung fast jedes einzelnen abgefeuerten Schusses auch nicht weiter.... schade
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Rik Galle
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
interesting book
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Claudio53
5.0 out of 5 stars The Attack on Taranto: Blueprint for Pearl Harbor
Reviewed in Italy on January 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
Libro ben fatto che riporta fedelmente i dettagli operativi dell'azione su Taranto. I raconti di informazzioni personali arricchiscono il racconto.
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