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Swordfish

Name: Swordfish
Brand: Orion
Price: 44.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

The Sensational True Story of the Daring British Raid that Changed Naval Aviation Forever

Read by: Chris Courtenay

Author: David Wragg

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At a Glance

Format
Digital Audiobook

Duration
10:47:07

Available: 5th November 2026

Digital Audiobook

$44.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $11.25 with

Available: 5th November 2026

Preorder. Download available after release.

In November 1940 Britain was isolated in its stand against the Axis powers. The country could not afford to lose control of the Mediterranean, but the Royal Navy was already overstretched by the U-boat war and the threat of invasion. On the night of 11 November, 42 members of the Fleet Air Arm took off in 21 obsolete 'Swordfish' biplanes, launched from HMS Illustrious. Their target: the Italian fleet anchorage at Taranto.

Pressing home their attack in the face of intense anti-aircraft fire and searchlights, they torpedoed and sank three battleships. Incredibly, all but two of the biplanes survived. The Italian fleet was crippled and the world took note that Britain was far from defeated. No-one was more impressed than the Japanese, who noted how a fleet in harbour could be demolished by air attack.

In this spellbinding account of the Royal Navy's most daring operation of the Second World War, David Wragg draws on British and Italian records as well as interviews with the aircrew to tell the full story of a night that changed the course of the war.