This is the first book to focus on the Fleet Air Arm's contribution to naval operations in the Mediterranean after the Italian declaration of war in June 1940\. The Royal Navy found itself facing a larger and better-equipped Italian surface fleet, large Italian and German air forces equipped with modern aircraft and both Italian and German submarines. Its own aircraft were a critical element of an unprecedented fight on, over and under the sea surface.
The best-known action was the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, which demonstrated how aircraft carriers and their aircraft had replaced the dominance of battleships, but every subsequent operation is covered from the perspective of naval aviation. Some of these, like Matapan or the defence of the 'Pedestal' convoy to Malta, are famous but others in support of land campaigns and in the Aegean after the Italian surrender are less well recorded.
In all these, the ingenuity and innovation of the Fleet Air Arm shines through - Taranto pointed the way to what the Japanese would achieve at Pearl Harbor, while air cover for the Salerno landings demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier-borne fighters in amphibious operations, a tactic adopted by the US Navy. The author's years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyse the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority.
This provides the book with novel insights into many familiar facets of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm's lesser known achievements.
240 b/w photographs and 6 maps
About the Author
David Hobbs served in the Royal Navy as a pilot, and later became the Curator of the Fleet Air Arm Museum. He has since established himself as an authoritative writer on naval aviation topics, with more than a dozen highly regarded books to his name, most recent of these being 'The Royal Navy's Air Service in the Great War' published by Seaforth in 2017 and 'The Dawn of Carrier Strike' in 2019.
Industry Reviews
Taranto is an excellent addition to the series of books Hobbs has written involving Royal Navy aviation operations.... For those whose interests lie in history or wargaming, especially those interested in World War II naval aviation, this book is worth reading. --Nautical Research Journal
Taranto and Naval Air Warfare the Mediterranean is a valuable source for some of the most significant events in the history of the FAA. --StrategyPage
David Hobbs has provided a meticulously researched and expertly told operational history of the FAA in the Mediterranean. Highly recommended as a major contribution to overall air power history. --Australian Naval Institute
Taranto provides a superb overview of the FAA's contributions, not just to the famous Taranto raid (paving the way for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor) but also the support to the Malta convoys via Force H and the North Africa landings.... The narrative detail and period photos will be of use to modellers wanting to replicate Royal Navy aircraft operating in the Mediterranean theatre. --Key Model World
Hobbs provides an incredible amount of detailed information in this well-written 456-paqge encyclopedic volume. A testament to this is that his essays mention 58 Naval Fleet Air Arm squadrons and 29 other squadrons (RAF, USN, and USAAF), 60 operations, 57 airfields, and 23 U-boats. Especially valuable are his clear and detailed after-action analyses which pull no punches, and that he situates the well-known actions at Taranto and Matapan in the context of a complete analysis of the war in the Mediterranean. It is certain that Hobbs's years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyze the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority. This provides his book with novel insights into many familiar faces of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm's lesser-known achievements. --Naval Historical Foundation
Taranto is a solid book. David Hobbs' writing style pulls you into events and propels you through the story. The book is a narrative history with a unique point of view. It is an impressive work of scholarship both in terms of citations as well as illustrations. Taranto is an accessible, engaging book that will appeal to both serious students of naval history and the casual reader looking to increase their knowledge of the period. An outstanding work, Taranto will be a welcome addition to your library. --Armchair General
