battle, major, interwar and Second World War
Battle of Taranto
Battle of Taranto was a battle fought on 11 November 1940 at Taranto, in what is now Italy; it lasted 1 day. It was part of World War II, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: British victory.
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Where it sits in World War II
Record
| Date | 11 November 1940 to 12 November 1940 | |
|---|---|---|
| Place | Taranto, Italy 40.451N, 17.207E | |
| Kind | Battle, interwar and Second World War | |
| Strength | 1 aircraft carrier; 2 heavy cruisers; 2 light cruisers; 4 destroyers; 21 torpedo bombers | 6 battleships; 7 heavy cruisers; 7 light cruisers; 13 destroyers |
| Casualties and losses | 2 killed; 2 captured; 2 aircraft destroyed | 59 killed; 600 wounded; 3 battleships disabled; 1 heavy cruiser damaged; 2 destroyers damaged; 2 fighters destroyed |
| Commanders |
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The ground today


The recorded site stands at about 0 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -10 to 49 m, 59 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 98% water.
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.Nearest engagements
- First Battle of Tarentum 212 BC, 2.8 km NE
- Second Battle of Tarentum 209 BC, 2.8 km NE
- Operation Slapstick 1943, 3.3 km NE
- Battle of Tarentum 212 BC, 4.6 km SE
- Battle of Tarentum 209 BC, 4.6 km SE
Contested ground: this site was fought over 7 times between 212 BC and 1943.
In the same war
- Before: Battle of Gabon 7 November 1940
- After: Operation MB8 1940
- All 1155 engagements of World War II
Elsewhere in 1940
- the Blitz United Kingdom
- Bombing of Tokyo Japan
- Japanese invasion of French Indochina Vietnam
- Coventry Blitz United Kingdom
- Hundred Regiments Offensive China
Battle of Taranto is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,038 in present-day Italy.
Sources
Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q543255, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Taranto, revision 1385005564, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.