Admiral Cunningham, C-in-C Mediterranean, was frustrated at being unable to bring the Italian Battlefleet to action. Even with ods of two to five against the British the Italians had fled. However they still posed a threat to all unescorted Allied convoys. He therefore devised a plan to attack the Italians in their main base at Taranto. In the evening of the 11th Nov. a mix of bomb and torpedo carrying aircraft were launched from HMS Illustrious about 170 miles from Taranto. Nearly three hours later the attack began. The action was enormously successful. Two battleships were put out of action another was severely damaged two cruisers were severely damaged. In addition to the capital ships a number of smaller units were hit, the oil depot set ablaze, the sea-plane base destroyed. An important strategic result was that the remaining units of the Italian battlefleet were moved to Naples.