 He was then sent home from Aden to join the new carrier .Whilst serving on "Illustrious", which had been dispatched to the Mediterranean in September 1940, he took part in the attack on Italian battleships in the Battle of Taranto as a Swordfish torpedo bomber pilot.During the Swordfish attack in Taranto harbour, he torpedoed one of Italy's newest and largest battleships, the , sinking her in shallow water.