Imagine what the butch swordfish could have done.
Actually, Taranto is one of the most amazing operations of the whole war. An attacking force of 21 obsolete biplanes, only eleven carrying torpedoes, damaged three battleships, effectively sinking them because they ran aground in the shallow harbor, for the loss of two planes, two casualties, and at NIGHT!
I think I read that the Japanese had military attaches at Taranto who assessed the aftermath.
We forget surprise fits the bushido tradition, also the had the Battle of Port Arthur (opening of the Russo-Japanese War) as a model.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Port_Arthur