On January 10, 1941, Ju87 Stuka's from X Fliegerkorps were ordered to "Sink the Illustrious! Incensed by the daring raid on Taranto, Hitler was determined to send this new Royal Navy aircraft carrier to the bottom of the Mediterranean.
Here are veteran accounts of the first dedicated dive-bombing attack ever against an aircraft carrier.
Germany expected to sink it with just two hits.
Yet it survived seven.
And the losses to crew, aircraft and equipment were far less than that experienced by the USS Bunker Hill and USS Franklin four years later.