The first wave, which consisted of six Swordfish armed with torpedoes, two with flares and four bombs, and four with six bombs, was split into two sections when three of the bombers and one torpedo bomber strayed from the main force while flying through thin clouds. The smaller group continued to Taranto independently. The main group approached the harbour at "Mar Grande" at 22:58. Sixteen flares were dropped east of the harbour, then the flare dropper and another aircraft made a dive bombing attack to set fire to oil tanks. The next three aircraft, led by Lieutenant Commander K Williamson RN of 815 Squadron, attacked over San Pietro Island, and struck the battleship with a torpedo that blasted a hole in her side below her waterline. Williamson's plane was immediately shot down by the Italian battleship's anti-aircraft guns. The two remaining aircraft in this sub-flight continued, dodging barrage balloons and receiving heavy anti-aircraft fire from the Italian warships and shore batteries, to press home an unsuccessful attack on the battleship "Andrea Doria". The next sub-flight of three attacked from a more northerly direction, attacking the battleship , hitting it with two torpedoes and launching one torpedo at the flagship, the battleship , which missed. The bomber force, led by Captain O. Patch RM, attacked next. They found the targets difficult to identify, but attacked and hit two cruisers moored at "Mar Piccolo" hitting both with a single bomb each from , followed by another aircraft which straddled four destroyers.