The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean, 1942-1944: The Fleet that Had to Hide

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At least one submarine was sent to scout the Maldive Islands but failed to detect Port T at Addu Atoll. The story of the British Eastern Fleet, which operated in the Indian Ocean against Japan, has rarely been told. After the fall of France in June 1940, Japanese pressure on the Vichy authorities in French Indochina resulted in the granting of base and transit rights, albeit with significant restrictions. In mid-1940, Italy declared war and their vessels based in Italian East Africa posed a threat to the supply routes through the Red Sea. The reinforcement of the British Eastern Fleet depended on transfers from Britain and the Mediterranean, a reflection of active warzones and the demands on the Royal Navy's (RN) resources.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Notably, a submarine group patrolling off East Africa attacked the harbour at Diego-Suarez, Madagascar, while the Allies were capturing the island. The faster "Force A" included the aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and HMS Indomitable, the modernized battleship HMS Warspite (as flagship), as well as the modern cruisers and destroyers.He failed to appreciate that the direction that Dorsetshire's force was sailing, and the later appearance of British carrier-based aircraft, were related. The course change was presumably to maintain distance between a superior enemy that was believed to be still closing, or to cover Port T from attack, but it also meant the British lost an opportunity to meet the enemy; had Force A continued on its easterly course, Carrier Division 2 would have passed right in front of it at 21:00 at range of about 20 miles (32 km). And what of the men of this Eastern Fleet who through the years endured heat and hardship, separation and routine and with little public recognition?

Nagumo's southeasterly course would have taken the Japanese fleet right through the centre of the arc.The raid demonstrated that the RAF was too weak to defend Ceylon and the naval anchorages, [3] and that the navy was ill-prepared to meet a Japanese carrier force. Even now there are U-Boats in the Indian Ocean, but the same technique of air-sea co-operation which gained the Battle of the Atlantic is winning the Battle of the Indian Ocean. From the strategic point of view, the Japanese offensive in the Indian Ocean was the only moment in the Second World War when the Axis forces could coordinate their efforts to severely threaten the position of the British Empire in the crucial Middle Eastern and Indian theatres. To keep it supplied with arms and ammunition and transport strained the capacity of the Bangkok-Rangoon railway to its limits, and beyond. With the Flag Officer, East Africa, was the Commodore, Naval Air Stations, East Africa, which was within the Eastern Fleet command from April 1942 to September 1943 then was transferred back to the East Indies Fleet.

Group issued a warning to subordinate units before midnight, and units went on alert at 04:00 on 5 April. The fact that Britain totally lacked the troops and landing craft to execute such attacks had no influence on him. The slower "Force B" was formed around the old carrier HMS Hermes and four unmodernized Revenge-class battleships.

The manoeuvring of his fleet was mainly to facilitate strikes on Colombo and Trincomalee; the possibility that the enemy might be at sea was apparently not seriously considered. The points are put across clearly, although like others I do not really see the author's preferred link to the 1918 German High Seas Fleet. The bombers unloaded at 11,000 feet (3,353 m) [52] on Akagi; the bombs fell close to the target with no hits.

Hiryū launched Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters to intercept the scouts; one Albacore was damaged at 16:04, and the other shot down at 16:28 without reporting.Worse was to come when the Japanese declared war in December 1941 and, after Pearl Harbor, the sinking by air attack of the battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse, and the occupation of Malaya, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, there was an aggressive threat from the east. To put to sea invited heavy British reaction, while to stay in ports threatened by British and Commonwealth forces became impossible. Between 1940 and 1942 the British colony of Malta in the central Mediterranean faced relentless aerial attacks by the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Matters were made urgent by the crippling of the United States Pacific Fleet's battle line at Pearl Harbor, which exposed the weak forces in Malaya to attack.