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

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The Japanese swarmed in on Ceylon, their 30 fighters easily defeating the British defenders. The British lost 15 Hurricanes and four Fulmars, while the Japanese lost seven fighters. The Japanese were surprised by the tenacity of the Hurricane, whose wooden frame could absorb armor-piercing bullets. a b Waters, S. D. (1956), "Chapter 23 – The New Zealand Cruisers", The Royal New Zealand Navy, The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945, Wellington: Historical Publications Branch, Royal New Zealand Navy, pp.357, 359 , retrieved 2 September 2012 At 11:30 am on the 5th, lookouts on Dorsetshire spotted a seaplane from the Japanese cruiser Tone hovering watchfully on the eastern horizon. Agar maintained radio silence until noon, then reported he was being shadowed. The message never got to Colombo or to Somerville. By June, Ceylon was defended by three RAF squadrons (64 aircraft, plus reserves), three strike squadrons (including one of Beauforts), and much improved radar and anti-aircraft defences. [53] Ground defences were manned by two Australian army brigades. [54] The British Eastern Fleet (also known as the East Indies Fleet and the Far East Fleet) was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971.

After the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse, Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton assumed command of the Eastern Fleet. The fleet withdrew first to Java and, following the fall of Singapore, to Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6. The third carrier, HMS Hermes, was one of Britain’s oldest, completed in 1923, and could not keep up with the other two. She carried only 15 obsolete aircraft. The World War I-era battleship HMS Resolution and the aircraft carrier HMS Formidable served with the British Eastern Fleet at various times during World War II.The Japanese missed an opportunity to find Force A after sinking the cruisers. The aircraft shadowing the cruisers flew another 50 miles (80km) along the cruisers' course before returning to Tone. It would have detected Force A if it had flown southwest another ten minutes. [34] In May 1942, the Eastern Fleet supported the invasion of Madagascar, Operation Ironclad. It was aimed at thwarting any attempt by Japanese vessels to use naval bases on the Vichy French controlled territory. During the invasion, vessels of the Eastern Fleet were confronted by vessels of the French Navy and submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. [16] Indian Ocean strikes [ ] The Eastern Fleet included, from time to time, as well as British warships, a number of warships from the British Dominions of Australia and New Zealand as well as other Allied nations, such as the French battleship Richelieu, other ships from the Free French Naval Forces, the Netherlands, and the United States. The Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf was responsible for administering Royal Navy ships and establishments in the Persian Gulf. He was initially located at Basra, in Mandatory Iraq, then later at HMS Juffair in Bahrain from 1901 to 1972. His command was part of the East Indies Station, then the Eastern Fleet, then the East Indies Fleet. [19]

The Japanese never returned to the Indian Ocean to follow up on their success and never challenged the Eastern Fleet again. Despite the victory, the Japanese could not mount an amphibious end run around the British defenses in Burma, let alone an amphibious assault on India’s shores. Heathcote, T. A. (2002). British Admirals of the Fleet: 1734–1995. Barnsley, England: Pen and Sword. p.187. ISBN 9780850528350.The author was unknown to me. He has written a number of books before, but none on a naval subject like this. His writing flows well, and this book is much easier to read than anything I write will ever be. On 6 April heavy cruisers Kumano and Suzuya with destroyer Shirakumo sank the British merchant ships Silksworth, Autolycus, Malda and Shinkuang and the American ship Exmoor. [42] [ clarification needed]. a b c Hobbs, David (2013). British Aircraft Carriers. Seaforth Publishing. Chapter 7: Hermes. ISBN 978-1-84832-138-0. (ebook) Four of the five battleships were of the R class: Revenge, Ramillies, Royal Sovereign, and Resolution, all World War I veterans, were slow and weak compared to their Japanese opponents. The only British battleship that could match the Japanese was the modernized HMS Warspite, which had fought at Jutland. Not even the British cruisers were the equal of the Japanese—four of them had been laid down during World War I. The Flag Officer, Malaya commanded naval forces and establishments in Malaya including HMNB Singapore.

Parshall, Jonathan & Tully, Anthony (2005). Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-923-0. On May 15–16, 1945, the British carriied out Operation Dukedom; the 26th Destroyer Flotilla ( HMS Saumarez, Venus, Verulam, Vigilant and Virago) sank the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the Malacca Straits using torpedos. [18] Postwar [ ]Of the three carriers, two were new—HMS Formidable and HMS Indomitable. Neither carrier was fully worked up and they were operating obsolete aircraft compared to the Japanese and their nimble Zero fighter. Between them, they had 45 Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers and 33 fighters, the latter consisting of 12 Grumman F4F Martlets (the export version of the American Wildcat), 12 Fairey Fulmars, and nine Hawker Sea Hurricanes. Somerville knew he could not fight the Japanese in daylight, so he turned south to avoid the enemy. For the next few hours, Somerville played hide-and-seek with the Japanese, struggling to avoid their reconnaissance planes. He worried that the Japanese might learn the location of his secret base at Addu Atoll. Chew, Emrys (25 October 2007). "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Indian Ocean and the Maritime Balance of Power in Historical Perspective" (PDF). S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University . Retrieved 2 September 2012.

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