The British
Eastern Fleet (also known as the
East Indies Fleet and the
Far East Fleet) was a
fleetA fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
of the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
which existed from 1904 to 1971. In 1904
First Sea LordThe First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
Sir John FisherAdmiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British admiral known for his efforts at naval reform...
ordered that in the event of war the three main commands in the
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
, the
East Indies SquadronThe East Indies Station was one of the geographical area of operations into which the British Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities....
, the
China SquadronThe China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy.-Description:Its responsibilities generally covered the coasts of China and its navigable rivers, the western part of the Pacific Ocean, and the waters around the Dutch East Indies...
and the Australian Squadron, should all come under one command called the Eastern Fleet based on
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
. The Commander-in-Chief on the China Station would then take command. During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
the squadrons remained distinct commands and Eastern Fleet was used only as a general term. The three squadron structure continued until
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the beginning of hostilities with the
Empire of JapanThe Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the...
, when the Eastern Fleet was formally constituted on 8 December 1941, amalgamting the East Indies Squadron and the China Squadron. During the war, it included many ships and personnel from other navies, including the
Royal Netherlands NavyThe Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands.-Bases:The main naval base is Den Helder, Noord Holland.Secondary naval bases are in Amsterdam, Vlissingen, Texel and Willemstad...
,
Royal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following federation of the Australian Colonies in 1901, the former colonial navies merged to become the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
, the
Royal New Zealand NavyThe Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
and the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
. With the creation of the
British Pacific FleetThe British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
in 1944/1945, the Eastern Fleet became the East Indies Fleet until the end of the war, when it became the Far East Fleet and operated in all
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
areas including parts of the
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
.
Background
Until World War II, the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
had been a British "lake". It was ringed by significant British and Commonwealth possessions and much of the strategic supplies needed in peace and war had to pass across it: Persian oil, Malayan rubber, Indian tea, Australian and New Zealand foodstuffs. Britain also utilized Australian and New Zealand manpower, so safe passage for British cargo ships was critical.
Despite this, the Royal Navy had tended to station its older ships in the east and use the
China StationThe China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy.-Description:Its responsibilities generally covered the coasts of China and its navigable rivers, the western part of the Pacific Ocean, and the waters around the Dutch East Indies...
and the Far East Station as a source of reinforcements for other theatres. Even when gravely threatened, the Eastern Fleet largely consisted of older
capital shipThe capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; the ones with the heaviest firepower and armor. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a fleet....
s too slow and vulnerable to be of use in the Atlantic or Mediterranean.
At the outbreak of World War II, the German Navy (
KriegsmarineThe Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine, and the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht.-Command structure:Adolf Hitler was the commander-in-chief...
) used
auxiliary cruisersArmed Merchantman is a term that has come to mean a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value...
(converted merchant ships) and the
Pocket BattleshipThe Deutschland class was a series of three Panzerschiffe , a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the German Reichsmarine more or less in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The class is named after the first ship of this class to be completed...
Graf SpeeThe Admiral Graf Spee was one of the most famous German naval warships of World War II, along with the Bismarck. Her size was limited to that of a cruiser by the Treaty of Versailles, but she was much more heavily armed than a cruiser due to innovative weight-saving techniques employed in her...
to threaten the sea lanes and tie down the Royal Navy. In mid-1940, Italy declared war and the Italian vessels based in
Italian East AfricaItalian East Africa was a short-lived Italian colony in Africa consisting of Ethiopia and the established colonies of Italian Somaliland and Eritrea held in the name of Victor Emmanuel III of the Kingdom of Italy. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
posed a threat to the supply routes through the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
. Worse was to come when the Japanese declared war in December 1941 and, after
Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
, the
sinking of Prince of Wales and RepulseThe sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a World War II naval engagement which illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against naval forces that were not protected by air cover and the resulting importance of including an aircraft carrier in any major fleet action.The action took...
, and the occupation of
MalayaPeninsular Malaysia , also known as Malaya or West Malaysia, is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Its area is 50,810 square miles . It accounts for the majority of Malaysia's...
,
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
, and the
Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800...
, there was an aggressive threat from the east.
This became reality when an overwhelming Japanese naval force operated in the eastern Indian Ocean, sinking an aircraft carrier, other warships and disrupting freight traffic along the Indian east coast. At this stage, the
Chief of the Imperial General StaffChief of the Imperial General Staff was the title of the professional commander of the British Army from 1908 until 1964.From the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Sovereign was able to wrest considerable control of the armed forces from Parliament with the appointment of a "General in...
, General Sir
Alan BrookeField Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar was a senior commander in the British Army. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and was promoted Field Marshal in 1944...
wrote:
We were hanging by our eyelids! Australia and India were threatened by the Japanese, we had temporarily lost control of the Indian Ocean, the Germans were threatening Iran and our oil, AuchinleckField Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE , nicknamed The Auk, was a British army commander during World War II...
was in precarious straits in the desert, and the submarine sinkings were heavy.
The fear was that a concerted Japanese stroke could chase the Royal Navy from the Indian Ocean, with dire implications for India, and that German success in the Caucasus and in Egypt would threaten the
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
.
Early war years
Until 1941, the main threat to British interests in the region was the presence of German commerce raiders (auxiliary cruisers) and submarines. The fleet had trade protection as its first priority and was required to escort convoys and eliminate the raiders. The Germans had converted merchant ships to act as commerce raiders and allocated supply ships to maintain them. The location and destruction of these German raiders consumed much British naval effort until the last raider -
MichelMichel was an auxiliary cruiser of the German Navy that operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Danziger Werft in Danzig 1938/39 as the freighter Bielsko for the Gdynia-America-Line , she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of World War II and converted into...
- was sunk in October of 1943.
On 10 June 1940, the entry of
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
into the war introduced a new threat to the oil supply routes from the
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
, which passed through the
Red SeaThe Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez,...
to the
MediterraneanThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The sea is technically a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it...
. The Italians controlled ports in
Italian East AfricaItalian East Africa was a short-lived Italian colony in Africa consisting of Ethiopia and the established colonies of Italian Somaliland and Eritrea held in the name of Victor Emmanuel III of the Kingdom of Italy. In August 1940, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa...
and
Tiensin' is the sixth largest city of the People's Republic of China in terms of urban population. Administratively it is one of the four municipalities that have provincial-level status, reporting directly to the central government...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. The Italian Royal Navy (
Regia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
) presence in the Red Sea,
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
, and the western
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
consisted of destroyers, submarines, and a small number of
armed merchantmenArmed Merchantman is a term that has come to mean a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value...
. The majority of these were based at
MassawaMassawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋ , [Eritrean spelling reform], formerly ባፅዕ is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Important for many centuries, it has been colonised by Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Italy,...
in
EritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen...
as part of the Italian
Red Sea FlotillaThe Red Sea Flotilla was a unit of the Italian Royal Navy based in Massawa, Eritrea, when Massawa was part of Italian East Africa...
, primarily seven destroyers and eight submarines. During the course of 1940, the Red Sea Flotilla lost four submarines and one destroyer during early attempts to intercept British convoys in the Red Sea.
The Italian naval forces in
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
were caught in a vice. To put to sea invited heavy British reaction, while to stay in ports threatened by British and Commonwealth forces became impossible. In 1941, during the
East African CampaignThe East African Campaign refers to the battles fought in East Africa during World War II. The battles of this campaign were fought between the forces of the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations, and several allies on one side, and the forces of the Italian Empire on the other...
, these ports were captured by the British. The Italians attempted to break out to German-occupied
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, to the Vichy French colony of
MadagascarMadagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the fourth-largest island in the world, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are endemic to...
, to
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, to
Tiensen' is the sixth largest city of the People's Republic of China in terms of urban population. Administratively it is one of the four municipalities that have provincial-level status, reporting directly to the central government...
,
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, or to any other neutral port where they might find refuge.
Some of these breakout attempts were successful. Four Italian submarines successfully reached
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
, two out of three of the Italian
armed merchantmenArmed Merchantman is a term that has come to mean a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value...
reached
Kobeis the sixth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture and a prominent port city in Japan with a population of about 1.5 million. The city is located in the Kansai region of Japan and is part of the metropolitan area...
, Japan, and a few other vessels made it to other Axis-friendly ports. The rest of the Italian vessels in
East AfricaEast Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
were captured, sunk, or scuttled. Six Italian destroyers attempted to attack Port Suez and
Port SudanPort Sudan is the capital of Red Sea State, Sudan and has 489,725 residents . Located on the Red Sea, it is the Republic of Sudan's main port city.-History:...
, but all six were lost due to a combination of British air and sea forces and
scuttlingScuttle may refer to:*Scuttling, deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water in*Coal scuttle, a bucket-like container for coal*Shaving scuttle, a teapot-like container for hot water*Scuttle, a fictional character in Disney's The Little Mermaid...
by their own crews. In actions against the Italians, the Eastern Fleet lost two destroyers and a
sloopIn the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a small sailing warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen cannons...
.
The Eastern Fleet also supported British and Commonwealth ground forces in their actions in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
(
Operation SabineThe Anglo-Iraqi War was a conflict between the United Kingdom and the rebel government of Rashid Ali in Iraq during the Second World War. The war lasted from 2 May to 31 May 1941. It is also referred to as the Rashid Ali Rebellion...
) and
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
(
Operation CountenanceThe Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran was the invasion of the Imperial State of Iran by British, Commonwealth, and Soviet armed forces, codenamed Operation Countenance, from August 25, 1941 to September 17, 1941...
).
Singapore
Before the
fall of SingaporeThe Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in South East Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...
, the Eastern Fleet's naval base at
SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
was part of the
British Far East CommandThe Far East Command was a British military command which had 2 distinct periods.* 18 November 1940 – 7 January 1942 succeeded by the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command...
.
British
Far EastThe Far East is a term used in English mostly equivalent to East Asia and Southeast Asia, sometimes to the inclusion of South Asia for economic and cultural reasons."Far East" came into use in European geopolitical discourse in...
defence planning was based on two assumptions. The first assumption was that the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
would remain as an effective ally in the western
Pacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Tepre Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and...
, with a fleet based at Singapore, and that the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
would be available as a forward base for British warships. Secondly, it was assumed that the technical capabilities and aggression of the
Imperial Japanese NavyThe Imperial Japanese Navy , literally Navy of the Empire of Greater Japan was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
were over-estimated. In these circumstances, with the Japanese fleet engaged by the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
(USN), the
AdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty.In...
sent the four obsolescent
Revenge classThe Revenge-class battleships were five battleships of the Royal Navy, ordered as World War I loomed on the horizon, and launched in 1914–1916...
battleships to Singapore to provide defensive fire-power and a British presence. The British assumptions were destroyed on 7 December 1941: the impact of the Japanese
attack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
denied substantial
USNThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
support to the British defence of the "Malay barrier" and made impossible the relief of American garrisons in the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
. Furthermore, Japanese capabilities exceeded expectations.
After the fall of France in June 1940, Japanese pressure on the
VichyVichy France, or the Vichy regime are the common terms used to describe the government of France from July 1940 to August 1944. This government, which succeeded the Third Republic, officially called itself the French State , in contrast with the previous designation, "French Republic." Marshal...
authorities in
French Indochina||-|French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and Kouang-Tchéou-Wan in 1900...
resulted in the granting of base and transit rights, albeit with significant restrictions. Despite this, in September 1940, the Japanese launched an invasion of French Indochina. The bases thus acquired in
IndochinaIndochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly east of India, south of China.The word has French origins, Indochine, and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory to bordering countries.Historically, the countries of...
allowed extended Japanese air coverage of the invasion forces bound for
MalayaBritish Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula that were colonized by the British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th century. Before the formation of Malayan Union in 1946, the colonies were not placed under a single unified administration...
and for the
Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, was the Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II.It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the former Dutch East India Company that came under the administration of the Netherlands in 1800...
. In these circumstances, the
Prince of Wales and
RepulseHMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser, the second to last battlecruiser built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, for the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be a unit of the R class battleships, but was ordered to a modified design...
were vulnerable to concerted air attacks from the Japanese bases in Indochina and, without air cover, they were sunk in December 1941. The modern aircraft carrier HMS
IndomitableHMS Indomitable was a modified Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. The Illustrious class came about due to the 1937 Naval Programme...
had been intended to be part of the squadron, but accidental damage prevented this. It's unlikely that the limited naval air cover thus available would have protected the squadron and the
Indomitable might also have been a loss.
After the
sinking of Prince of Wales and RepulseThe sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a World War II naval engagement which illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against naval forces that were not protected by air cover and the resulting importance of including an aircraft carrier in any major fleet action.The action took...
and the death of Admiral Sir
Tom PhillipsAdmiral Sir Thomas "Tom" Spencer Vaughan Phillips GBE, KCB, DSO had a successful career in the Royal Navy. He was nicknamed "Tom Thumb" owing to his short stature...
, Admiral Sir
Geoffrey LaytonAdmiral Sir Geoffrey Layton GBE, KCB, KCMG, DSO , was a British Royal Navy officer.-Early Life and Career:...
assumed command of the Eastern Fleet. The fleet withdrew first to Java and, following the Fall of Singapore, to
TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
,
CeylonSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
(now Sri Lanka). In March 1942, Admiral Sir James Somerville arrived in Ceylon and assumed command from Layton.
Indian Ocean retreat
When Admiral Somerville inspected the base at
TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
, its deficiencies were clear to him. He found the port inadequate, vulnerable to a determined attack, and open to spying. An isolated island base with a safe, deep anchorage in a suitably strategic position was required.
Addu AtollSeenu Atoll is the name of Addu Atoll as an administrative division of the Maldives. Addu Atoll together with Fuahmulaku Island, located 30 km north of Addu atoll extend Maldives to the southern hemisphere crossing the equator...
met the requirements and it was secretly developed as a fleet anchorage. Once available, the facilities at Addu Atoll were used extensively by the Royal Navy.
The Eastern Fleet was divided into two: Force A and Force B. Force A consisted of the modernised HMS
Warspite and the two available fleet aircraft carriers. Force B was based on the slow
Revenge classThe Revenge-class battleships were five battleships of the Royal Navy, ordered as World War I loomed on the horizon, and launched in 1914–1916...
battleships of the
3rd Battle SquadronThe British Royal Navy 3rd Battle Squadron was a naval squadron consisting of battleships and other vessels, active from at least 1914 to 1945. The 3rd Battle Squadron was initially part of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. During World War I the Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet...
, based at the fleet's new operational base at Kilindini near
MombasaMombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. It has a major port and an international airport. The city is the centre of the coastal tourism industry. The original Arabic name is Manbasa; in Swahili it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita , which means "Island of War", due to the...
in
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
and relatively safe from the Japanese fleet. Neither individually nor together could the two Eastern Fleet forces challenge a determined Japanese naval assault.
Following the
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese capture of the
Andaman IslandsThe Andaman Islands are a group of archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal, and are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India. The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese Arakan Yoma range in the North and of the Indonesian Archipelago in the South...
, the main elements of the Fleet retreated to
Addu AtollAddu Atoll is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives.There are not many islands in this atoll, but many of them are large compared to the average size of islands in the Maldives. Most inhabited islands in Addu are in the western reef and these are Hithadhoo, Maradhoo, Feydhoo, Gan...
in
MaldivesThe Maldives , or Maldive Islands, officially Republic of Maldives, is an island country in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching along north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and Chagos Archipelago...
. Then, following
Chuichi Nagumowas an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II and one time commander of the Kido Butai .He committed suicide while defending Saipan.-Early life:...
's
Indian Ocean raidThe Indian Ocean raid was a naval sortie by the Fast Carrier Strike Force of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 31 March to 10 April 1942 against Allied shipping and bases in the Indian Ocean. It was an early engagement of the Pacific campaign of World War II...
in early 1942, the Fleet moved its operational base to Kilindini near
MombasaMombasa is the second largest city in Kenya, lying on the Indian Ocean. It has a major port and an international airport. The city is the centre of the coastal tourism industry. The original Arabic name is Manbasa; in Swahili it is called Kisiwa Cha Mvita , which means "Island of War", due to the...
in
KenyaThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa. Lying along the Indian Ocean, at the equator, Kenya is bordered by Ethiopia , Somalia , Tanzania , Uganda plus Lake Victoria , and Sudan . The capital city is Nairobi. Kenya spans an area about 85% the size of France or Texas...
, as their more forward fleet anchorages could not be adequately protected from Japanese attack. The fleet in the Indian Ocean was then gradually reduced to little more than a convoy escort force as other commitments called for the more modern powerful ships.
In May 1942, the Eastern Fleet supported the
invasion of MadagascarThe Battle of Madagascar was the Allied campaign to capture Vichy French-controlled Madagascar during World War II. It began on 5 May, 1942. Fighting did not cease until 6 November.-Background:...
,
Operation Ironclad. This was an operation 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 NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military...
(two armed merchant cruisers, two sloops, and five submarines) and submarines of the
Imperial Japanese NavyThe Imperial Japanese Navy , literally Navy of the Empire of Greater Japan was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
(I-10, I-16, I-18, and I-20 and midget submarines M-16b and M-20b).
Indian Ocean strikes
After the departure of the main battle forces during February 1944, the Indian Ocean was left with mostly escort carriers and older
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
s as the core of its naval forces. Allied advances in the Mediterranean and northern Europe during 1943 and 1944, however, released naval resources. As a result, more British
aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s entered the area; plus the battlecruiser
HMS RenownHMS Renown was the lead ship of the two 26,500-ton Renown class battlecruisers of the Royal Navy, the other being . Both ships were originally to be built as Revenge class battleships along with a third ship named HMS Resistance, but the orders were suspended after the First World War broke out...
, battleships
HoweHMS Howe was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy, named after Admiral Richard Howe. She was originally to be named HMS Beatty, after Admiral David Beatty.Built at the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd...
,
Queen ElizabethHMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth-class of Dreadnought battleships, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England...
,
ValiantHMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at the Fairfield shipyards, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914. She was completed in February 1916.- World War I :...
and supporting warships.
Preparations were put in hand for a more aggressive stance in the Indian Ocean and for British naval participation in the
Pacific theatreThe Pacific War was the part of World War II—and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia. The war began as a conflict with the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China on July 7, 1937, but by December 1941, became part of the greater World War II,...
. Agreement had been reached, after objections from Admiral
Ernest KingFleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the U.S...
, but new procedures would need to be learnt by naval crews and
Fleet Air ArmThe Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters, as well as the Harrier GR7/GR9...
(FAA) aircrew. To this end,
Operation DiplomatDuring World War II, Operation Diplomat was an Allied naval training operation. It was executed in March 1944 by the British Eastern Fleet to practice operational procedures that would be used by ships allocated to the British Pacific Fleet....
, a training exercise, took place in late March, 1944. The objective was for the fleet to rendezvous with a group of tankers (escorted by
HNLMS TrompHNLMS Tromp was the lead ship of the Tromp-class light cruisers of the Royal Netherlands Navy during and after World War II.Originally designated as a flotilla leader and a torpedo cruiser in the Deckers Fleet Plan of 1931, she was laid down at the "Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij" ,...
) and practice refuelling at sea procedures. They then rendezvoused with
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
Task Force 58.5, the
USS SaratogaUSS Saratoga was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the fifth ship to bear her name. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, , which is the third actually commissioned after and Saratoga...
and three destroyers, and returned to
TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
on 31 March. The U.S. task force had been detached to the Indian Ocean to bolster local air defences and also to impart necessary procedures to FAA aircrew, which was done over two or three days' intensive activity at sea. Sources for the dates of return to Trincomalee and the joint US/UK training differ.
Admiral King then requested that, during April, the Eastern Fleet should engage Japanese forces in their area and hold them there to reduce the opposition to an American seaborne assault on
Hollandia (now Jayapura)Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
and
AitapeAitape is a small town of about 8,000 people on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in the Sandaun province. It is a coastal settlement that is almost equidistant from the provincial capitals of Wewak and Vanimo, and marks the midpoint of the highway between these two capitals. Aitape was...
on the north coast of
Netherlands New GuineaNetherlands New Guinea refers to Western New Guinea while it was an overseas territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1949 to 1962. Until 1949 it was a part of the Netherlands Indies. It was commonly known as Dutch New Guinea...
. An airborne attack by the Eastern Fleet (including Task Force 58.5) on
SabangSabang is a city in Aceh, Indonesia. The city is located on Weh Island, 17 km north of Banda Aceh. It has an area of 118 km² and population of 23,654...
, off
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
was executed (
Operation CockpitOperation Cockpit was a bombing raid by aircraft from two Allied naval forces on 19 April 1944. The forces were made up of 22 warships, including two aircraft carriers, from the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy, and United States Navy...
). Surprise was achieved: military and oil installations were heavily damaged by the attacks, aggravating Japanese fuel shortages. The American involvement was extended to capitalise on the success with a second attack, this time on
SurabayaSurabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city, and the capital of the province of East Java. It is located on the northern shore of eastern Java at the mouth of the Mas River and along the edge of the Madura Strait....
, eastern
JavaJava is an island of Indonesia and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. Once the centre of powerful Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, Islamic sultanates, and the core of the colonial Dutch East Indies, Java now plays a dominant role in the economic and political life of Indonesia...
, on 17 May (
Operation TransomOperation Transom was a major bombing raid on Japanese targets at Surabaya, Java by American and British planes on 17 May 1944 during World War II....
). The distances for this operation necessitated replenishment at sea. Again, the defenders were unprepared and significant damage was made to port, military and oil infrastructure. After this, on 18 May,
Saratoga and her destroyers returned to the Pacific after what Admiral Somerville called "
a profitable and very happy association of Task Group 58.5 with the Eastern Fleet".
At the end of August 1944, Admiral Somerville was relieved as Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet by Admiral Sir
Bruce FraserAdmiral of the Fleet Bruce Austin Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape GCB, KBE was a senior British admiral during World War II.-Early naval career:He joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet on 15 January 1904...
, former Commander-in-Chief
Home FleetThe Home Fleet is the traditional name of the fleet of the Royal Navy that protects the United Kingdom's territorial waters.-Pre-First World War:...
. Somerville had been Commander-in-Chief Eastern Fleet since March 1942. During this time, there had been friction between him and the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Theatre, Louis Mountbatten. The need for an influential military representative in Washington provided the opportunity for a change. Fraser later transferred his flag to the newly-formed
British Pacific FleetThe British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
on 22 November 1944.
By this time, the Eastern Fleet included ships from Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and France, and became the East Indies Fleet.
The Eastern Fleet was greatly augmented by units intended for the Pacific and, on 4 January 1945 two British carriers (
HMS IndomitableHMS Indomitable was a modified Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. The Illustrious class came about due to the 1937 Naval Programme...
and
IndefatigableHMS Indefatigable was an Implacable-class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy.- History :Built at the famous John Brown Yard on the Clyde, at Clydebank, Scotland, Indefatigable was laid down on 3 November 1939 and launched on 8 December 1942. She commissioned into the Royal Navy on 3 May...
) made an attack on oil refineries at Pangkalan Brandon in Sumatra (
Operation LentilMore than one Operation Lentil is known to Wikipedia:* Operation Lentil ; deportation of populations by Soviet Union* Operation Lentil ; British naval air attack on Japanese installations...
).
The final attacks were flown as Force 63 was en route for
SydneySydney is the largest city in Australia, and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney has a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million and an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometres. Its inhabitants are called Sydneysiders, and Sydney is often called "the Harbour City"...
, Australia to become the
British Pacific FleetThe British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
.
Operation Meridian OneDuring World War II, Operation Meridian was a series of British air attacks conducted on 24 January and 29 January 1945 on Japanese-held oil refineries at Palembang, on Sumatra...
and
Operation Meridian TwoDuring World War II, Operation Meridian was a series of British air attacks conducted on 24 January and 29 January 1945 on Japanese-held oil refineries at Palembang, on Sumatra...
were air attacks upon the oil refineries at Pladjoe, north of
PalembangPalembang is the capital city of South Sumatra Province of Indonesia. It was formerly known as the capital city of the ancient Kingdom of Srivijaya. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400,61 square kilometres and a population of 1.441.500...
, Java and at Soengei Gerong, Sumatra. Although successful these were not as smooth as earlier attacks. Poor weather delayed fly-offs for both raids, 48 aircraft were lost or damaged and refuelling at sea was only completed with difficulty and damage due to poor weather and lack of expertise.
A number of Fleet Air Arm pilots were captured by the Japanese during the Palembang raid. These were taken to Singapore where at least some of them were executed by the Japanese military authorities.
Important operations were launched in 1945 as the East Indies Fleet in the
recapture of BurmaThe Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, the Burmese Independence Army and the Indian National Army...
, including landings on
Ramree IslandRamree Island is an island off the coast of Arakan State, Myanmar. The area of the island is about 1350 km². The Battle of Ramree Island took place here for six weeks during January and February 1945, as part of the British Fourteenth Army 1944/45 offensive on the Southern Front of the Burma...
and Akyab and near
RangoonYangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Division. Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
and diversionary operations (Operation
Bishop).
On May 15-16 1945, the British executed
Operation DukedomThe Battle of the Malacca Strait, sometimes called the Sinking of the Haguro, and in Japanese sources as the Battle off Penang , was a naval battle that resulted from the British search and destroy operation in May, 1945, called Operation Dukedom, that resulted in the sinking of the Japanese...
and the 26th Destroyer Flotilla (HMS
SaumarezHMS Saumarez was an S class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class...
,
VenusHMS Venus was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F50....
,
VerulamHMS Verulam was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F29....
,
VigilantHMS Vigilant was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F93....
and
ViragoHMS Virago was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F76....
) sank the Japanese heavy cruiser
HaguroHaguro was the last of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. The other ships of her class were Myōkō , Nachi , and Ashigara ....
in the
Malacca StraitsThe Strait of Malacca is a narrow, 805 km stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra...
by
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
attack.
Trade protection
This was the protection of merchant ships in the Indian Ocean and it was seen as the Eastern Fleet's primary role. The threats were German, Italian and Japanese submarines, German warships and Italian and German auxiliary cruisers. A substantial part of the Fleet was employed in escorting convoys and hunting submarines and surface ships and their supply vessels. For much of the war, with naval resources needed elsewhere, there were barely enough warships to perform these tasks and, without escorts, the battleships and aircraft carriers that remained could not safely be used.
Although not a naval action, one action is noteworthy. In March 1943, members of the Calcutta Light Horse, a reserve army regiment, performed a highly successful raid on
GoaGoa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.Panaji is...
harbour, sinking a German ship that was transmitting shipping information to waiting U-boats.
Postwar
The Fleet was based at Singapore postwar and took part in the
Malayan EmergencyThe Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
and the Confrontation with Indonesia in the 1960s. By 1964 the fleet on station included
HMS VictoriousHMS Victorious was the second Illustrious class aircraft carrier ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme. She was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939...
,
HMS CentaurHMS Centaur was the first of the four Centaur-class light fleet carriers of the Royal Navy. She was the only ship of her class to retain the original configuration with a straight axial flight deck rather than the angled flight decks of her three sister ships...
,
HMS BulwarkThe sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier.-Construction:Bulwark was laid down by the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast on 10 May 1945...
,
HMS KentHMS Kent was a County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy.One role was as host ship for the Withdrawal from Empire negotiations in Gibraltar. She suffered a fire during refitting in 1976 but was soon repaired and was present for the Silver Jubilee fleet review of 1977. Kent was and became a...
,
HMS HampshireHMS Hampshire was a County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was decommissioned in 1976 and cannibalised for spares to feed her sister ships. Hampshire was sold for scrap in 1979.- See also :* List of ship launches in 1961...
, seventeen destroyers and frigates, some drawn from the Mediterranean, about ten minesweepers and five submarines.
Kent and
Victorious helped to fill gaps in Singapore's radar cover by providing additional early warning.
The Flag Officer Second-in-Command Far East Fleet, for most of the postwar period a Rear Admiral, was based afloat, and tasked with keeping the fleet 'up to the mark operationally,' while the fleet commander, a Vice Admiral, ran the fleet programme and major items of administration 'including all provision for docking and maintenance,' from his base in Singapore. Jack Scatchard (1962-64) and
Terence LewinAdmiral of the Fleet Terence Thornton Lewin, Baron Lewin, KG, GCB, LVO, DSC was a former First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, and Chief of the Defence Staff.-Naval career:...
, as Rear Admirals, were among those who held this appointment.
The Fleet was disbanded in 1971, and on October 31, 1971, the last day of the validity of the Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement, the last Commander, Far East Fleet, Rear Admiral J.A.R. Troup, hauled down his flag. That day, he took the salute aboard from RFA Stromness from his final remaining ships. Led by
HMS GlamorganHMS Glamorgan was a County-class destroyer of the Royal Navy with a displacement of 5,440 tonnes. The ship was built by Vickers-Armstrongs in Newcastle Upon Tyne and named after the Welsh county of Glamorgan. She was launched on 9 June 1964, and was delivered to the Navy two years later. In the...
, flying the flag of Flag Officer Second-in-Command Far East Fleet, the frigates
HMS ScyllaHMS Scylla was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was built at Devonport Royal Dockyard and was the last RN frigate to be built at the Dockyard so far. Scylla was launched in August 1968 and commissioned in 1970...
,
HMS ArgonautHMS Argonaut was a of the Royal Navy. She was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company of Hebburn. She was launched on 8 February 1966 and commissioned on 17 August 1967.-1967–1982:...
,
HMS GurkhaHMS Gurkha was a Tribal-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was named after an ethnic group located in Nepal, and whose people continue to serve in the British Army. Gurkha was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Woolston, Hampshire...
,
HMS ArethusaHMS Arethusa was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was, like the rest of the Leanders, named after a figure of mythology. Arethusa was built by J.S. White & Company Shipbuilders of Cowes. Arethusa was launched on the 5th November 1963 and commissioned on the 24th November 1965.In...
, and
HMS DanaeHMS Danae was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy . She was, like the rest of the class, named after a figure of mythology. Danae was built by Devonport Dockyard...
, sailed past, along with the repair ship
HMS TriumphHMS Triumph was a Royal Navy Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carrier. She served in the Korean War and later after reconstruction as a support ship.-Construction and commission:...
and six Royal Fleet Auxiliaries. The Fleet was replaced by a small
ANZUKANZUK was a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asian Pacific region after the United Kingdom withdrew forces from the east of Suez in the early seventies. The ANZUK force was formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1974....
naval squadron comprising British, Australian, and New Zealand ships.
List of ships
During World War II, the British Eastern Fleet included, from time to time, a number of warships from other Allied nations, such as Australia (
Royal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following federation of the Australian Colonies in 1901, the former colonial navies merged to become the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
), France (
Free French NavyLes Forces Navales Françaises Libres were the naval arm of the Free French Forces during the Second World War. They were commanded by Admiral Emile Muselier.- History :...
), the Netherlands (
Royal Netherlands NavyThe Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands.-Bases:The main naval base is Den Helder, Noord Holland.Secondary naval bases are in Amsterdam, Vlissingen, Texel and Willemstad...
), India (
Royal Indian NavyThe Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. It currently has approximately 55,000 personnel on active duty, including 5,000 members of the naval aviation branch and 2,000 marine commandos, making it the world's fifth largest navy...
), New Zealand (
Royal New Zealand NavyThe Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
), and the United States. Major ships attached to the Eastern Fleet, or where indicated, East Indies Fleet, included:
- HMS Hermes
HMS Hermes of the Royal Navy of United Kingdom was the first ship in any navy to be designed and built as an aircraft carrier, although the Imperial Japanese Navy's Hōshō was the first to be commissioned...
- Sunk 9 April 1942
- HMS Illustrious
HMS Illustrious , the fourth Illustrious of the British Royal Navy, was an aircraft carrier which saw service in World War II, the lead ship of the Illustrious class of carriers which also included HMS Victorious , HMS Formidable , and HMS Indomitable .Illustrious was built by Vickers-Armstrongs at...
- Aircraft Carrier in Eastern Fleet 1944, arriving January 1944
- HMS Victorious
HMS Victorious was the second Illustrious class aircraft carrier ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme. She was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939...
- Aircraft Carrier in Eastern Fleet, arriving July 1944
- HMS Indomitable
HMS Indomitable was a modified Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. The Illustrious class came about due to the 1937 Naval Programme...
- Aircraft Carrier in Eastern Fleet 1944, arriving July 1944
- HMS Renown
HMS Renown was the lead ship of the two 26,500-ton Renown class battlecruisers of the Royal Navy, the other being . Both ships were originally to be built as Revenge class battleships along with a third ship named HMS Resistance, but the orders were suspended after the First World War broke out...
- Battlecruiser in Eastern Fleet 1944
- HMS Queen Elizabeth
HMS Queen Elizabeth was the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth-class of Dreadnought battleships, named in honour of Elizabeth I of England...
- Battleship in Eastern Fleet 1944, East Indies Fleet 1945
- HMS Valiant
HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at the Fairfield shipyards, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914. She was completed in February 1916.- World War I :...
- Battleship in Eastern Fleet 1944
- French Battleship Richelieu
The Richelieu was a battleship of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. She served during World War II, on the Vichy Regime side, notably fending off an Allied attempt on Dakar, and later with Allied forces in the Indian Ocean in 1944 and 1945...
- Battleship in Eastern Fleet 1944, East Indies Fleet 1945
- HMS Howe
Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Howe, after Admiral Richard Howe:* HMS Howe was the ex-East Indiaman Kaikusroo; renamed to Dromedary in 1806 and sold in Bermuda in 1864 after many years service as a prison hulk....
- Battleship in Eastern Fleet August 1944 - December 1944
- Submarines: 2nd Flotilla, of approx eight "S" class
The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the H class submarines...
and four "T" classThe Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during World War II, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...
- HMS Prince of Wales
HMS Prince of Wales was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy, built at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, England...
- Sunk 10 December 1941
- HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser, the second to last battlecruiser built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, for the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be a unit of the R class battleships, but was ordered to a modified design...
- Sunk 10 December 1941
- HMS Electra
HMS Electra was a Royal Navy 'E' class destroyer . She was ordered on 1 November 1932 as part of the 1931 Naval Build Programme; launched on 15 February 1934 at the Hawthorn Leslie Shipyard at Hebburn, Tyneside...
- Sunk 27 February 1942
- HMS Express
HMS Express was an E class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was one of 18 'E' and 'F' class destroyers to be built.She was launched on 29 May 1934. She had an overall length of 100 m, displacement of 1,375 tons, and a maximum speed of 35.5 knots...
- HMS Cornwall
HMS Cornwall was a County class heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass of the Royal Navy. She was built at Devonport Dockyard , with the keel being laid down on 9 October 1924. She was launched on 11 March 1926, and commissioned 8 May 1928.-History:Upon completion in 1928 Cornwall joined the China...
- Sunk 5 April 1942
- HMS Dorsetshire
HMS Dorsetshire was a heavy cruiser of the County class of the Royal Navy, named after the English county . She was launched on 29 January 1929 at Portsmouth Dockyard, UK. In World War II, she was commanded by Captain Augustus Agar V.C.-Interwar:Upon commissioning she became the flagship of the...
- Sunk 5 April 1942
- HMAS Vampire
HMAS Vampire was a V class destroyer of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy .Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Vampire was loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as a depot tender until just before World War II...
- Sunk 9 April 1942
- HMS Adamant
HMS Adamant was a World War II submarine depot ship.Completed in 1942, she served in the Eastern Fleet with the 4th Submarine Flotilla from April 1943 until April 1945 and then moved with her flotilla to Fremantle, Australia...
- Submarine Depot Ship
- USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the fifth ship to bear her name. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, , which is the third actually commissioned after and Saratoga...
See also
- South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in Burma , Ceylon, India, Thailand, Indochina, Malaya and Singapore. Conflict in the theatre began when the Empire of Japan invaded Thailand and Malaya from bases located in Indochina on December 8,...
- Indian Ocean naval campaigns 1942-45
External links