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

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During the First World War, the squadrons retained their distinct identities and 'Eastern Fleet' was used only as a general term. Subsequently, the limit of Japanese operations in the Indian Ocean was against trade using submarines and armed merchant cruisers. Force A, including its two aircraft carriers, Indomitable and Formidable, retired to Bombay, [3] and Somerville regularly deployed a fast carrier force to the central Indian Ocean over the next six months, during which he operated from or near Ceylon for nearly half that time.

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. The Darkest Hour: Volume 2: The Japanese Naval Offensive in the Indian Ocean 1942 – The Attack Against Ceylon and the Eastern Fleet. Force B was based around the slow Revenge-class battleships of the 3rd Battle Squadron, under Vice-Admiral Algernon Willis. The Japs had the best of the road lay-out in Burma, but even so it was inadequate, for road transport develops its own appetites.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? The Major part of the book concentrates on what took place in the Indian Ocean during 1942 to 1944 seen mostly from the perspective of the commander of Eastern Fleet Admiral Sir James Sommerville who was in command of the fleet during most of that time.

Secondly, the technical capabilities and aggression of the Imperial Japanese Navy were underestimated. Following the successful Allied landings in France during the summer of 1944, Operation OVERLORD in June and Operation DRAGOON in August, Britain began to reallocate resources to the Far East and the war against Japan. In 3 days, Ozawa's force managed to sink 23 merchant ships (20 in a single day), [12] totaling over 130,000 gross registered tons. There are especially detailed descriptions of the Japanese aircraft carrier raid in the Indian Ocean in April of 1942, the attacks on Ceylon, and the sinking of the British aircraft carrier "Hermes" and the cruisers "Cornwall" and "Dorsetshire. As a result, more British aircraft carriers entered the area; added to the force were the battlecruiser Renown, the battleships Howe, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant and supporting warships.The other reviews on this page seem to reflect that it is of interest to a number of knowledgable readers who highlight some of the books weaknesses, or take exception to some of the author's conclusion. If you are looking for wide ranging (Leyte) or game changing action (Midway) then this not the book. Why this was so from the British point of view is explained in detail but not so much from the other side. They attacked the Ceylon ports, indeed, by air but their plan of sur­prise was forestalled and they found the fighters already in the sky await­ing them. During the invasion, vessels of the Eastern Fleet were confronted by vessels of the French Navy and submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

On 22 November 1944 the Eastern Fleet was re-designated East Indies fleet and continued to be based in Trincomalee. By 16 March, the plan was to depart from Staring Bay, Celebes, on 26 March for an attack on Colombo ("C day") on 5 April. 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 book is quite broad in its coverage, including setting the scene as to why the British would find themselves ill equipped for modern carrier warfare in the Indian Ocean in 1942. At about 16:00 on 4 April, PBY Catalina flying boat (AJ155/QL-A) from the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) 413 Squadron flown by Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall spotted Nagumo's fleet 360 mi (310 nmi; 580 km) south-east of Ceylon [24] [25] on a course that would have entered Somerville's previous patrol area from the south. Much the same could have been expected had Somerville still been on station when the Japanese arrived – as they did – from the southwest. 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.