Eastern Fleet

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The Eastern Fleet ( German  Eastern Fleet ), also known as the East Indies Fleet (East India Fleet) or Far East Fleet (Far East Fleet) , was a naval association of the British Royal Navy in the Indian and Pacific Oceans . It existed from 1941 to 1971.

history

As early as 1904, the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty , Sir John Fisher , called for the three permanent naval units in the Asia-Pacific region, China Station , East Indies Station and Australia Station , to be brought together under a single command in the event of war . The command of this Eastern Fleet should be set up in Singapore , the commander of this unit should be appointed the respective commander of the China Station. During the First World War , the term Eastern Fleet was only used as a general name for the naval units stationed in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the three units kept their independence in the respective theater of war. This structure was retained until the beginning of the Second World War . In view of the growing Japanese threat, however , the Eastern Fleet was set up on December 8, 1941, one day after the attack by the Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor . For the time being, the units of the China Station and the East India Station were used. During the war, the fleet was subordinated to other associations of other nations fighting on the allied side, such as the Royal Netherlands Navy , the Royal Australian Navy , the Royal New Zealand Navy and the United States Navy . With the creation of the British Pacific Fleet in 1944/1945, the Eastern Fleet was renamed the East Indies Fleet. After the end of the Second World War, the name was changed to Far East Fleet, the area of ​​responsibility of the fleet extended over all Asian waters including part of the Pacific Ocean.

background

Until the outbreak of the Second World War, the Indian Ocean was practically "British inland water". All around the ocean were British possessions and areas of the Commonwealth . A large number of strategically important raw materials were transported by sea: Persian oil, Malaysian rubber, Indian tea, food from Australia and New Zealand. Great Britain had to fall back on the human resources of Australia and New Zealand, the safe passage of ships in the event of war could be critical.

Regardless of this, there was a tendency in the Royal Navy to station mainly older ships in Asia and to use the forces of the China and East Indies station to strengthen the forces in other theaters of war. But just at the time when they were most urgently needed, the squadrons in Asia consisted of older ships that were too slow and too vulnerable to operate in the Atlantic or Mediterranean .

When the Second World War broke out, the British sea connections were threatened by the " Westentasche battleship " Admiral Graf Spee and auxiliary cruiser of the German Navy . For the protection of the sea connections and the search for the Admiral Graf Spee , not inconsiderable British forces were committed. Italy entered the war on the German side in mid-1940. The British sea connections in the Red Sea were threatened by the warships based in Italian East Africa . In December 1941, Japan entered the war. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the sinking of the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse , the occupation of Malaysia , Singapore and the Dutch East Indies , there was a further threat from the east.

This threat became a reality when the Japanese Navy advanced into the Indian Ocean in April 1942 and sank the aircraft carrier Hermes , the two cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, as well as other war and merchant ships, disrupting shipping traffic on the Indian east coast (see attack in India Ocean ). The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Sir Alan Brooke , 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, Auchinleck was in precarious straits in the desert, and the submarine sinkings were heavy. "

“We bowed our heads. The Japanese threatened India and Australia, we temporarily lost control of the Indian Ocean, the Germans threatened Iran and our oil, Auchinleck was in a precarious situation in the desert, and the ship losses from the submarines were heavy. "

There was a risk that Japan would drive the Royal Navy out of the Indian Ocean, with direct consequences for India , and that the German successes in the Caucasus and Egypt threatened the Persian Gulf .

Use during the Second World War

Outbreak of war

The Navy Office in Singapore, seat of the China Station Commander, 1941

Until 1941, the main threat consisted of German auxiliary cruisers and submarines. The main task of the Eastern Fleet at that time was to protect the trade routes. To do this, she drove convoy protection and looked for and destroyed the German trade disturbers . This task tied strong British forces until the sinking of the last commercial troublemaker Michel in October 1943.

On June 10, 1940, Italy entered the war. This threatened the British oil supply routes in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Italy controlled ports in Italian East Africa and Tianjin (Tientsin), China . The Marina Regia in the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and western Pacific had destroyers , submarines, and a small number of armed merchant ships. The majority, seven destroyers and eight submarines, were stationed in Massaua in Eritrea as part of the Italian flotilla in the Red Sea. In 1940 Regia Marina lost four submarines and one destroyer in attacks on British convoys in the Red Sea.

However, the Italian naval forces in East Africa were caught in a bind . A departure of the ships would provoke violent British reactions, staying in the East African ports was just as impossible because of the British threat. During the British East Africa Campaign, these ports were taken by the British. The Italians tried to break out to Europe, occupied by German troops, the French colony of Madagascar held by Vichy troops , to Japan, to Tientsin or another neutral port. Some of these escape attempts were successful. Four Italian submarines successfully reached Bordeaux , two out of three of the Italian armed merchant ships reached Kobe, Japan, and a few other ships reached axis-friendly ports. The rest of the Italian ships in East Africa have been captured, sunk or destroyed. Six Italian destroyers attempted an attack on Port Suez and Port Sudan , but were repulsed by combined British naval and air forces. All of these ships were lost in the attacks or were sunk by the crews themselves. In the actions against the Italian ships, the Eastern Fleet lost two destroyers and a sloop .

The Eastern Fleet also supported British and Commonwealth ground troops in their operations in Iraq ( Operation Sabine ) and Iran ( Operation Countenance ).

Singapore

The HMS Repulse (in the background) with battleship Prince of Wales (left) after the first Japanese air raid with torpedoes on December 10, 1941

Before the fall of Singapore, the city was the base of the Eastern Fleet and the seat of the British High Command for the Far East ( Far East Command ).

British defense planning for the Far East was based on two assumptions: first, that the US would be an effective ally of the British in the western Pacific and that part of the US Navy was stationed in Singapore, and that the Philippines could be used as an advanced naval base for the British. The second assumption was that Japan overestimated the technical and logistical capabilities of its navy. In the event that the Japanese would be bound by the US Navy, they wanted the four obsolete battleships of the Revenge class delegate to the Far East, to strengthen the defensive force and to show the British flag. These assumptions were destroyed by the attack by the Japanese fleet on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The attack made a US support of the Malaysian barrier in the northern foreland of Singapore impossible and ultimately led to the abandonment of the American bases in the Philippines. In addition, the Japanese skills exceeded British expectations.

Japanese troops in the streets of Singapore

After France surrendered in June 1940, increased Japanese pressure on French Indochina led to the granting of transit and stationing rights, albeit with significant restrictions. Notwithstanding the agreement reached, Japan occupied Indochina in September 1940. The captured bases made it possible to extend the protection of the Japanese air force for the invading forces as far as Malaysia and the Dutch East Indies. Under these circumstances, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were vulnerable to Japanese air strikes from bases in Indochina. Acting without air support, both ships were sunk in December 1941. The modern aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable was supposed to strengthen the squadron, but was stopped because of an accident . However, it is unlikely that this carrier's limited air support would have prevented the loss.

Retreat from the Indian Ocean

The commander of the Eastern Fleet, Admiral Somerville , presented during an inspection of the base in Trincomalee ( Ceylon fixed whose defects). The port was inadequate, prone to determined attack and open to espionage. The fleet required an isolated island base with a safe, deeper anchorage in a suitable strategic position. The Addu Atoll meets these requirements. Preparations for use by the fleet have commenced in secret. As soon as they became available, the facilities on the Addu Atoll were used by the Royal Navy.

The Eastern Fleet was divided into two parts: Force A and Force B. Force A consisted of the modernized HMS Warspite and the two available aircraft carriers. Force B consisted of the slow battleships of the Revenge class of the 3rd Squadron and was stationed in Kilindini near Mombasa in Kenya . Neither individually nor together, the two units could meet the challenge of a determined Japanese attack.

After the Japanese conquered the Andaman Islands , the main forces of the fleet were withdrawn to the Addu Atoll in the Maldives . After Nagumo Chūichi's campaign in the Indian Ocean at the beginning of 1942 , the base of the fleet was relocated to Kilindini, as the bases that were further advanced could not have been defended against a Japanese attack. The fleet forces in the Indian Ocean were thus reduced to convoy protection and similar tasks for the more modern units of the fleet.

British troops land in Madagascar

In May 1942 the fleet supported the occupation of Madagascar ( Operation Ironclad ). This foiled any attempt by Japanese ships to use bases in the area controlled by Vichy French troops. During the invasion, the ships of the Eastern Fleet were joined by ships from the Vichy Navy (two auxiliary cruisers, two sloops and five submarines) and submarines from the Japanese Navy (I-10, I-16, I-18, and I- 20 and the micro-submarines M-16b and M-20b).

Battles in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific

HMS Renown (foreground) with HMS Valiant (right) and Richelieu (left) in the Indian Ocean, 1944
HMS Illustrious , Spring 1944 during joint operation with USS Saratoga
Heavy cruiser Haguro

After the main strike forces withdrew in February 1944, essentially only the escort aircraft carriers and older battleships remained in the Indian Ocean as the core of the fleet forces. However, the Allied advances in the Atlantic and Mediterranean in 1943 and 1944 freed forces. As a result, several British aircraft carriers were relocated to the Indian Ocean. There were also the battle cruiser HMS Renown , the battleships HMS Howe , HMS Queen Elizabeth , HMS Valiant and other smaller units.

The Royal Navy made preparations for a more aggressive appearance in the Indian Ocean and for British participation in the naval war in the Pacific. However, the corresponding procedures first had to be practiced by the crews of the ships and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). To this end, Operation Diplomat was carried out as an exercise at the end of March 1944 . The fleet forces should deal with a group of tankers from Mr. Ms. Tromp were escorted to meet and then practice refueling at sea. The British forces then met with Task Force 58.5 of the US Navy, consisting of the carrier USS Saratoga and three destroyers. The task force was deployed to the Indian Ocean to reinforce air defenses and practice procedures with the FAA crews. The combined American-British fleet then returned to Trincomalee on March 31.

The Commander in Chief of the US Naval Forces, Admiral Ernest J. King , demanded that the Eastern Fleet bind Japanese forces in the area of ​​operations in April 1944 in order to defend the Japanese against an American landing on Hollandia (now Jayapura ) and Aitape on the north coast of Dutch New Guinea to weaken. A joint air strike by Eastern Fleet and Task Force 58.5 was carried out on Sabang ( Operation Cockpit ). The surprise succeeded, military installations and fuel depots were badly damaged, which led to fuel shortages among the Japanese troops. The Americans planned to extend the success with a second air strike. An air raid on Surabaya was carried out on May 17th with Operation Transom . The distances to be covered in this operation required refueling of the ships at sea. Again the Japanese defenders were surprised and the port, military facilities and fuel depots were badly damaged. On May 18, Task Force 58.5 relocated back to the Pacific. Admiral Somerville, the commander of the Eastern Fleet, named the operations

"A profitable and very happy association of Task Group 58.5 with the Eastern Fleet"

At the end of August 1944, Admiral Somerville was replaced by Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser , to date Commander of the Home Fleet , as Commander of the Eastern Fleet. Somerville had commanded the fleet since March 1942. His relationship with the Allied Commander-in-Chief on the Southeast Asian Theater of War (Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Theater), Louis Mountbatten , was not free of tension. The need to strengthen British military influence in the American capital Washington opened up the possibility of a change of command. At the time, the fleet included ships from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and France and was known as the East Indies Fleet. Fraser also took command of the newly formed British Pacific Fleet on November 22, 1944.

The fleet was expanded to include units for use in the Pacific. At the end of November, the fleet launched several attacks on Japanese-occupied areas in West Sumatra under the code name Outflank . The focus was particularly on the refineries that produced aviation fuel . The first carrier attack was carried out on the Belawan Deli facilities on November 20 . Another attack on December 17 and 20 (→ Operation Robson ) was largely unsuccessful.

On January 4, 1945, the carriers HMS Indomitable and HMS Indefatigable carried out an attack on oil refineries near Pangkalan Brandon in West Sumatra (→ Operation Lentil ).

The last attacks in World War II were carried out by the fleet as Force 63 en route to Sydney , Australia. In two waves of Operation Meridian , refineries were flown in Pladjoe north of Palembang and Soengei Gerong in Sumatra. Although equally successful, the missions suffered from the poor weather conditions. A total of 48 aircraft were lost or damaged. Refueling the ships was difficult. The bad weather and the lack of experience of the crews resulted in numerous damage.

Some of the crews of the Fleet Air Arm were captured by the Japanese during the missions. The prisoners of war were taken to Singapore, where some of them were executed by the Japanese.

The fleet was involved in the reconquest of Burma in January 1945 , in particular in the landings on Ramree and Akyab as well as in the vicinity of Rangoon and in some command companies ( Operation Bishop ).

From May 15-16, the 26th destroyer flotilla ( HMS Saumarez , HMS Venus , HMS Verulam , HMS Vigilant and HMS Virago ) sank the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in the Malacca Straits during Operation Dukedom .

Trade protection

The protection of Allied merchant ships in the Indian Ocean was the main mission of the Eastern Fleet throughout the war. Merchant shipping was threatened by Japanese, German and Italian submarines, German warships and Italian and German auxiliary cruisers. Much of the fleet was bound by convoy protection and the search for enemy submarines and surface forces as well as the support ships. For most of the war there were not enough ships available for these tasks, aircraft carriers and battleships could not be used without appropriate escort.

post war period

RFA Stromness

After the war, the fleet was stationed in Singapore. She was involved in the conflicts on the occasion of Malaysia's independence and in the 1960 Konfrontasi with Indonesia . In 1964, the fleet consisted of the HMS Victorious , HMS Centaur , HMS Bulwark , HMS Kent , HMS Hampshire , seventeen destroyers and frigates, some of which were deployed from the Mediterranean, about ten mine sweepers and five submarines. The HMS Kent and HMS Victorious joined with their early warning gaps in the radar screen of Singapore.

The flag officer as second in the command suite was usually a rear admiral in the post-war period. He was right next to the fleet and had to keep it ready for action, so he was practically in command. The commander of the fleet, a vice admiral, was responsible for administrative tasks, logistics and repairs and remained in Singapore.

The fleet was disbanded in 1971. On October 31, 1971, when the British-Malaysian Defense Agreement expired, the last commander in command of the fleet, Rear Admiral Sir Anthony Troup, took down his flag. On board the RFA Stromness he took over the parade of the fleet, led by the HMS Glamorgan . With HMS Glamorgan the frigates HMS Scylla , HMS Argonaut , HMS Gurkha , HMS Arethusa and HMS Danae , the workshop ship HMS Triumph and six auxiliary ships left the port. The fleet was replaced by a small ANZUK contingent.

Ships of the fleet

During the Second World War the fleet included British, Australian, New Zealand, Free French and Dutch ships. Larger units of the fleet were u. a .:

Commander

Period Commanding Admiral Eastern Fleet comment
December 10, 1941 Admiral Sir Tom Spencer first commander in sinking of HMS Prince of Wales fell
December 10, 1941 - March 1942 Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton previously Commander of China Station
March 1942- August 1944 Admiral Sir James Somerville
August 1944 - December 1944 Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser then commander of the Pacific Fleet
Period Commanding Admiral East Indies Fleet
1944-1945 Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Power
1945-1946 Vice-Admiral Sir Clement Moody
1946-1948 Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Palliser
1948-1950 Vice Admiral Sir Charles Woodhouse
1950-1952 Vice-Admiral Sir Geoffrey Oliver
Period Commanding Admiral Far East Fleet
1952-1953 Vice Admiral Sir Guy Russell
1953-1954 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Lambe
1954-1955 Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Norris
1955-1957 Vice-Admiral Sir Alan Scott-Moncrieff
1957-1960 Vice Admiral Sir Gerald Gladstone
1960–1962 Vice Admiral Sir David Luce
1962-1965 Vice-Admiral Sir Desmond Dreyer
1965-1967 Vice-Admiral Sir Frank Twiss
1967-1969 Vice Admiral Sir William O'Brien
1969-1971 Vice Admiral Sir Derek Empson
1971 Rear Adm. Sir Anthony Troup

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The British Empire and the Second World War . Ashley Jackson, p. 289.
  2. ^ The British Empire and the Second World War . Ashley Jackson, p. 290.
  3. ^ Royal Navy in the Pacific and Indian Oceans area.
  4. ↑ Appendix V - Execution By Japanese Of Fleet Air Arm Officers . Nzetc
  5. ↑ Eric Groves, 1987, p. 266.
  6. ^ Richard Hill: Lewin of Greenwich, Cassel & Co 2000, p. 219.
  7. ↑ Eric Groves: From Vanguard to Trident . Naval Institute Press, 1987, p. 307.
  8. ↑ a b c Whitaker’s Almanacks 1941–1971 .