The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean, 1942–1944

The Fleet that Had to Hide

Charles Stephenson

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Maritime
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781526783622
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

A study of the British Royal Navy's activities in the Indian Ocean during World War II, led by Admiral Sir James Somerville.
The story of the British Eastern Fleet, which operated in the Indian Ocean against Japan, has rarely been told. Although it was the largest fleet deployed by the Royal Navy prior to 1945 and played a vital part in the theatre it was sent to protect, it has no place in the popular consciousness of the naval history of the Second World War. So Charles Stephenson's deeply researched and absorbing narrative gives this forgotten fleet the recognition it deserves.
British pre-war naval planning for the Far East is part of the story, as is the disastrous loss of the battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Repulse in 1941, but the body of the book focuses on the new fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir James Somerville, and its operations against the Japanese navy and aircraft as well as Japanese and German submarines. Later in the war, once the fleet had been reinforced with an American aircraft carrier, it was strong enough to take more aggressive actions against the Japanese, and these are described in vivid detail.
Charles Stephenson's authoritative study should appeal to readers who have a special interest in the war with Japan, in naval history more generally and Royal Navy in particular.
Praise for The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean, 1942–1944
"This meticulously researched, outstandingly clear, well written and absorbing account is long overdue and will most likely become a standard work. The text is most helpfully supported by over 80 pages of detailed end notes referenced to each chapter and a detailed index. This is not only a book for naval historians but also for anyone with an interest in the War in the Indian Ocean region. Highly recommended." —Military Historical Society
"I enjoyed this book – it gives us an account of an often neglected part of the war at sea, and of the achievements of Admiral Somerville, who kept his fleet intact in the face of a potentially overwhelming opponent, then was willing to acknowledge that his fleet needed to improve massively before it could take on the Japanese." —Dr John Rickard, author and webmaster of the 'Military History Encyclopedia on the Web'

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword by Commander Daniel Clarke OBE RN (Retd.)
• Introduction: ‘Fast bound in misery and iron’
• 1. The Master, The Mission, and Rutland of Jutland
• 2. Between Scylla and Charybdis
• 3. ‘Shattering, blasting, overpowering force’
• 4. The Grandsons of The Master
• 5. The Ratcatcher, the Common, and ‘Old Ming’
• 6. Unknown Unknowns
• 7. ‘… Aircraft fit for sailors to fly in’
• 8. Ironclad
• 9. ‘In the belly of Death’
• 10. The ‘Unwritten Chapter’ and a Wilderness of Mirrors
• 11. The Penang Submarines
• 12. Tweaking the Tail of a ‘Fireless Dragon’
• 13. Admirals in Collision (Generals and Politicians too)
• 14. Final Operations
• 15. ‘… Not a Rolls Royce outfit.’
• Bibliographical Note
• Notes
• Plate Sections