![\"A](\"https:\/\/secondbysecondworldwar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Wformidable.jpg\")
<\/a>A Grumman Martlet fighter about to be catapulted from the flight deck of HMS Formidable, Indian Ocean, April 1942 [Public domain, wiki]<\/p><\/div>This week in the war, 31 March 1942, having been warned of an imminent Japanese attack, Admiral James Somerville sailed his fleet—the British Eastern Fleet—out of Colombo, Ceylon, to a secret base at Addu Atoll in the Maldives. His intent was to preserve the Eastern Fleet and to avoid battle with a vastly superior foe.<\/p>\n
On paper his fleet appeared impressive: five battleships, three carriers, plus cruisers and destroyers.<\/p>\n
But the battleships included his flagship,\u00a0Warspite,<\/em>\u00a0and four of the old Revenge-class battleships, Resolution<\/em>, Ramillies<\/em>, Royal Sovereign<\/em> and Revenge<\/em>—all dating from the First World War. They were slow and their fifteen-inch guns were no match against their Japanese opponents.<\/p>\n The carriers were Formidable<\/em>, Indomitable<\/em> and the older and smaller Hermes<\/em>. Almost all of their aircraft were obsolete—no match for the Japanese carrier-borne planes.<\/p>\n Heading for Colombo was Japanese admiral Chuichi Nagumo, intent on repeating his triumph at Pearl Harbour. His fleet comprised the battleships Kongo<\/em>, Haruna<\/em>, Hiei<\/em> and Kirishima<\/em>, and aircraft carriers Akagi<\/em>, Soryu<\/em>, Hiryu<\/em>, Shokaku<\/em> and Zuikaku<\/em>, with attendant cruisers and destroyers. He attacked Colombo on 5 April but found that his prey had gone.<\/p>\n Nagumo had command of the sea while Somerville lay low. In the end, cruisers Cornwall<\/em> and Dorsetshire<\/em> and the aircraft carrier Hermes<\/em> were sunk, but the rest of the fleet was saved. Nagumo eventually withdrew. His ships were needed elsewhere.<\/p>\n The Eastern Fleet survived and continued to fulfil its role of protecting the eastern coast of Africa and communications with the Middle East.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week in the war, 31 March 1942, having been warned of an imminent Japanese attack, Admiral James Somerville sailed his fleet—the British Eastern Fleet—out of Colombo, Ceylon, to a secret base at Addu Atoll in the Maldives. His intent … Continue reading