The Eastern Fleet and the Indian Ocean 1942-1944: The Fleet That Had to Hide by Charles Stephenson

Author:Charles Stephenson [Charles Stephenson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781526783622
Google: BpqyEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Published: 2022-04-05T21:00:00+00:00

10 merchant ships totalling 35,000 tons had been hit by bombs and one of these was seen to blow up; the oil refinery was completely destroyed,⁷¹ two floating docks hit by bombs; the naval base was well strafed and the Braak [sic] engineering works probably entirely destroyed; 2 enemy aircraft were shot down and 19 destroyed on the ground whilst other were damaged.⁷²

After landing-on aircraft, both task forces withdrew in close company at 08:50, heading to the south-west ‘to avoid giving the impression to any shadowers that we were making for Exmouth Gulf’. Photographs of the raid taken by Clifton were dropped onto Somerville’s flagship later that day which suggested that there were five undamaged submarines in the harbour. He noted that ‘it would probably have paid to carry out a second strike, but by the time this was fully appreciated we were too far away from the target’. He added: ‘I feel we must make a reasonable distance to the SW from land before dark in view of the vulnerability of the Fleet to attack at dusk or night. We require more practice still for our night barrages and of course have no night fighters to operate against such attacks.’⁷³

It is evident that Japanese capabilities still worried Somerville. This was wise; it was only the inestimable benefit of hindsight that allowed the editor of his papers to conclude: ‘It is now clear that at least from the autumn of 1943, the Japanese in the East Indies resembled a fireless dragon.’⁷⁴ The C-in-C did note in his report to MacArthur that ‘no attempt appears to have been made to locate or shadow the Fleet after the attack although weather was clear and sighting was possible outside Radar range’.⁷⁵

The Fleet refuelled and replenished from Task Force 67 at Exmouth Gulf on 18 May, on the evening of which Saratoga and her three destroyers parted company to return to the United States. This concluded what Somerville called ‘a profitable and very happy association of Task Group 58.5 with the Eastern Fleet’.⁷⁶

The Fleet departed for Ceylon on 19 May with a full programme of both day and night training exercises planned. Somerville, however, handed tactical command to Power the next day in order to give him, Moody and the Commodore in charge of the destroyers, Albert Poland, ‘as much opportunity as possible to exercise independently whilst we are in waters free from submarines’.⁷⁷

The return voyage was uneventful, despite unrealized worries that U-boats were waiting to attack, but upon his return on 28 May Somerville found a ‘personal signal’ from the Admiralty waiting. This passed on a request from Admiral Chester Nimitz, whose command was about to commence the massive Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, to the effect that he would ‘like a continuance of operations by the Eastern Fleet against the Malayan Barrier in order to assist the Pacific Fleet by maintaining pressure’. Somerville noted that ‘it is unfortunate that for some time we shall only have one carrier as this must of necessity limit the scope of our operations’.

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