“The most dangerous moment of the War, and the one which caused me the greatest alarm, was when the Japanese Fleet was heading for Ceylon and the naval base there. The capture of Ceylon, the consequent control of the Indian Ocean, and the possibility at the same time of a German conquest of Egypt would have closed the ring and the future would have been black.”
British power to protect and secure the vital resources and lines of communication flowing through Ceylon now rested on Somerville’s Indian Ocean Squadron, three carriers, three old battleships, three heavy cruisers and a few other light cruisers and destroyers. After watching the Japanese destroy Pearl Harbor, seize the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, push boldly into the Solomons and all the way to Fiji, Churchill had every reason to be fearful with the coming of this news.
In early July, he had very little to defend that island. He had pleaded with Prime Minister Curtin to allow him to keep two regiments of the Australian 6th Division there, but the loss of Port Moresby and the brief Japanese air raid on Port Darwin had ended any hope of achieving that. So it was then down to the British 34th Indian Division, reinforced earlier that year with the arrival of the 16th British Regiment, and the HQ and 21st Regiment of the 11th East African Division. A few security battalions had been raised among the locals, but that was it, with service troops in the two major ports, some AA guns and radar crews.
A squadron of Blenheim bombers arrived at Colombo from Greece, and was operating at the improved airfield at Ratmalana with a squadron of Fulmars. Two squadrons of Hurricanes came all the way from North Africa to China Bay at Trincomalee, where the racecourse had been converted to a makeshift airfield. At Trincomalee, or ‘Trinco’ as the British called it, the posh country club, became a headquarters; the tennis courts were used to grow vegetables, and the Cricket Fields and club became the domain of the R.A.F pilots. On the southern tip of the island, a small lake at Koggala was a perfect basing spot for Catalina search planes. Up on Adams Peak east of Colombo, one of the highest in the central island mountains, the British had deployed an air search radar set to sweep the seas in all directions around the island.
There, an imprint in a boulder was said to be the left footprint of the Buddha itself. The Hindus claimed it was the footprint of Lord Shiva, the Muslims that of Adam. Others said it was the tread of the god Saman, the deity of the rising sun, and so all these legends made the place a sacred site that drew many pilgrims in better times. Now it was the searching eye and ears of the Royal Navy, for this time, a different rising sun was coming to Ceylon with Admiral Hara’s 3rd Carrier Division.
As on Singapore, rumors of impending doom began to spread. The locals had all heard what happened in Hong Kong, of the Chinese massacred at Singapore and other tales of Japanese atrocities. Many were already heading for the highland, thinking it would be a sanctuary in the event the Japanese invaded. The exodus from the coastal areas was so pronounced, that the ship repair company at Colombo, which normally employed 3600 locals, suddenly found that only 76 showed up for work. Fear was a toxin that could spread faster than Malaria, but it may have been well justified.
The Japanese were coming, and with some of the very best troops in the army, the survivors of numerous campaigns in China, Malaya and the costly battle for Singapore. The 11th Regiment of the 5th Division was already boarding the transports at Singapore, and the clock was ticking.
Somerville was not enthusiastic about his chances. He knew that the Japanese were masters of naval air operations involving carriers, and that their planes were in many ways superior to those on his own ships. He had a small outpost at Port Blair on Andaman Island that he hoped to use as a trip wire to alert him to the Japanese attack when it came. When communications were suddenly lost with that outpost, he knew the storm was coming, and gave the order for his squadron to assemble in two flotillas, one fast and one slow.
The fleet footed carriers would be his sword, and the lumbering battleships his shield. He gave some thought to simply sending those battleships west out of harm’s way, to Addu, but discarded it thinking he would need every ship he could get his hands on. If Prince of Wales had met her fate off Malaya as it did in Fedorov’s history, he might have thought twice about sending his fleet out to face the Japanese naval aviators.
But that had never happened….
Chapter 5
That meeting with Yamamoto at Truk had occurred on the 30th of June, and Takami lingered there for several more weeks. Taiho was commissioned, but still cutting her teeth in the waters off the Philippines, working in the new equipment, pilots and planes During this period, Takami sortied once with Carrier Division 1 to help cover a supply run to Fiji. Fukada had hoped they might encounter the Americans, but that operation was unopposed. On the 15th of August, Admiral Hara informed Yamamoto that he was now prepared to head south to rendezvous with the remainder of his new 3rd Carrier Division and other fleet units.
Takami departed for Singapore, arriving there on September 15th after a stop at Davao. They tried to be discreet. Anchoring several kilometers off the island, but the local commander, the irascible General Nishimura, took a personal interest. He had a launch approach the ship, and a message was delivered, inviting the ship’s Captain and Executive Officer to dinner ashore in Singapore. To decline such an invitation would be a serious affront, and knowing that Yamamoto was relying on Nishimura to provide troops for the Ceylon Operation, Harada agreed.
“Sit down, gentlemen,” said Nishimura. “Please excuse the gloomy weather. Yet the cooler summer caused by all that ash and soot in the sky has at least given us some relief from the heat.”
“Thank you, General, you are most gracious.”
“I had hoped to see Admiral Hara at this dinner, but it seems he is still rounding up carriers and battleships. I understand that he will have our newest carrier, Taiho.”
“Yes sir. At least we were told that by Admiral Yamamoto.”
“You spoke with him personally?”
“He was kind enough to brief us and relay our orders.”
“I see… Tell me, Captain, is it true that the Siberians have invaded Karafuto?”
“Yes sir, they have.”
“Most astounding. I’m sure that will be on Yamashita’s plate soon. Let us hope he does a better job than he did during this campaign.”
“Taking all of Malaya in five weeks wasn’t good enough?” Harada smiled. There was something about this man that he did not like, but he kept those feelings as opaque as possible.
“Singapore is part of Malaya, is it not?” said Nishimura. “In fact, it was the only part that really mattered. I took that for the Empire after Yamashita failed. It was no surprise to me when he was relieved here, and I was given command in his place. Now the city is well in hand. I have rooted out most of the undesirables, particularly the Chinese, and things are running smoothly again.”
“Things seemed to be in order,” said Harada, his smile a bit thinner.