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This is probably the least familiar Royal Navy campaign of the Second World War, mainly because the British contribution tends to get swallowed up in the much larger American effort. However the British Pacific Fleet was probably the most powerful British fleet of the Second World War, and played a part in the invasion of Okinawa and the naval attacks on the Japanese Home Islands in the summer of 1945.
Two factors made possible the creation of the powerful British Pacific Fleet. The first was the series of American victories that greatly eroded Japanese naval power and established the US Navy as the main power in the Pacific. Without these victories the Royal Navy would have stuggled to field a viable force against Japan. Second was the surrender of the Italian Navy and the virtual destruction of the German Navy’s surface fleet, which meant that the British Fleet Carriers and modern battleships were free to move east.
The first chapter makes it clear that after this one of the next problems that had to be overcome was the reluctance of the US Navy to allow the British into the Pacific theatre. Although Admiral King is often blamed for this, the Americans did have legitimate reasons for worry, most significantly a belief that the Royal Navy didn’t have the sort of logistical train required for operations in the Pacific. Somewhat ironically Churchull also became an obstacle to British action in the Pacific, as he preferred an attempt to reconquer the lost Empire in south-east Asia. As a result the British contribution to the fighting in the Pacific was delayed until the end of 1944 and 1945.
When we move on to looking at the actual fleet itself it becomes clear just how powerful it was. Earlier in the war the Royal Navy generally operated in fairly small detachments with commitments in Home Waters, the Atlantic, and bases at Gibralter and Alexandria. The biggest individual operations were probably the attempts to get supplies through to Malta, but these were fairly short. In contrast the BPF operated six fleet carriers, nine escort carriers, two maintenance carriers, four fast battleships as well as large numbers of cruisers, destroyers, submarines and other warships. Not all of these ships were used at the same time, with a maximum force of four fleet carriers and two fast battleships. Perhaps the biggest improvement in the Royal Navy by this period were its carrier aircraft. Early in the war the Fleet Air Arm had been almost crippled by the poor aircraft forced on it by a mix of RAF indifference during the period when it controlled naval aircraft and some poor design decisions. However by 1944-45 the majority of British carrier aircraft were American designs – Avengers, Corsairs and Hellcats. Amongst the remaining British aircraft the Supermarine Spitfire was still in use, and still suffered from short range and its narrow landing gear, but the Fairey Firefly was a good attack aircraft.
Key to the success of the BPF was it’s commander, Admiral Bruce Fraser’s insistance that it adopted American methods as much as possible. By 1944 the Americans had learnt from their early mistakes, and had developed an impressive set of carrier doctrines. This even went as far as modifying the British roundel to make it look more like the US one. We also see a great deal of effort going into setting up a fleet logistical train that resembled the American one.
The second half of the book looks at the fleet’s combat record. This started with a series of raids conducted from the Indian Ocean against oil targets in Sumatra, which were carried out in order to give the fleet some experience and allow it to enter combat before it was fully prepared for the Pacific. The first direct involvement in the Pacific came at Okinawa, where the BPF, as Task Force 57, protected the left flank of the US operation, targeting Japanese airbases in the Sakashima island chain. This was a useful role, which directly supported the main battle while allowing the British to operate semi-independently of the main US fleet. This saw the BPF involved in some hard fighting, especially during raids on Formosa, a key Japanese base at the time.
For the second and last major Pacific deployment the British were integrated directly in the main US fleet, a sign of how well they had performed during the fighting at Okinawa. This time the focus was on attacks on the Japanese Home Islands, including direct shore bombardments. This campaign saw the first time British carrier aircraft sank an enemy carrier, and the last time British battleship main guns were fired in anger.
Chapters
The Fleet’s Purpose
Fleet Fighting Power
How the Fleet Operated
Combat and Analysis
Author: Brian Lane Herder
Edition: Paperback
Pages: 80
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2023