The British Pacific Fleet 1944-1945 Quiz

Answer: November, 1944

British Admiral Bruce Fraser officially founded the British East Indies Fleet, later to be renamed the British Pacific Fleet, in November, 1944, at Trincomalee, Ceylon. For political reasons, certain elements of the British government and military felt that the British should be the ones to liberate their Asian colonies, not the Americans, so it was decided to send a naval fleet back to the Pacific.

Headquarters was moved to Sydney, Australia, in December, 1944, with a forward base at Manus Island off Papua New Guinea.

Answer: Six fleet carriers & five battleships

The main striking force were the four "Illustrious" class carriers, "Illustrious", "Formidable", "Indomitable", and "Victorious", and the two "Indefatigable" class carriers "Indefatigable" and "Implacable". The planes carried by the carriers provided the main strike force of the fleet.

The battleships "Howe", "King George V", "Duke of York", "Anson", and "Nelson", which provided anti aircraft protection, shore bombardment, and surface warfare capability, all served in the Fleet.

Answer: Fifteen

There were six light carriers in the force, "Colossus", "Venerable", "Vengeance", "Glory", "Pioneer", and "Unicorn", as well as fifteen small escort carriers. While the fleet carriers usually operated anywhere from 50-80 aircraft, a British light carrier was only one-half to two-thirds the size of the fleet carrier, and usually operated an air group of 25-40 planes. Escort carriers were small, slow vessels, usually used to protect convoys and support amphibious landings.

They normally carried some 15-20 planes.

Answer: They were designed as maintenance ships

The "Unicorn" was designed and built as an aircraft maintenance carrier, carrying replacement aircraft and expanded repair facilities. "Pioneer" was a "Colossus" class light carrier that was modified while under construction. Both units could also conduct flight operations, but since they were designed as support units, they usually carried only some 20 aircraft instead of the normal complement of the 30-40 planes carried by other light carriers.

Answer: Five

The Commonwealth countries of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada all contributed combat vessels to the fleet, while some of the support and replenishment ships were crewed by sailors from South Africa and the United States.

Answer: Sumatra

In January, 1945, units of the British Pacific Fleet attacked Japanese oil production facilities near Palembang on the island of Sumatra. The raids were successful in cutting off fuel supplies to Japanese naval forces.

Answer: Size, aircraft capacity, armored flight decks

British aircraft carriers of World War II were, on the whole, smaller than their American counterparts and carried fewer aircraft. Their speed and anti-aircraft armament was comparable to American ships. The main difference was that British carriers had armored flight decks, which enabled them to withstand bomb damage and Japanese "Kamikaze" attacks much better than the unarmored decks of American ships.

Answer: Vought F4U "Corsair"

While the British produced two fine carrier based fighter planes during the war, the Supermarine "Seafire", a naval variant of the "Spitfire", and the Fairey "Firefly", production of these planes were limited. It was decided to use more American designed aircraft in the Pacific, as there were more available, and spare parts and maintenance would be easier.

The Vought F4U "Corsair", first introduced in 1942, was one of the best American carrier based fighters of the war. Armed with six .50 caliber machine guns and capable of almost 400 mph, the "Corsair" was superior to any Japanese carrier based fighter. Over 2,000 units were supplied to the Royal Navy.

Answer: Task Force 57 and Task Force 37

On 15 March, 1945, the British Pacific Fleet joined American Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet as Task Force 57. The British helped cover the Okinawa invasion by neutralizing Japanese air power in the Sakishima Islands. On 27 May, 1945, the fleet became part of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet, with a designation of Task Force 37.

The force spent the remainder of the war in operations against the Japanese Home Islands and participated in the surrender on September 2, 1945.

Answer: Admiral Henry Rawlings

Admiral Fraser founded the British Pacific Fleet in November, 1944 in Ceylon. Fraser maintained his headquarters in Sydney, Australia, leaving actual sea operations to Admiral Henry Rawlings. Rawlings commanded the fleet at sea from its inception until after the surrender of Japan in September, 1945. Rawlings retired in 1946.