Eastern Fleet

The British Eastern Fleet (also known as the East Indies Fleet and the Far East Fleet) was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971. In 1904 First Sea Lord Sir John Fisher ordered that in the event of war the three main commands in the Far East, the East Indies Squadron, the China Squadron and the Australian Squadron, should all come under one command called the Eastern Fleet based in Singapore. The Commander-in-Chief on the China Station would then take command. During World War I the squadrons remained distinct commands and Eastern Fleet was used only as a general term. The three squadron structure continued until World War II and the beginning of hostilities with the Empire of Japan, when the Eastern Fleet was formally constituted on 8 December 1941, amalgamating the East Indies Squadron and the China Squadron. During the war, it included many ships and personnel from other navies, including the Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal Australian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy and the United States Navy. With the creation of the British Pacific Fleet in 1944/1945, the Eastern Fleet became the East Indies Fleet until the end of the war, when it became the Far East Fleet and operated in all Far East areas including parts of the Pacific Ocean.