page_title: James Somerville
section_title: Indian Ocean, 1942–1944
hierarchical_section_title: James Somerville / Naval career / Indian Ocean, 1942–1944
caption_attribution_description: English: Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville with Captain G.N. Oliver on board H.M.S. Warspite. This photograph was taken after Admiral Somerville had left force H to take command of the Eastern Fleet.
context_page_description: Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, GCB, GBE, DSO, DL was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval support for the Gallipoli Campaign. He also served in the Second World War as commander of the newly formed Force H: after the French armistice with Germany, Winston Churchill gave Somerville and Force H the task of neutralizing the main element of the French battle fleet, then at Mers El Kébir in Algeria. After he had destroyed the French Battle fleet, Somerville played an important role in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck.
  Somerville later became Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet. In April 1942 Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's powerful Indian Ocean raid inflicted heavy losses on his fleet. However, in spring 1944, with reinforcements, Somerville was able to go on the offensive in a series of aggressive air strikes in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies. He spent the remainder of the war in charge of the British naval delegation in Washington, D.C.
context_section_description: Somerville became Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet with his flag in the battleship HMS Warspite in March 1942 and was promoted to full admiral on 6 April 1942. Following the fall of Singapore, Somerville transferred his fleet headquarters from Trincomalee in Ceylon to Kilindini in Kenya. In April 1942 Admiral Chūichi Nagumo's powerful 1st Air Fleet (Kidō Butai) centered around five fleet carriers launched the Indian Ocean raid that inflicted heavy losses on Somerville's fleet including a light aircraft carrier, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, one corvette, five other vessels, and 45 aircraft. The damage inflicted upon Royal Navy and allied Commonwealth forces in the Indian Ocean was nonetheless minimized, being forewarned by intelligence so their heavy units sailed from their bases prior to the Japanese air attacks. Somerville avoided a direct confrontation with the Imperial Japanese Navy, preserving the Eastern Fleet's two fleet carriers and one fast battleship.
  In Spring 1944, with reinforcements, Somerville was able to go on the offensive in a series of aggressive air strikes in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies: these included attacks on Sabang in April and May 1944 and on Surabaya in May 1944. He was also advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 22 August 1944.
caption: Somerville as Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet with Captain G.N. Oliver on board HMS Warspite
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