The nature of war would change dramatically for the Royal Navy in 1944. The surrender of Italy freed up much of the Mediterranean, while the remaining surface units of the Kriegsmarine were firmly bottled-up in their Baltic and Norwegian ports.

Great Britain could now begin to focus a meaningful force on what had been its third front – Southern Asia.

The first sign of what would become a major shift in surface forces was the arrival in Ceylon of HMS Illustrious on January 27, 1944, with HMS Unicorn, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant and Renown.

In March, the escort carriers HMS Begum and Shah joined Battler to assist in Indian Ocean convoy duties. HMS Atheling and Ameer would shortly follow.

Aboard HMS Illustrious were the first two FAA Corsair units to put to sea: 1830 and 1837 Squadrons. Both had only just finished training with the machine and had only just begun he process of working-up to operational status.

It was a timely arrival.

Admiralty intelligence initiated Operation SLEUTH on February 20. A possible German blockade runner was believed to be attempting to break out of the Far East on a dash back to Europe. HMS Illustrious, with HMNZS Gambia and destroyers Rotherham and Tjerke Hiddes (Dutch) in company, sailed from Trincomalee on February 22 to attempt an intercept. The force scoured the area south-west of Cocos Island. No trace was found of the supposed raider.

As the new elements of the British Eastern Fleet adapted to Trincomalee, the Japanese initiated a similar ‘pivot’. Five battleships and three fleet carriers moved into Singapore – fleeing the carnage that had been their forward base at Truk in the Caroline Islands.

Was this a sign of pending Japanese forays into the Indian Ocean? Could that mean the Japanese carriers observed to be assembling in and around Singapore - including the armoured Taiho - were about to sortie?

The fight against the Japanese was very different to which the RN was accustomed. Instead of quick offensive strikes under the umbrella of enemy air forces or the hard defensive slog of convoys through contested waters, the war in the Indian and Pacific Oceans was one involving great distances and sustained operations.

The ships – and in particular the carriers – of the fleet had to get up to speed quickly.

The United States was willing to help.