The Battle for Ceylon

https://www.armouredcarriers.com/battle-for-ceylon-hms-indomitable-formidable



Just two months before the decisive battle of Midway, the Indian Ocean was the scene of a face-down between the fleets of Britain and Japan. Their carrier forces came within just 100 miles - and a reciprocal bearing - of a clash that could have changed the course of the war.



The most dangerous moment of the war, and the one which caused me the greatest alarm, was when the Japanese fleet was heading for Ceylon and the naval base there. The capture of Ceylon, the consequent control of the Indian Ocean, and the possibility at the same time of a German conquest of Egypt would have closed the ring and the future would have been black.— Prime Minister Winston Churchill