Late-1930s British planning still treated Japan as the most immediate naval danger in the Far East. The January 1939 confrontation over the British-flagged SS Vincent de Paul made that danger tangible: a Royal Navy cruiser and sloop recovered the vessel while facing Japanese guns. The expected war plan concentrated the fleet at Singapore, then retook Hong Kong and positions such as Weihaiwei and Tsingtao before moving up the Chinese coast toward Japan. British auxiliaries, bases, and merchant shipping were organised around that long imperial route. German naval rearmament made it harder to release the main fleet from home waters.
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Britain's Far East logistics plan meets a changing threat
A 1939 confrontation with Japan and the planned advance from Singapore show how Far East strategy shaped Britain's logistics network.