Alexander Duff, Arthur Leveson, and Reginald Henderson were unusually capable officers sent to a strategically demanding station. Henderson arrived in the new cruiser HMS Hawkins after Admiralty work that included convoy planning. Their March 1921 higher-command conference judged Singapore the only suitable headquarters and main fleet base for a Pacific war. That conclusion joined local China Station experience to an empire-wide basing strategy. It also explains why the later loss of Singapore was more than a local defeat: the chosen hub for concentrating and supporting a Pacific fleet had fallen.
Chapter · 37:17-40:14
China Station commanders and the Singapore strategy
Senior China Station officers linked local command, HMS Hawkins, and the 1921 decision that Singapore must become the principal Pacific fleet base.