Singapore as a hub, not the fleet's final fighting base

The intended Royal Navy operation was not simply to sit at Singapore or Hong Kong waiting for Japan. The fleet expected to advance through the South China Sea while facing cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, with Weihaiwei, Qingdao, and other possible objectives shaping the campaign. Its likely operating area was the China Station and western Pacific rather than the full trans-Pacific approach faced by the United States Navy. Britain also had to protect home waters, Atlantic and Mediterranean routes, India, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and other imperial commitments, so it could not organize the whole fleet around one ocean.