At roughly sixteen knots, the Suez-Singapore passage took about two weeks, whereas Sydney required about twenty-five days and nearly 10,000 nautical miles. The route also left a long gap beyond the Dutch East Indies where fixed refueling points were unavailable. Britain would therefore need fast fleet oilers earlier and roughly four refuelings instead of the two required en route to Singapore. Moving a base changes the auxiliary fleet and fuel network before it changes battleship tactics.
Notable Point · 1:12:12-1:14:24
Why Sydney would require fast fleet oilers
The 9,644-nautical-mile route from Suez to Sydney creates gaps between fixed bases that must be bridged by more refueling stops and earlier at-sea logistics.