What happens if France transfers the core of its navy to the Indian Ocean in 1940?
Short answerIt creates a much stronger eastern fleet and complicates Japanese expansion, while altering Force H and North African planning.
NotesSending the fleet through Suez would spare it from Mers-el-Kébir and create a large Anglo-French-Dutch concentration in the Indian Ocean. Dunkerque-class capital ships and even the limited carrier Béarn would give the eastern force weight it historically lacked. Japan would also face a defended French Indochina before it could establish the bases used to attack Malaya and Singapore. The move would not solve every Allied problem, but it would force Japan to fight through or politically neutralize several defended territories before beginning its historical southern advance.