At the start of the war Eagle searched the Indian Ocean for German commerce raiders and protected Australian troop convoys. She normally operated with a cruiser and a destroyer close by, while other destroyers remained within rapid steaming distance, following Royal Navy doctrine for carrier escort. In March 1940 a 250-pound bomb exploded near the Nicobar Islands, killing fourteen, disabling generators, and sending flame up a bomb lift into the hangar. The resulting fire destroyed or damaged most of the air group, and saltwater used to suppress it also harmed inadequately protected Swordfish aircraft. Repairs at Singapore kept the ship out until May.
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Indian Ocean patrols and the March 1940 bomb accident
Eagle searched for German raiders and escorted troop convoys before an accidental bomb explosion killed fourteen and triggered a damaging hangar fire.