The Indian Ocean is treated as a comparatively safe rear area in 1940. Surface raiders remain possible, but the immediate enemy fleets are in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic. Allied ships are more useful fighting there or deterring Japan in the South and East China Seas than concentrating in the Bay of Bengal. This allocation reflects the immediate threats rather than a claim that the Indian Ocean could never become contested.
Notable Point · 1:40:43-1:41:21
The Indian Ocean remains a lower priority in 1940
Allied ships remain concentrated against the immediate European threats and near Japan instead of being dispersed into a still comparatively safe Indian Ocean.