If Indomitable's survival helps hold Malaya, Allied success is likely to attract Formidable, Warspite, an American carrier, Dutch ships, and Australian forces. Japan would then need Operation C to neutralize a real fleet rather than raid an exposed ocean. Phillips's destroyer background and Royal Navy practice point toward a night strike, supported by air-to-surface-vessel radar and shadowing through darkness. Fighting nearer Southeast Asia would also expose the Japanese carriers to land-based aviation from several directions rather than the open spaces of the Indian Ocean. The result is a compelled fleet battle whose location and reconnaissance problem differ sharply from the historical raid.
Chapter · 1:09:07-1:11:16
Operation C could become a major Allied-Japanese carrier battle
A reinforced Singapore fleet could force Japan's Indian Ocean operation into a contested carrier action in the South China Sea or Java Sea.