The planned route let the Mediterranean Fleet move through the Red Sea and Indian Ocean without slowing to tanker speed or broadcasting its progress. Tankers and mobile defence units would prepare the stops in advance. Fixed rendezvous points also reduced radio traffic, drawing on the Royal Navy's First World War experience of using enemy transmissions for tracking. The bases served deterrence and rapid reinforcement rather than an attempt to conduct the war from the Indian Ocean.
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Secret bases enabled a quiet fleet move
Cameron Bay, Addu Atoll, and the Nicobars were intended as discreet refuelling points for rapidly reinforcing Singapore, not as battlefleet bases.