Singapore as the fleet's entry point to the Far East

The interwar Singapore strategy used the base to assemble a fleet before advancing toward Japan. The likely route ran through the South China Sea to Hong Kong, followed probably by Weihaiwei as a forward base for a blockade. Admiral Herbert Richmond criticized the strategy as circular because Japan might refuse a fleet battle, but mines, submarines, and cruisers could attack its supply routes without first defeating the battle fleet. Several officers suspected an unstated institutional objection: the China Station commander, rather than Richmond as commander of the East Indies Station, would lead the operation, although Richmond never put that objection in writing. Japan's dependence on maritime transport made its supply routes more exposed than Germany's land connections. The British battle fleet would cover the blockade forces, while cruisers attacked escorts sent to protect Japanese shipping.