The Royal Navy contribution included 3 Commando Brigade, Daring-class destroyers, eight Battle-class destroyers, four cruisers, HMS Manxman, and the carriers Albion, Bulwark, Eagle, Ocean, and Theseus. The British force is put at 110 ships, including auxiliaries and requisitioned merchant vessels. American exchange officers at Portsmouth, Plymouth, British airfields, and French bases had opportunities to observe the preparations. The size and visibility of the mobilisation underpin the argument that Washington could not have been unaware of it. The operation depended on amphibious troops, naval aircraft, escorts, and merchant shipping working together.
Notable Point · 27:49-28:56
The scale of the Anglo-French task force
The force assembled for Suez combined commandos, destroyers, cruisers, carriers, aircraft squadrons, auxiliaries, and requisitioned merchant shipping on a scale the United States could not miss.