Using Town-class cruisers as a paired commerce-raiding force

A pair such as Belfast and Edinburgh would be most consequential in the Pacific, where fleet oilers, scouting aircraft and British regional bases could sustain a hard-to-catch raiding force.

Question

How effective would a pair of Second World War Royal Navy cruisers be as commerce raiders?

Short answer

Belfast and Edinburgh could be dangerous Pacific raiders if supplied by Singapore and fleet oilers, especially because their paired aircraft and maintenance capacity would make them difficult to hunt down.

Notes

The Atlantic and Indian Oceans offer little challenge for British cruisers because friendly control and infrastructure dominate those routes. The Pacific creates the more revealing test. Operating from Singapore and supported by fast fleet oilers, Belfast and Edinburgh could range beyond the South China Sea toward central Pacific trade. Four serviceable aircraft plus spares would give the pair better scouting resilience than a lone German raider such as Admiral Graf Spee. Japan would then have to divert substantial forces to find two fast, well-supported cruisers rather than one isolated ship.