April 1942 Alternate Indian Ocean

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This is not going to relieve the Bengal Famine, which killed 3M people. The 30,000 tonnes or so of food that six freighters could carry would feed those people for at most 20 days.

Besides which, the Chittagong area contains less than 5% of the total population of Bengal (BanglaDesh + West Bengal).

Solve the whole thing no, relieve some of it yes. It’s also not the only thing going on and less pressure means less hoarding.
 
0800 Hours 10 November 1942, Truk Lagoon, Caroline Islands – The group of damaged ships to leave Truk departed for home waters during the morning of 10 November. The damaged battleship Haruna and the heavy cruiser Atago with an escort of destroyers cleared Truk’s lagoon and headed northwest at 14 knots. Providing distant cover were the carriers Ryuho and Junyo. Enough planes and pilots had been scraped up for each carrier to operate a useful complement of aircraft for task for air and anti-submarine defense. Some planes and pilots were left behind and were preparing to fly to Rabaul although Ozawa had managed to keep the most experienced surviving pilots with their carriers and they were coming back to Japan to help with reconstituting the Combined Fleet’s air groups.
 
1000 Hours, 10 November 1942, Diego Garcia, Indian Ocean – The 24-freighter strong Bengal bound convoy from Durban escorted by the cruisers HMS Frobisher and HMS Hawkins, the destroyers HMS Paladin, HMS Panther, and HMS Javelin, and the merchant cruiser HMS Corfu departed Diego Garcia after a brief stop for replenishment and repairs. There next stop was Colombo where a few of the freighters would discharge their cargo but most would continue on to India after picking up new escorts.
 
1800 Hours, 10 November 1942, Bombay, India – Another large British convoy was assembling, this one in Bombay and the escort swap outs and cargo transshipments that were standard practice in Allied ports around the world were taking place. The RFAs Brown Ranger, Eaglesdale, British Genius, British Sergeant, Athelstane, and Appleleaf and their escorts the destroyers HMS Duncan, Spetsai, and Kountouriotis, the sloop HMS Egret, and the corvettes HMS Erica and HMS Primula were in port for a brief stop after loading up in the Persian Gulf ports and they were joining up with 12 merchant ships, mostly empty hulls although a few were loading up with foodstuffs brought in from Punjab. The empty oil tanker Erling Brovig and six freighters had just arrived from Colombo with their escorts, the sloops HMS Falmouth and HMIS Jumna, the destroyer USS John D. Edwards and the gunboat USS Tulsa.

The RFAs and the 12 waiting merchant ships were sailing for Colombo early the next morning where they would then proceed to separate destinations. There escort was comprised of the destroyers HMS Duncan, USS John D. Edwards, Spetsai, and Kountouriotis, the sloop HMS Egret, the gunboat USS Tulsa, and the old cruiser HMNLS Sumatra that had just wrapped up repairs in Bombay. The Erling Brovig and two freighters were continuing to the Persian Gulf escorted by the sloops HMS Falmouth and HMIS Jumna while the corvettes HMS Erica and HMS Primula were taking four freighters to Aden and then on to Port Sudan.

Most of the merchant ships headed for Colombo would join more empty freighters there as part of a convoy bound for Fremantle. Vice Admiral Layton in Colombo was grabbing every hull he could using both fair means and foul to load up with Australian wheat flour to help alleviate the suffering in Bengal. Field Marshal Wavell in India was doing his best to head off a humanitarian disaster in Bengal and while he was under no illusions that his efforts would completely succeed he hoped he could at least keep a bad situation from getting worse. While his operational commanders prepared for the upcoming offensives in the Arakan and near Imphal, Wavell worked with other commanders throughout the theater of operations to bring additional food deliveries to Bengal while he was also negotiating with provincial officials in areas such as Punjab and Madras to reverse there “no food export” policies. So far, his efforts had met with some success and when combined with the local efforts of generals such as Giffard and Slim, he was cautiously optimistic that they were getting a handle on the situation.
 
WRT Bengal Famine relief, a lot of what happened OTL is just happening early. OTL, Wavell did direct the Army in 1943 to distribute supplies to the stricken areas, ITTL it is happening earlier because he was made Viceroy earlier. Punjab and Madras did have no food export policies and another change ITTL is that Slim put a stop to scorched earth policies in April and May of 1942 meaning the fishing fleets and farms in the area are in better shape.

A couple of other changes are still forthcoming.
 
0800 Hours, 11 November 1942, Norfolk, Virginia – It had taken six weeks of hard labor to repair battle damage from OPERATION PODIUM and make the necessary upgrades but the work was done and HMS Illustrious was returning to the war. For the second time in the war, the aircraft carrier departed the repair facilities of Norfolk, Virginia, this time accompanied by the new battleship USS Alabama, the light cruisers USS Cincinnati and USS Milwaukee, the gunboat USS Erie, and six destroyers. As soon as she was clear of the southern end of the Chesapeake Bay and in open ocean, flight operations commenced. Illustrious’ air group had been training hard with the escort carrier USS Avenger and the 54 factory fresh aircraft – 36 Grumman Martlets and 18 TBF Avengers (Tarpons in the Royal Navy) recovered aboard their parent carrier without incident. During their flight out to their ship, the FAA pilots caught a glimpse of the future when they overflew the new aircraft carrier USS Essex underway conducting sea trials.

As soon as the planes were onboard, the task force turned south for the Panama Canal. HMS Illustrious was headed for the South Pacific to replace USS Yorktown so she could return to the United States for a much-needed refit. USS Alabama was using the voyage south as her post commissioning shake down cruise and after seeing Illustrious to the canal, she would then head north for Casco Bay, Maine and then to Scapa Flow for duty with the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet.
 
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0900 Hours, 11 November 1942, Suva, Fiji Islands – The escort carriers USS Nassau and USS Altamaha, the battleships USS Maryland and USS Colorado, the heavy cruisers USS New Orleans and USS Minneapolis, 12 destroyers, and the convoy of freighters they were escorting were in the Fiji Islands replenishing and some of the freighters were unloading stores while the escort carriers offloaded a few aircraft for the garrison. Their next stop was New Caledonia in preparation for running a large supply convoy to Guadalcanal.
 
0900 Hours, 11 November 1942, Suva, Fiji Islands – The escort carriers USS Nassau and USS Altamaha, the battleships USS Maryland and USS Colorado, the heavy cruisers USS New Orleans and USS Minneapolis, 12 destroyers, and the convoy of freighters they were escorting were in the Fiji Islands replenishing and some of the freighters were unloading stores while the escort carriers offloaded a few aircraft for the garrison. Their next stop was New Caledonia in preparation for running a large supply convoy to Guadalcanal.

Question @Zheng He who would be in command of this task force because it is a task force and a rear admiral is in charge.
 
As soon as the planes were onboard, the task force turned south for the Panama Canal. HMS Illustrious was headed for the South Pacific to replace USS Yorktown so she could return to the United States for a much-needed refit. USS Alabama was using the voyage south as her post commissioning shake down cruise and after seeing Illustrious to the canal, she would then head north for Casco Bay, Maine and then to Scapa Flow for duty with the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet.

butterflies all over the place, much better Allied cooperation in the Pacific...will there be a FAA pilot or two who will end up with the Cactus Air Force for a bit?
 
1200 Hours, 11 November 1942, Colombo Harbor, Ceylon –The heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire, the minelayers HMS Manxman and HNLMS Willen van der Zaan, the sloop HMS Shoreham and the Free French aviso Savorgnan de Brazza arrived with the convoy of 20 freighters from Fremantle they had picked up at Port C. A few of the freighters began unloading stores and supplies but most were bound for Chittagong and Akyab once additional escorts arrived the next morning.

At Exmouth Gulf the merchant cruiser HMS Alaunia departed for Darwin after unloading supplies and dropping off the damaged merchant ship SS Ryder West to be used as a barracks ship. Alaunia had also dropped off a company’s worth of construction troops and a few civilian engineers to assist with expanding the facilities at Exmouth Gulf.
 
1400 Hours, 11 November, Darwin, Australia – The destroyer transports USS Talbot and USS McKean arrived from Efate after a high-speed run across Australia’s north coast through the Arafura Sea. Their extra carrying capacity was needed for the upcoming evacuation of the troops of Lancer Force and Tern Force from Timor.

On the opposite end of Australia, the damaged heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall arrived in Sydney and tied up to the pier. Repairs began almost immediately although she would have to wait in line behind several other damaged ships for a drydocking assignment.
 
0800 Hours, 11 November 1942, Norfolk, Virginia – It had taken six weeks of hard labor to repair battle damage from OPERATION PODIUM and make the necessary upgrades but the work was done and HMS Illustrious was returning to the war.

Is there an Operation Torch in TTL?
 
1800 Hours, 11 November 1942, Hashirajima Anchorage, Japan – The damaged carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, the damaged battleships Kongo and Hiei, and the damaged heavy cruiser Tone and their escorting destroyers arrived safely in Japan having managed to avoid interception by American submarines. All of the valuable ships needed extensive time in the repair yard.
 
1800 Hours, 11 November 1942, Hashirajima Anchorage, Japan – The damaged carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, the damaged battleships Kongo and Hiei, and the damaged heavy cruiser Tone and their escorting destroyers arrived safely in Japan having managed to avoid interception by American submarines. All of the valuable ships needed extensive time in the repair yard.
Pity, but it would maybe be too much luck for one to be hit by a working US torpedo.
 
0800 Hours, 12 November 1942, Headquarters First Southern Area Expeditionary Fleet, Batavia, Java – The Japanese knew the Allies were up to something, there was simply no way the British could conceal the sheer number of ships moving in the Bay of Bengal and troop movements in the Arakan. A combination of submarines, reconnaissance aircraft, traffic analysis, and a few sympathetic observers on the ground confirmed as much. The problem for Vice Admiral Ozawa’s replacement, Vice Admiral Okawachi was what was the enemy planning to do? Concerns that the Eastern Fleet would attempt an amphibious operation to recapture Port Blair were always near the top of the list and Okawachi was hoping the IJA would agree to send the 65th Infantry Brigade from Timor to Port Blair to bolster the bastion’s defenses. However, his orders were to transport the 65th Brigade to Burma with a departure date from Dili for the unit set for 30 November. The IJA had made it clear that defending that Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the IJN’s responsibility and that the 65th was needed in Burma as reinforcements for the 15th Army’s upcoming January offensive. Prior to executing that mission Okawachi was sending a supply convoy to his perimeter bases at Port Blair, Sabang, and Car Nicobar which was due to depart in two days.

On the good news front Okawachi did get his boss Vice Admiral Takahashi in Surabaya to agree to pull the elite 3rd Yokosuka SNLF from Timor to reinforce Port Blair and they would depart the island on the same convoy as the 65th Infantry Brigade. Both men had the backing of the Imperial Navy Staff and the Combined Fleet. If the IJA was not going to cooperate with them, well they could play American baseball the hard-nosed way as well.
 
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