How to successfully evacuate Singapore, Jan 1942?

I see this as a two stage operation starting early in January. Stage one is to evacuate all but the most essential rear area troops to Java for transport to which ever final destination is chosen, probably India. Stage two is the difficult one, pull back the fighting troops to a defensive line protecting the Jahore causeway. This line must be short enough to allow the rearguard to hold out while the bulk of the fighting forces are evacuated. For political reasons the rearguard will have to be British troops padded out with volunteers from the Australian and Indian forces (if any). In the unlikely event of it being possible any attempt to evacuate some of the rearguard will have to be done at night.

For God's sake get the nurses out early.
 
The rearguard would have to consist of least five-hundred to one thousand troops. That number could be taken off by destroyers at last minute.

Here are British/CW destroyers crowded with men. Yes, drinking water will be tight, but the run to Java or Burma could have been made in similar fashion.

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We have to remember that by early January both HMS Hermes and more importantly HMS Indomitable were now at Ceylon. Per Wikipedia...

The following month, in January 1942, Indomitable joined the Eastern Fleet based at Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. At the end of January, she ferried 48 Royal Air Force Hawker Hurricanes to airfields in Sumatra in the Dutch East Indies, to reinforce the air defenses of Singapore, but a large proportion of the Hurricanes were destroyed on the ground by Japanese air raids. The British commanders in Singapore surrendered to the Japanese on 15 February.

So, Indomitable can ferry those Hurricanes to Sumatra to cover the evacuation. Meanwhile, HMS Hermes carries 12-18 folding Martlets (delivered to FAA in early summer 1941) on deck to replenish Indomitable (the Hurricanes likely took a lot of space), as Hermes' hangar has been stripped of aircraft and used to transport the evacuees from Sumatra to either India/Ceylon or Australia. For example, here's USS Enterprise (CV-6) and CVE-98 during Operation Magic Carpet converted to troop transports.

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In Hermes case I would add multiple levels to hold more troops, like done with IJNS Hosho. With Hermes should it would be out of wood.

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