List of Eastern Fleet ships

The Eastern Fleet was a World War II formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formed from the ships and installations of the East Indies Station and the China Station (which are included in this list), with headquarters at Singapore, moving between Trincomalee and Kilindini after the Japanese advances in south east Asia made Singapore untenable as a naval base. See main article for details.

The following lists the warships and support ships of the Fleet, with dates served, fate and nationality.

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Howe	UK	August 9,1944 September 1945	November 1944 January 1946	Joined British Pacific Fleet Joined Home Fleet
Nelson	UK	July 1945	September 1945	Joined Home Fleet
Prince of Wales	UK	December 1941	10 December 1941	Sunk by air attack
Queen Elizabeth	UK	January 1944	July 1945	Reserve
Ramillies	UK	February 1942 October 1943	June 1942 December 1943	Damaged at Diego Suarez, repaired at Durban and Plymouth, then Home Fleet Joined Home Fleet
Resolution	UK	March 1942	September 1943	Reserve
Revenge	UK	August 1941	September 1943	Reserve
Richelieu	France	April 1944 March 1945	October 1944 May 1945	Toulon
Royal Sovereign	UK	October 1941 October 1943	January 1943 December 1943	Refit in USA Reserve and transfer to USSR
Valiant	UK	August 1942 January 1944	January 1943 August 8, 1944	Joined Mediterranean Fleet Repairs following damage in drydock collapse August 8, 1944 at Trincomalee
Warspite	UK	March 1942	March 1943	Joined Mediterranean Fleet

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Renown	UK	January 1944	March 1945	Joined Home Fleet
Repulse	UK	December 1941	10-December 1941	Sunk by air attack

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Eagle	UK	<September 1939 March 1941	May 1940 May 1941	Mediterranean Fleet South Atlantic and Africa Station
Formidable	UK	March 1942	August 1942	Operation Torch
Hermes	UK	<March 1942	9 April 1942	Sunk by Japanese air attack off Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Illustrious	UK	May 1942 January 1944	January 1943 November 1944	Joined Mediterranean Fleet Joined British Pacific Fleet
Indefatigable	UK	November 1944	November 1944	Joined British Pacific Fleet
Indomitable	UK	January 1942 July 1944	July 1942 November 1944	Joined Mediterranean Fleet Joined British Pacific Fleet
Saratoga	US	April 1944	May 1944	USA for refit
Unicorn	UK	January 1944	December 1944	Joined British Pacific Fleet. Usually used as an aircraft maintenance ship
Victorious	UK	July 1944	November 1944	Joined British Pacific Fleet

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Activity	UK	April 1945	September 1945	to UK into reserve
Ameer	UK	June 1944	October 1945	Returned to USN
Atheling	UK	May 1944	December 1944	Joined USN for operations SW Pacific
Attacker	UK	April 1945	September 1945	Returned to USN
Battler	UK	November 1943	December 1944	Joined Home Fleet
Begum	UK	April 1944 June 1945	January 1945 October 1945	Refit on Clyde Returned to USN
Emperor	UK	March 1945	November 1945	Returned to USN
Empress	UK	February 1945	November 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[1]
Hunter	UK	March 1945	October 1945	Returned to USN
Khedive	UK	February 1945	September 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[2]
Pursuer	UK	August 1945	November 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[3]
Searcher	UK	August 1945	August 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[4]
Shah	UK	April 1944	September 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[5]
Stalker	UK	March 1945	October 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[6]
Trouncer	UK	October 1945	October 1945	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[7]
Trumpeter	UK	July 1945	January 1946	Returned to UK for pay-off, then to USN^[8]

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Berwick	UK	July 1927	1936	Joined Mediterranean Fleet
Canberra	Australia	<May 1940	<December 1941	US Pacific Fleet (Task Force 17)
Cornwall	UK	December 1927 <September 1939 April 1941	<1938 December 1939 5 April 1942	UK for Refit South Atlantic and Africa Station Sunk by Japanese air attack^[9]
Cumberland	UK	December 1927 <1938 March 1944	1935 1938 November 1945	UK for reconstruction 2nd Cruiser Squadron Joined Home Fleet
Devonshire	UK	December 1941 April 1942	January 1942 March 1943	Refit at Norfolk Naval Shipyard Refit, then Home Fleet^[10]
Dorsetshire	UK	1937 November 1940 March 1942	October 1939 December 1940 5 April 1942	South Atlantic and Africa Station Atlantic Sunk by Japanese air attack
Effingham	UK	1925	<September 1932	Joined Home Fleet
Frobisher	UK	1926 March 1942	1926 March 1944	Joined Mediterranean Fleet Joined Home Fleet
Hawkins	UK	1919 December 1929 September 1932 < February 1941 May 1942	November 1928 May 1930 April 1935 > December 1941 February 1944	Refit in UK Reserve Reserve Refit at Portsmouth Joined Home Fleet for D-day
Kent	UK	June 1928 1938	1937 August 1940	Reconstruction Joined Mediterranean Fleet
London	UK	March 1944	June 1949	Paid off
Suffolk	UK	February 1928 April 1943	<October 1939 <March 1948	Joined Home Fleet Joined Home Fleet
Sussex	UK	>February 1943 July 1945	April 1944 >Sept 1945	to UK for refit April 1944 Rejoined Eastern Fleet July 1945

List of Eastern Fleet ships

Battleships

Battlecruisers

Fleet aircraft carriers

Escort aircraft carriers

Heavy cruisers

Light cruisers

Anti-aircraft cruisers

Armed merchant cruisers

Destroyers

Frigates

Corvettes

Minesweepers

Monitors

Oilers

Sloops

Submarines

Gunboats

Torpedo boats

Miscellaneous

Also to be classified

References

Wikiwand - on

Ship	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Aphis	UK	1927	<June 1942	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet
Cicala	UK	<September 1939	21 December 1941	Bombed and sunk (probably scuttled) near Hong Kong
Cockchafer	UK	<September 1926	<March 1943	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet^[11]
Cricket	UK	<1939	November 1940	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet^[12]
Dragonfly	UK	June 1939	14 February 1942	Sunk in Riau Archipelago
Falcon	UK	<September 1939	February 1942	Transferred to China; renamed Luan Huan
Gannet	UK	<September 1939	February 1942	Transferred to China; renamed Ying Shan ("British Mountain")
Gnat	UK	<September 1939	>December 1941	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet
Grasshopper	UK	<September 1939	14 February 1942	Beached after dive bombers hit her (wreck still there today) in Riau Archipelago
Ladybird	UK	1927	>December 1941	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet
Mantis	UK	1927	January 1940	Scrapped Shanghai
Moth	UK	<September 1939	12 December 1941	Sunk and refloated by Japanese; renamed Suma; mined and sunk 19 March 1945 near Nanking
Peterel	UK	<September 1939	8 December 1941	Sunk at Shanghai
Robin	UK	<September 1939	25 December 1941	Scuttled near Hong Kong
Sandpiper	UK	1933	February 1942	Transferred to China; renamed Ying Hao ("British Hero")
Scarab	UK	<September 1926	>December 1941	Transferred to Mediterranean Fleet
Scorpion	UK	1937	February 1942	Sunk near Singapore
Seamew	UK	1927	18 August 1947	Scrapped at Basra
Smilax	UK	>June 1943	October 1946	returned to USA
Tarantula	UK	<September 1939	1 May 1946	Sunk during target practice
Tern	UK	<September 1939	19 December 1941	Scuttled at Deep Water Bay

Ship	Type	Nationality	Date joined	Date left	Fate/ next assignment
Adamant	Submarine depot ship	UK	April 1943	April 1945	to British Pacific Fleet
Albatross	Seaplane tender	UK	May 1942	July 1943	UK for paying off & conversion to repair ship^[13]
Ausonia	Heavy Repair Ship	UK	>June 1944	June 1946	into reserve
Barlane	Boom defence vessel	UK
Barlight	Boom defence vessel	UK		19 December 1941	Scuttled Hong Kong to prevent capture by the Japanese: subsequently raised and commissioned on 20 September 1942 into the IJN as Netlayer 101. Netlayer 101 sunk 15 June 1944 off Saipan.
Barricade	Boom defence vessel	UK
Barrier	Boom defence vessel	UK
Forth	Submarine depot ship	UK
Maidstone	Submarine depot ship	UK	March 1944	April 1945	then to British Pacific Fleet
Medway	Submarine depot ship	UK	<September 1939	April 1940	Joined Mediterranean Fleet
Resource	Fleet repair ship	UK	1944	>August 1945
St Breock	Rescue tug	UK		4 February 1942	Bombed & sunk off Sumatra
St Just	Rescue tug	UK
Willem van der Zaan	Minelayer/Escort ship	Netherlands	March 1942	October 1944
Wolfe	Submarine depot ship	UK	August 1944	>August 1945
Woolwich	Destroyer Depot ship	UK	late 1943	>August 1945