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Operation Outflank
Operation Outflank was the first combat operation of the British Pacific Fleet (BPF). It was a series of raids by the Fleet Air Arm on the oil refineries and storage facilities of the Empire of Japan on the island of Sumatra: * Operation Robson (20 December 1944) * Operation Lentil (4 January 1945) * Operation Meridian I (24 January 1945), II (29 January 1945) Units participating in Outflank received the "Palembang 1945" battle honour, after the main target of the attacks: the refineries at Palembang. References * Operation Outflank - Codenames : Operations of WW2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Outflank, Operation Indian Ocean operations of World War II Fleet Air Arm Outflank World War II aerial operations and battles of the Pacific theatre Outflank Outflank In military tactics, a flanking maneuver is a movement of an armed force around an enemy force's side, or flank, to achieve an advantageous position over it. Flanking is useful because a force's fighting strength is typically c ...
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British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships of the former Eastern Fleet then being re-named the East Indies Fleet and continuing to be based in Trincomalee. The British Pacific Fleet's main base was at Sydney, Australia, with a forward base at Manus Island in northern Papua New Guinea. One of the largest fleets ever assembled by the Royal Navy, by Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) it consisted of over two hundred ships and submarines and more than 750 aircraft; including four battleships and six fleet aircraft carriers, fifteen smaller aircraft carriers, eleven cruisers and numerous smaller warships, submarines, and support vessels. The fleet took part in the Battle of Okinawa and the final naval strikes on Japan. Background Following their retreat to the western side of the Indi ...
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Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wildcat and AW101 Merlin for commando and anti-submarine warfare and the BAE Hawk as an aggressor. The Fleet Air Arm today is a predominantly rotary force, with helicopters undertaking roles once performed by biplanes such as the Fairey Swordfish. The Fleet Air Arm was formed in 1924 as an organisational unit of the Royal Air Force, which was then operating the aircraft embarked on RN ships—the Royal Naval Air Service having been merged with the Army's Royal Flying Corps in 1918 to form the Royal Air Force—and did not come under the direct control of the Admiralty until mid-1939. During the Second World War, the Fleet Air Arm operated aircraft on ships as well as land-based aircraft that defended the Royal Navy's shore establishments a ...
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Empire Of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent formation of modern Japan. It encompassed the Japanese archipelago and several colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories. Under the slogans of and following the Boshin War and restoration of power to the Emperor from the Shogun, Japan underwent a period of industrialization and militarization, the Meiji Restoration, which is often regarded as the fastest modernisation of any country to date. All of these aspects contributed to Japan's emergence as a great power and the establishment of a colonial empire following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Boxer Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War, and World War I. Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s, including the Great Depression, led to the rise of militarism, nat ...
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Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago. Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula, which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa Archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of Sumatra is near the Andaman Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitun ...
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Operation Robson
Operation Robson (20 December 1944) was the first of a series of aerial operations, Operation Outflank, undertaken by the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) against the oil refineries of Japanese-occupied Sumatra during World War II. Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, proposed a strike on the refineries to Admiral Bruce Fraser, commander of the BPF, during a meeting in early December. The primary target of Operation Robson was the refinery at Pangkalan Brandan. It had been fired by fleeing American and Dutch personnel during the invasion of the Dutch East Indies in 1942, but the Japanese had repaired it by the year's end. Refined product was piped from there to the port of Pangkalan Susu eight miles away and to the more distant deep-water port of Belawan Deli, the secondary target. Pangkalan Soesoe had tanks capable of holding thirty million gallons. Order of battle The naval order of battle for the operation consisted of two forces: Force 67, the str ...
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Operation Lentil (Sumatra)
Operation Lentil (battle of the beans) was an air raid by British carrier-based aircraft on oil installations at Pangkalan Brandan, an important centre for Indonesian oil production on Sumatra on 4 January 1945. It was part of the larger Operation Outflank, and its aim was to disrupt fuel supplies to Japanese forces in the Pacific. Attacking force Three aircraft carriers, and , were escorted by four cruisers ( HMS ''Suffolk'', , and ) and eight destroyers, which included the 25th Flotilla ( (leader), , , ) and the 27th Flotilla ( (leader), , and ). In terms of aircraft numbers, it was the Royal Navy's heaviest assault on the Japanese to date, with the three carriers embarking a total of 88 fighter planes. Despite the lack of discipline from some of the fighter pilots, who abandoned their main mission of protecting the bombers to engage in dogfights with the enemy, the attack was pronounced a moderate success and gave way to follow-up attacks on Japanese oil production i ...
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Operation Meridian
During World War II, Operation Meridian was part of a series of British air attacks directed at Japanese-held oil refineries on Sumatra. Meridian had two phases: ''Meridian One'' on 24 January 1945 and ''Meridian Two'' on 29 January. As a result, the critical aviation fuel output of the plants at Palembang was reduced by seventy-five percent. The attacks The attacks were made by aircraft from the British Task Force 63, en route to Sydney, Australia, where it translated into the British Pacific Fleet and subsequently participated in the support of the Allied invasion of Okinawa (Operation Iceberg). Refuelling at sea was needed and this was supplied by Task Force 69 of the British Eastern Fleet, three escorted tankers. Task Force 63 left Trincomalee in Ceylon on 13 January 1945, for Sumatra. On 20 January, Task Force 63 rendezvoused with Task Force 69 and refuelled with great difficulty because of gusting winds and a troublesome swell. The oilers complained of much pumping ...
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Battle Honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military tradition, military units may be acknowledged for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. In Great Britain and those countries of the Commonwealth which share a common military legacy with the British, battle honours are awarded to selected military units as official acknowledgement for their achievements in specific wars or operations of a military campaign. These honours usually take the form of a place and a date (e.g. " Cambrai 1917"). Theatre honours, a type of recognition in the British tradition closely allied to battle honours, were introduced to honour units which provided sterling service in a campaign but were not part of specific battles for which separate battle honours were awarded. Theatre ...
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Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang is the second most populous city in Sumatra, after Medan, and the ninth most populous city in Indonesia. The Palembang metropolitan area has an estimated population of more than 3.5 million in 2015. It comprises parts of regencies surrounding the city, including Banyuasin, Ogan Ilir, and Ogan Komering Ilir. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Southeast Asia. It was the capital of Srivijaya, a Buddhist kingdom that ruled much of the western Indonesian Archipelago and controlled many maritime trade routes, including the Strait of Malacca. A Chinese monk, Yijing, wrote that he visited Srivijaya in the year 671 for 6 months. Palembang was incorporated into the Dutch East Indies in 1825 after the abolition of the Palembang S ...
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Indian Ocean Operations Of World War II
Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asian ethnic groups, referring to people of the Indian subcontinent, as well as the greater South Asia region prior to the 1947 partition of India * Anglo-Indians, people with mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in the Indian subcontinent * East Indians, a Christian community in India Europe * British Indians, British people of Indian origin The Americas * Indo-Canadians, Canadian people of Indian origin * Indian Americans, American people of Indian origin * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas and their descendants ** Plains Indians, the common name for the Native Americans who lived on the Great Plains of North America ** Native Americans in the ...
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World War II Operations And Battles Of The Southeast Asia Theatre
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In '' scientific cosmology'' the world or universe is commonly defined as " e totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". '' Theories of modality'', on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. ''Phenomenology'', starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In ''philosophy of mind'', the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. ''T ...
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World War II Aerial Operations And Battles Of The Pacific Theatre
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique while others talk of a "plurality of worlds". Some treat the world as one simple object while others analyze the world as a complex made up of many parts. In '' scientific cosmology'' the world or universe is commonly defined as " e totality of all space and time; all that is, has been, and will be". '' Theories of modality'', on the other hand, talk of possible worlds as complete and consistent ways how things could have been. ''Phenomenology'', starting from the horizon of co-given objects present in the periphery of every experience, defines the world as the biggest horizon or the "horizon of all horizons". In '' philosophy of mind'', the world is commonly contrasted with the mind as that which is represented by the mind. ' ...
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