Operation Millet was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

naval operation in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the objective being the execution

naval bombardment Naval gunfire support (NGFS), also known as naval surface fire support (NSFS), or shore bombardment, is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of sever ...

and aerial strikes on

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese positions in the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

, on 17–20 October 1944,HMS VICTORIOUS (R38)
in order to distract Japanese forces from an American invasion of the Philippine province of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

. Ships involved included Aircraft carriers HMS ''Victorious'' and HMS ''Indomitable'';

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of att ...

HMS ''Renown''; and

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

HMS ''Phoebe''. Only negligible opposition was encountered until the morning of 19 October when, in an air battle, seven out of a force of twelve Japanese torpedo bombers were shot down for the loss of three of the British carrier aircraft. As a diversion the attacks had no effect, for the Japanese had already concentrated all their naval forces for the defence of the Philippine islands group.Operation Millet - Codenames : Operations of WW2
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullet, Operation World War II operations and battles of the Southeast Asia Theatre Naval aviation operations and battles Aerial operations and battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom