Fro this youtube video:
Both the cargo ship MS Sea Witch and the USS Langley were transporting P-40's fighters to Ceylon before the US command requested all fighters possible to be send to Java - in the end, both Langley and the oiler USS Peco were lost, while, ironically, all fighters that Sea Witch delivered were destroyed shortly after to prevent them for falling to Japanese hands.
So, maybe realizing that Java would fall regardless, the US command didn't request the extra fighters, and all would be delivered to Ceylon. And now, the Japanese raid on the island now faces what might be the equivalent to an US fighter group of P-40E's defending the area - what could be the small consequences. Could they save the heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall and the carrier Hermes? Or nothing would change and Somerville would still send its fleet to East Africa?
And as a small sidenote: what would be the role of USS Langley from maybe the events of Midway forward?
Both the cargo ship MS Sea Witch and the USS Langley were transporting P-40's fighters to Ceylon before the US command requested all fighters possible to be send to Java - in the end, both Langley and the oiler USS Peco were lost, while, ironically, all fighters that Sea Witch delivered were destroyed shortly after to prevent them for falling to Japanese hands.
So, maybe realizing that Java would fall regardless, the US command didn't request the extra fighters, and all would be delivered to Ceylon. And now, the Japanese raid on the island now faces what might be the equivalent to an US fighter group of P-40E's defending the area - what could be the small consequences. Could they save the heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall and the carrier Hermes? Or nothing would change and Somerville would still send its fleet to East Africa?
And as a small sidenote: what would be the role of USS Langley from maybe the events of Midway forward?