Force B

Force B was the name of several British Royal Navy task forces during the Second World War.

Mediterranean
Force B was first formed by the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1940. Comprising the battleship HMS Warspite (03) and five destroyers, it saw action at the Battle of Calabria under the command of Vice Admiral Andrew Cunningham.

In November 1940, it was involved in Operation MB8, a complicated operation involving several forces with different but co-ordinated aims. During this period Force B comprised the cruisers HMS Ajax (22) and HMAS Sydney (D48) and delivered reinforcements to Crete. The force sailed on 4 November with Convoy AN 6 en route to Greece, departing that evening to Crete, then heading north to join Force C (the cruiser HMS Orion (85)) at Pireaus. From there the combined force under the command of Vice Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell moved east into the Straits of Otranto to divert the Italian Fleet whilst the balance of the British forces attacked the port of Taranto in the Battle of Taranto (Operation Judgement). Whilst in the straits, the cruisers fought the Action in the Strait of Otranto after they intercepted an Italian convoy of four ships then sank them.

In March 1941, again under Pridham-Whippell, Ajax and the cruisers Orion, HMS Gloucester (62) and HMAS Perth (D29) formed Force B in an operation to bring the Italian fleet to battle, resulting in the Battle of Cape Matapan. In June, Force B was re-formed to assist Allied forces in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign with Ajax, Phoebe and four destroyers. During this period, ships of the force were engaged by Vichy submarine Caiman, which was damaged in a two-hour hunt and the destroyers Guepard and Valmy, which left the destroyer Janus badly damaged.

In November, Force B (Rear Admiral Bernard Rawlings), comprising Ajax, HMS Neptune (20) and two destroyers, HMS Kandahar (F28) and HMS Jaguar (F34) was moved to Malta to reinforce the ships of Force K and to carry out offensive sweeps against Axis supply ships en route to Libya. On 19 December, after taking part in conveying a supply ship into Malta in Operation MD 8, which had led to the First Battle of Sirte, Force B was deployed to find the Italian convoy encountered in that engagement but fell foul of a minefield off Tripoli, resulting in the loss of Neptune and Kandahar and damage to two other ships. After this, forces B and K were withdrawn from Malta.

Indian Ocean
With the outbreak of war in the Pacific and the advance of the Japanese on Malaya and the Dutch East Indies, British naval forces in the Far east were forced to retreat, first to Java, then to Trincomalee in Ceylon. In March 1942, Admiral James Somerville took command of a force of 29 warships, many approaching obsolescence. To remedy this deficiency he divided his ships into fast and slow divisions, Force A and Force B respectively. This Force B comprised four First World War-vintage Revenge class battleships, the light carrier HMS Hermes (95), the cruisers HMS Caledon (D53) and HMS Dragon (D46) and destroyers HMS Decoy (H75), HMS Fortune (H70), HMS Griffin (H31) and HMS Scout (H51). The ships were joined by Dutch cruiser HNLMS Jacob van Heemskerck (1939) and destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers (1940) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyers HMAS Norman (G49) and HMAS Vampire (D68). This force came under the command of Rear Admiral Algernon Willis.

This force came under attack during the Japanese Indian Ocean raid and on 9 April Hermes and Vampire were sunk by aircraft from the |Japanese carrier strike force Kido Butai. After this Force B was withdrawn to Kilindini, in British East Africa, where it was based until the RN could recoup its position in the theatre. Force B's only major action, apart from escort duty was to support Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Vichy-held Madagascar, in May 1942, during which HMS Ramillies (07) was attacked and damaged by Japanese midget submarines in Diego Suarez harbour.