Amid an unprecedented global crisis, a British naval squadron sets out for the Indo-Pacific. Facing a rising Asian power, the force is designed to demonstrate Britain’s commitment to deterring aggression and upholding regional order. But British policymakers are fearful. In particular, they are unsure whether they will receive support from the world’s most powerful nation, the United States, if the status quo is challenged. A resurgence of American isolationism is fuelling concerns that it cannot be relied on in a crisis. If war erupts in Asia, will the US intervene or stand aloof? As tensions rise, there is a growing feeling among politicians, generals and the wider public that the world is on the brink.
This is not the background to the current operational deployment of the Royal Navy’s UK Carrier Strike Group 21 to the Indo-Pacific region. It is the state of the world 80 years ago, in the autumn of 1941, when Britain, seeking to deter a Japanese attack on its colonies and those of the allied Dutch East Indies, dispatched the battle cruiser Repulse and the battleship Prince of Wales on a fateful mission to east Asian waters.
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