The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
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Addu Atoll
(73.169E
0.695S) is located at the southern end
of the Maldives
and has a sizable
lagoon. The British
established a fleet anchorage
here and built an airstrip on
the island of Gan just before the Pacific
War
broke out. The fleet base, known as Base T, was kept secret
and the Japanese
apparently did not learned of its existence before late 1942.
Addu was the principal base from which the British Eastern Fleet operated during the Japanese raid into the Indian Ocean in April 1942. The base was well located to strike at the open flank of the Japanese carrier force as it advanced on Ceylon from the southeast, but the overwhelming superiority of the Japanese in the air kept the British at bay.
References
Bennighof (accessed 2001-11-2)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia (c) 2007 by Kent G. Budge. Index
