Easter Sunday Raid

Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon

British heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged, off Ceylon, on 5 April 1942

British heavy cruisers HMS Dorsetshire and Cornwall under Japanese air attack and heavily damaged off the southwest of Ceylon, on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942

Date	5 and 9 April 1942
Location	Indian Ocean and Ceylon
Result	Japanese tactical victory: one British aircraft carrier, two heavy cruisers, one auxiliary cruiser, two destroyers and one corvette lost.

The Easter Sunday Raid (or Battle of Ceylon) was an air attack by carrier-based aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy against Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), on Easter Sunday, 5 April 1942, during World War II. This attack was part of the Indian Ocean Raid, and was followed a few days later by a similar attack on Trincomalee. The targets were British warships, harbour installations, and air bases; the object was to disrupt the war effort of British Commonwealth nations and force the British Eastern Fleet to leave Asian waters.

The British had been in occupation of the coastal areas of Ceylon since 1796, but the colony had not had a regular garrison of British troops since 1917. The Ceylon Defence Force and Ceylon Navy Volunteer Reserve were mobilized and expanded. The Royal Navy maintained naval installations in Trincomalee and the Royal Air Force (RAF) had established an aerodrome in China Bay, Trincomalee, long before the war.

With Japan's entry into the war, and especially after the fall of Singapore, Ceylon became a front-line British base. The Royal Navy's East Indies Station was moved to Colombo and then to Trincomalee. Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton was appointed commander-in-chief, Ceylon, with Air Vice Marshal John D'Albiac as air officer commanding and Admiral Sir James Somerville appointed commander of the British Eastern Fleet.

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Wikipedia