Empty Indian Ocean not so empty

[BasilY]

I just started a new career in 1944 in Penang. I am ordered to patrol the East African coast. The patrol is largely uneventful, but I did encounter and sunk 4 ships off the Somalian Coast. Then I venture into the gulf of Aden a little bit and saw zero traffic or any encounter any air patrols. Suddenly, I remember I forgot to enable Indian Ocean Mod campaign using the JSGME tool.

That shall explain the largely empty ocean. But what about the ships I did encountered? was this place supposed to be completely empty? On the upside, this scarcity of traffic is probably historically accurate.

GWX3.0. 100%

[Torplexed]

It shouldn't be entirely empty. The vast majority of the Allied tanks and supplies for the war in North Africa were routed around the Cape of Good Hope up to the Red Sea and into Egypt. Australia, New Zealand and India also figure big in the traffic pattern as they supplied a lot of the troops for the fighting there and later in Italy. There's also the southern supply route to the Soviet Union through the Arabian Sea and across Persia. By 1944 India was under threat of Japanese invasion by land at Kohima and Imphal and was in need of supplies and reinforcement itself.

[bookworm_020]

There was plenty of traffic out there in Real life. The Japanese had a great tiem sinking ships off the Australian coast after the attack on Sydney. That got down as far as Bass Strait and laid minefields all along the coast and shelled a few places on the coast as well.

[Torplexed]

Yes, the British Eastern Fleet briefly had to retreat to East Africa when Nagumo's carrier fleet made it's foray into the Indian Ocean in May 1942 after hitting Darwin, Australia. They were lucky only to lose one old carrier and two heavy cruisers. The area was also a favorite haunt for disguised German surface raiders.