During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Operation Diplomat was an Allied naval training operation. It was executed in March 1944 by the

British Eastern Fleet The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

to practice operational procedures that would be used by ships allocated to the

British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. The fleet was composed of empire naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944 from the remaining ships o ...

. Part of the Eastern Fleet left

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

and

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

on 21 March and arrived at a point some 850 miles south of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). They rendezvoused, on 24 March, with three

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

escorted by the Dutch cruiser and practised refuelling at sea for the next two days. Later, on 27 March, they met up with the US Task Group 58.5 which consisted of the aircraft carrier and her three attendant destroyers (, , and ). The joint fleet returned to Trincomalee, and British

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...

aircrew took two intensive days to learn the necessary procedures from American aircrews and learn from their experience. Sources differ on the exact dates of these events

Journal of the Royal New Zealand Navy, implies that training ("exercises") with ''Saratoga'' took place before the fleet returned to Trincomalee on 31 March, bu

The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, says training occurred after the arrival of the on 12 April

Williams, in the History of HMS Ceylon, states that the joint fleet returned to Trincomalee on 2 April, wherea

Journal ibid, quotes 31 March. The ships from the Eastern Fleet were (flagship of vice admiral second-in-command Eastern Fleet), and , the fleet carrier , cruisers , , , , and ten destroyers.

External sources

Career of HMS ''Ceylon'', Jack Williams
which shares text wit

published by The Sunday Times.

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060923164646/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/histories/cv03-saratoga/cv03-saratoga.html USN history of USS ''Saratoga'' Military operations of World War II Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom {{WWII-stub