ADML Sir James Somerville ordered his battleships HMS RAMILLES, REVENGE, RESOLUTION, and ROYAL SOVEREIGN, to withdraw to Addu Atoll to avoid a clash with ADML Naguma’s superior modern fleet. The overwhelming Japanese carrier force would have sunk the slow British capital ships. HMA Ships NAPIER, NIZAM and NORMAN, (destroyers), were operating with ADML Somerville’s fleet in the Indian Ocean.