 There remained the prospect of American assistance . In secret talks in Washington , D.C. , in June 1939 , Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William D. Leahy raised the possibility of an American fleet being sent to Singapore . In April 1940 , the American naval attaché in London , Captain Alan Kirk , approached the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff , Vice @-@ Admiral Sir Thomas Phillips , to ask if , in the event of the United States Fleet being sent to the Far East , the docking facilities at Singapore could be made available , as those at Subic Bay were inadequate . He received full assurances that they would be . Hopes for American assistance were dashed at the staff conference in Washington , D.C. , in February 1941 . The U.S. Navy was primarily focused on the Atlantic . The American chiefs envisaged relieving British warships in the Atlantic and Mediterranean so a British fleet could be sent to the Far East . 
