 The King George VI dry dock was formally opened by the Governor of the Straits Settlements , Sir Shenton Thomas , on 14 February 1938 . Two squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm provided a flypast . The 42 vessels in attendance included three US Navy cruisers . The presence of this fleet gave an opportunity to conduct a series of naval , air and military exercises . The aircraft carrier HMS Eagle was able to sail undetected to within 135 miles ( 217 km ) of Singapore and launch a series of surprise raids on the RAF airfields . The local air commander , Air Vice @-@ Marshal Arthur Tedder , was greatly embarrassed . The local land commander , Major @-@ General Sir William Dobbie , was no less disappointed by the performance of the anti @-@ aircraft defences . Reports recommended the installation of radar on the island , but this was not done until 1941 . The naval defences worked better , but a landing party from HMS Norfolk was still able to capture the Raffles Hotel . What most concerned Dobbie and Tedder was the possibility of the fleet being bypassed entirely by an overland invasion of Malaya from Thailand . Dobbie conducted an exercise in southern Malaya which demonstrated that the jungle was far from impassable . The Chiefs of Staff Committee concluded that the Japanese would most likely land on the east coast of Malaya and advance on Singapore from the north . 
