May 27, 1918.
A fleet composed of two destroyers, an escort ship, and a supply ship plowed through the turquoise waves of the Indian Ocean under a deep blue sky, racing toward the heart of the ocean.
"Report, Captain, an island has been sighted ahead. It should be the Chagos Islands."
A sailor came up to the captain of the East African destroyer Kagela, Haimo, and made his report.
Haimo picked up his binoculars and carefully observed the waters ahead for a while; sure enough, a large patch of land appeared in his field of vision.
From what he could see through the binoculars, the islands were quite small in scale, stretching north-south and forming a chain of reefs, particularly desolate. Along the shore, apart from the dull yellow beach, dense tropical trees covered the land.
In addition, further south of this green-covered island, other islands could be seen, and between the two there was another tiny islet, almost invisible to the naked eye, blurred by the distance.
