The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies was a British Royal Navy admiral, and effectively the formation subordinate to him, from 1865 to 1941. Even in official documents, the term East Indies Station was often used. The East Indies Station had bases at Colombo, Trincomalee, Bombay, Basra and Aden. In response to increased Japanese threats, the separate East Indies Station was merged with the China Station in December 1941 to form the Eastern Fleet.