Two of the four cruisers of the First Special Squadron at Singapore were sent to Cape Town, South Africa, and four destroyers were sent to the Mediterranean for basing out of Malta, headquarters of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet. Rear-Admiral Kōzō Satō on the cruiser and 10th and 11th destroyer units (eight destroyers) arrived in Malta on 13 April 1917 via Colombo and Port Said. Eventually this Second Special Squadron totaled three cruisers ("Akashi", , , 14 destroyers (8 , 4 , 2 ex-British "Acorn"-class), 2 sloops, 1 tender ("Kanto").