While East Africa and Mozambique were tentatively exchanging blows, the waters of the Western Indian Ocean were far from peaceful. Although the four countries had tacitly agreed to restrain the outbreak of naval war, warships from every nation still converged there.
Britain and France mainly wanted to back up the Portuguese. If a naval war truly broke out, the Portuguese would definitely be hammered by the East African Navy.
As for both sides promising not to start a naval war, once they truly fought with red eyes, that was hard to say. Britain and France had to monitor the East African Navy, so they dispatched five ironclads to cruise the Western Indian Ocean.
Britain alone had pulled out four, while France contributed one. Of course, this number was not much for Britain and France, but it did pose a certain deterrent to East Africa. Sometimes, a great power only needed to make its stance known.
"Portugal has not added any new ships in recent years. Its only ironclad has only just entered service, and there was probably not even time for training. The fleet in a remote colony like Mozambique uses even more outdated sailing warships. Though it has more ships than East Africa, its combat strength falls far short of East Africa's. The quality is lacking," French Rear Admiral Bellon said.
British Navy Rear Admiral Frank said, "That may be true, but the overall quality of Portuguese sailors should be somewhat better than East Africa's. Many of them are old sailors who have spent their lives at sea. The East African Navy has only been established for a few years, so it certainly cannot compare with traditional maritime powers in that respect."
This was the conclusion Britain and France reached after observing the Portuguese and East African surface fleets.