sentences:  The destroyers and , already in the region on an exercise, were immediately committed, and Dowling flew to Singapore to personally announce the plan and the reasons for it to the ships' crews.Dowling was an early advocate for the establishment of an Australian submarine fleet; in 1963, after several false starts, the first of six "Oberon"-class submarines was ordered.As part of a general Western trend that viewed with alarm the increasing capability of the Soviet Navy's surface fleet, Dowling also worked to improve the offensive power of the Fleet Air Arm.