Battle of the Java Sea
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| Pacific Campaign 1941-42 |
|---|
| Pearl Harbor – Malaya – Singapore – Wake Island – Thailand – Hong Kong – Philippines – Borneo – Rabaul – Balikpapan – Ambon – Singapore – Makassar Strait – Palembang – Darwin – Badung Strait – Timor – Java Sea – Java – Christmas Island – Indian Ocean – Bataan – Doolittle Raid – Coral Sea – Corregidor – Sydney – Midway |
The Battle of the Java Sea was a major naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied ships suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in action over several days in February-March 1942. The action included the smaller, but also significant Battle of Sunda Strait. It was the largest surface engagement since the Battle of Jutland in World War I.
Background
The Japanese invasion of the Netherlands East Indies progressed at a rapid pace as they advanced from their Palau Islands colony and captured bases in Sarawak and the southern Philippines. They seized bases in eastern Borneo and in northern Celebes while troop convoys, screened by destroyers and cruisers with air support provided by swarms of fighters operating from captured bases, steamed southward through the Makassar Strait and into the Molucca Sea. To oppose these invading forces was a small force, consisting mostly of American and Dutch warships, many of them of World War I vintage, under the command of Admiral Thomas C. Hart.On January 23 1942 a force of four American destroyers attacked a Japanese invasion convoy in Makassar Strait as it approached Balikpapan in Borneo. On February 13, the remaining Dutch and American ships, under the command of Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman, fought the Battle of Palembang, an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Japanese from capturing the major oil port in eastern Sumatra. On February 19, the Japanese First Air Fleet, under Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, attacked and wrecked the port at Darwin in northern Australia which rendered it useless as a supply and naval base to support operations in the East Indies.
Shortly before the Battle of Java Sea commenced, the odds were not good for the ABDA forces. The Allies were disunited (ships came from four separate navies) and demoralized by constant air attacks and the impending fear of doom. In addition, there was no coordination between Allied navies and air forces. Yet Admiral Doorman vowed to engage the Japanese at all costs.
The main action
The Japanese amphibious forces now gathered to strike at Java, and on February 27 1942, the main American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval force, under Doorman, sailed northeast from Surabaya to intercept a convoy approaching from the Makassar Strait. The ABDA force consisted of two heavy cruisers (HMS Exeter, USS Houston) and three light cruisers (HNLMS De Ruyter (Doorman's flagship), HNLMS Java, HMAS Perth), and nine destroyers (HMS Electra, HMS Encounter, HMS Jupiter, HNLMS Kortenaer, HNLMS Witte de With, USS Alden, USS John D. Edwards, USS John D. Ford, USS Pope and USS Paul Jones..
The Japanese convoy was escorted by two heavy (Nachi, Haguro ) and two light cruisers (Naka, Jintsu) and fourteen destroyers (Yudachi, Samidare, Murasame, Harusame, Minegumo, Asagumo, Yukikaze, Tokitsukaze, Amatsukaze, Hatsukaze, Yamakaze, Kawakaze, Sazanami, and Ushio) under the command of Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura. The Japanese heavy cruisers were much more powerful, armed with ten 8-inch (203 mm) guns each and superb torpedoes. The Exeter was armed only with six of these guns. While the Houston carried nine 8-inchers, only six remained operable as her aft turret was knocked out in an earlier air attack.
The ABDA force engaged the Japanese in the Java Sea, and battle raged intermittently from mid-afternoon to midnight as the Allies tried to attack the troop transports, but were repulsed by superior firepower and supporting aircraft. Particularly noteworthy was the poor gunnery between both sides during the initial phase of the battle. The turning point of the battle occurred when the Exeter was critically damaged after being hit in the boiler room by an 8-inch shell. Afterwards, the Dutch cruisers and a number of destroyers were sunk, mostly by long lance torpedoes. Doorman went down with De Ruyter.
The badly damaged Exeter limped back to Sunda Strait with an escort of two destroyers, but they were sunk by Japanese heavy cruisers deployed there. The four American destroyers were detached to refuel.
Battle of Sunda Strait
Only the cruisers HMAS Perth and USS Houston remained. The two ships arrived at Tanjung Priok on February 28 where they received orders to sail through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap. By chance, on the night of March 1 1942, they encountered a Japanese amphibious landing force including aircraft carriers, battleships, three cruisers and ten destroyers, near Batavia. The two Allied cruisers were sunk but a Japanese minesweeper and a transport were sunk by friendly fire.Consequences
A further two American destroyers were sunk as they attempted to escape to Australia. The main ABDA naval force had been almost totally destroyed: 10 ships and approximately 2,173 sailors had been lost. The Battle of the Java Sea ended significant Allied naval operations in south east Asia during 1942, and Japanese land forces invaded Java on February 28. They quickly overran the island. The remnants of the ABDA land forces surrendered on March 9.References
Books
- - First-hand account of the battle by the captain of the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze.
- - First-hand account of the battle by a survivor from USS Houston
External Links
- - Short synopsis of the battle but has some good pictures.
Audio/visual media
- — 135 minute documentary of the battle. Won the "Golden Calf" award for "Best Long Documentary" at the 1996 Nederlands Film Festival.
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