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Battle of the Java Sea

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Battle of the Java Sea
Part of World War II, Pacific War

Bombs from Japanese aircraft falling near the Dutch cruiser Java during the battle.
DateFebruary 27, 1942
Location
Java Sea
Result Decisive Japanese Victory
Belligerents
 Royal Netherlands Navy
 United States Navy
 Royal Navy
 Royal Australian Navy		  Imperial Japanese Navy
Commanders and leaders
Netherlands Karel Doorman †
Netherlands Conrad Helfrich		 Empire of Japan Takeo Takagi
Strength
2 heavy cruisers
3 light cruisers
12 destroyers		 2 heavy cruisers
2 light cruisers
14 destroyers
10 transports
Casualties and losses
5 cruisers sunk
5 destroyers sunk
2,300 sailors killed		 4 loaded troop transports sunk

The Battle of the Java Sea was a major naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II. Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy, on February 27, 1942, and in secondary actions over successive days. The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) commander, Admiral Karel Doorman was killed. The aftermath of the battle included several smaller actions around Java, including 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.

Japanese cruiser Haguro (pictured) sank HNLMS De Ruyter, killing Admiral Karel Doorman.

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 Allies fought unsuccessfully, in the Battle of Palembang, to prevent the Japanese from capturing the major oil port in eastern Sumatra. On the night of February 19-February 20, an Allied force attacked the Eastern Invasion Force off Bali in the Battle of Badung Strait. Also 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 commenced, the odds were not good for the Allied forces. They were disunited (ships came from four separate navies) and demoralized by constant air attacks and the impending fear of doom. In addition, the coordination between Allied navies and air forces was poor.

Battle

A formation of Japanese bombers receiving anti-aircraft fire, seen from the Australian cruiser, HMAS Hobart.
HMS Exeter and HMAS Hobart under air attack on 15 February 1942.
HMS Exeter sinking.

The Japanese amphibious forces 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 of the Eastern Invasion Force 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, 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 after her aft turret had been knocked out in an earlier air attack.

The ABDA force engaged the Japanese in the Java Sea, and the battle raged intermittently from mid-afternoon to midnight as the Allies tried to reach and attack the troop transports of the Java invasion fleet, but they were repulsed by superior firepower. The Allies had local air superiority during the daylight hours, because Japanese air power could not reach the fleet in the bad weather. The weather also hindered communications, making cooperation between the many Allied parties involved — in reconnaissance, air cover and fleet headquarters — even worse than it already was. The Japanese also jammed the radio frequencies. Exeter was the only ship in the battle equipped with radar, an emerging technology at the time.

The battle consisted of a series of attempts over a seven hour period by Doorman's Combined Striking Force to reach and attack the invasion convoy; each was rebuffed by the escort force with heavy losses being inflicted on the Allies.

The fleets sighted each other at about 16:00 on February 27 and closed to firing range, opening fire at 16:16. Both sides exhibited poor gunnery and torpedo skills during this phase of the battle. The only notable example of gunnery was Exeter being critically damaged by a hit in the boiler room from an 8-inch shell. The ship then limped away to Surabaya, escorted by Witte de With. The Japanese launched two huge torpedo salvoes, 92 in all, but scored only one hit, on Kortenaer. She was struck by a Long Lance, broke in two and sank rapidly after the hit. Electra, covering Exeter, engaged in a duel with Jintsu and Asagumo, scoring several hits but suffering severe damage to its superstructure. After a serious fire started on Electra and its remaining turret ran out of ammunition, abandon ship was ordered. On the Japanese side, only Asagumo was forced to retire because of damage.

The Allied fleet broke off and turned away around 18:00, covered by a smoke screen laid by the 4 destroyers of U.S destroyer division (DesDiv) 58. They also launched a torpedo attack but at too long a range to be effective. Doorman's force turned south towards the Java coast, then west and north as night fell in an attempt to evade the Japanese escort group and fall on the convoy. It was at this point the ships of DesDiv 58, their torpedoes expended, left on their own initiative to return to Surabaya.

Shortly after, at 21:25, Jupiter ran onto a mine and was sunk, while about 20 minutes later, the fleet passed where the Kortenaer had sunk earlier, and Encounter was detached to pick up survivors. Doorman's command, now reduced to 4 cruisers, again encountered the Japanese escort group at 23:00; both columns exchanged fire in the darkness at long range, until De Ruyter and Java were sunk, by one devastating long lance salvo. Doorman and most of his crew went down with De Ruyter; only 111 were saved from both ships. Only the cruisers Perth and Houston remained; low on fuel and ammunition, and following Doorman's last instructions, the two ships retired, arriving at Tanjung Priok on February 28.

Although the Allied fleet did not reach the invasion fleet, the battle did give the defenders of Java a one-day respite.

Aftermath

Battle of Sunda Strait

Main article: Battle of Sunda Strait

Perth and Houston were at Tanjung Priok on February 28 when they received orders to sail through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap. Materiel was running short in Java, and neither was able to rearm or fully refuel. Departing at 21:00 on February 28 for the Sunda Strait, by chance they encountered the main Japanese invasion fleet for West Java in Bantam Bay. The Allied ships were engaged by at least three cruisers and several destroyers. In a ferocious night action that ended after midnight on March 1, Perth and Houston were sunk. A Japanese minesweeper and a troop transport were sunk by friendly fire, while three other transports were damaged and had to be beached.

Java Sea

Main article: Battle of the Java Sea(II)

After emergency repairs the badly damaged Exeter left for Ceylon; she departed Surabaya at dusk on February 28 and limped towards Sunda Strait, escorted by Encounter and Pope. However all three ships were intercepted and sunk by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro on the morning of March 1.

Bali Strait

Further information: USS Alden (DD-211)

The 4 U.S destroyers of DesRon58, Edwards, Ford, Alden and Jones, were also at Surabaya; they left at nightfall February 28 for Australia. After a brief encounter with a Japanese destroyer in the Bali Strait, which they were able to evade, they reached Fremantle safely on March 4.

Consequences

A further two American, and one Dutch, 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 in 1942, and Japanese land forces invaded Java on February 28. The U.S. and Royal Air Force then started to retreat to Australia. Dutch troops aided by British remnants fought fiercely for a week. In the campaign the Japanese continued their precedent of committing crimes against the laws of war and perpetuating crimes against humanity when they murdered many allied POWs and sympathizing Indonesians. Despite their logistical problems the decisive factors in Japan's favor seem to have been air power and luck. Eventually the Japanese won this battle of attrition and ABDA forces surrendered on March 9.

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References

Books

  • Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
  • Burchell, David (1971). The Bells of the Sunda Strait. Adelaide, Australia: Rigby.
  • Cain, T. J. (1959). HMS Electra. London: Futura Publications.
  • D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
  • Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
  • Grove, Eric (1993). Sea Battles in Close-Up: World War II, vol. 2. Annapolis, MD, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 07110 2118 X.
  • Hara, Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York & Toronto: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-27894-1.- Firsthand account of the battle by the captain of the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze.
  • Holbrook, Heber (1981). U.S.S. Houston: The Last Flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. Dixon, CA, USA: Pacific Ship and Shore.
  • Hornfischer, James D. (2006). Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-80390-5.
  • Hoyt, Edwin P. (1976). The Lonely Ships: The Life and Death of the Asiatic Fleet. New York: David McKay Company.
  • Lacroix, Eric (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • McKie, Ronald (1953). Proud Echo: The Great Last Battle of HMAS Perth. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958 (reissue 2001)). The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931 - April 1942, vol. 3 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Castle Books. 0785813047. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Parkin, Robert Sinclair (1995). Blood on the Sea: American Destroyers Lost in World War II. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81069-7.
  • Payne, Alan (2000). HMAS Perth: The Story of a Six-Inch Cruiser, 1936-1942. Garden Island, NSW, Aus: The Naval Historical Society of Australia.
  • Schultz, Duane (1985). The Last Battle Station: The Story of the USS Houston. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-46973-X.
  • Thomas, David A. (1968). The Battle of the Java Sea. New York: Stein & Day.
  • van Oosten, F. C. (1976). The Battle of the Java Sea (Sea battles in close-up; 15). Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-911-1.
  • Spector, Ronald (1985). "The Short, Unhappy Life of ABDACOM". Eagle Against the Sun : The American War With Japan. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-394-74101-3.
  • Whiting, Brendan (1995). Ship of Courage: The Epic Story of HMAS Perth and Her Crew. Australia: Allen & Unwin Pty., Limited. ISBN 1-86373-653-0.
  • Winslow, Walter G. (1984). The Ghost that Died at Sunda Strait. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-218-4.- Firsthand account of the battle by a survivor from USS Houston
  • Winslow, Walter G. (1994). The Fleet the Gods Forgot: The U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-928-X.

Visual media

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