| Battle of the Java Sea | |||||||
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| Part ofWorld War II,Pacific War | |||||||
 The heavy cruiserHaguro pictured after the battle | |||||||
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 Japan | |||||||
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| Takeo Takagi[1] | |||||||
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TheBattle of the Java Sea (Indonesian:Pertempuran Laut Jawa,Japanese:スラバヤ沖海戦,romanized: Surabaya oki kaisen,lit. 'Sea Battle off Surabaya') was a decisive[2]naval battle of thePacific campaign ofWorld War II.
Allied navies suffered a decisive defeat at the hand of theImperial Japanese Navy on 27 February 1942 and in secondary actions over successive days, starting when the main Combined Striking Force (CSF) of twoheavy cruisers, threelight cruisers, and ninedestroyers, led by the Striking Force commander (EC,Eskadercommandant or Squadron Commander), Rear-AdmiralKarel Doorman of the Royal Netherlands Navy, attempted to intercept a Japanese troopconvoy in theJava Sea, only to be intercepted by the convoy's larger escort forces. The battle started off as a stalemate, but the heavy cruiserHaguro changed the course of the battle when she crippled the heavy cruiserHMSExeter with gunfire, then torpedoed and sank the Dutch destroyerKortenaer, sending Doorman's fleet into temporary disorder as the damagedExeter withdrew. A gunfight between Allied and Japanese destroyers then resulted in the sinking ofHMSElectra and shell damage to the IJN destroyerAsagumo before Doorman's force turned away, ending the daylight engagement as dusk fell.
However, under the cover of night, Admiral Doorman's ships attempted another attack, during which the destroyerHMSJupiter accidentally hit a Dutchmine and sank, but the Japanese immediately caught on to their plan, prompting theHaguro and hersister shipNachi to ambush the Allied fleet with a stealthy long-range torpedo attack. One ofNachi's torpedoes hit the Dutch light cruiserJava, which was instantly blown apart and sank with almost all hands. One ofHaguro's torpedoes then hit the Allied flagship, the Dutch light cruiserDe Ruyter, which sank to progressive flooding over several hours, killing Admiral Doorman.
The aftermath of the battle included several smaller actions around Java, including the smaller but also significantBattle of Sunda Strait, which saw the sinking of the heavy cruiserUSSHouston, the light cruiserHMASPerth, and the destroyerHNLMSEvertsen, and thesecond battle of the Java Sea, where the still crippledExeter and her escorting destroyers were sunk by a Japanese squadron, includingHaguro. These defeats led to the dissolution of the Allied fleet as a whole, the scuttling of the Dutch navy, and the Japanese occupation of the entireDutch East Indies.
The Japaneseinvasion of the Dutch East Indies progressed at a rapid pace as the Japanese advanced from theirPalau Islands colony and captured bases inSarawak and the southern Philippines.[1] They seized bases in easternBorneo[1] and in northernCelebes[1] while troop convoys, screened bydestroyers andcruisers with air support provided by swarms of fighters operating from captured bases, steamed southward through theMakassar Strait and into theMolucca Sea. Opposing the invading forces was a small force consisting of Dutch, American, British and Australian warships, many of them ofWorld War I vintage, initially under the command of American AdmiralThomas C. Hart of ABDAFLOAT.[1]
On 23-24 January 1942 a force of four American destroyersattacked a Japanese invasion convoy in the Makassar Strait at Balikpapan, Borneo. The Japanese ships were anchored offBalikpapan in Borneo.[3] On 13-16 February the Japaneseattacked the major oil port of Palembang in easternSumatra.[1] Japanese paratroopers fought a pitched battle against Allied defenders around the big Pladjoe oil plants, the largest and most valuable petrochemical installations in the East Indies. On the night of 19/20 February, an Allied force attacked the Japanese eastern invasion force offBali in theBattle of Badung Strait.[1] Also on 19 February, the Japanese made twoair raids on Darwin, on the Australian mainland, one from carrier-based planes and the other by land-based planes,[4] rendering Darwin useless as a supply and naval base to support operations in the East Indies.
Japanese amphibious forces gathered to strike at Java, and on 27 February 1942 the main Allied naval force, under Rear AdmiralKarel Doorman, sailed northeast fromSurabaya to intercept a convoy of the Japanese eastern invasion force approaching from the Makassar Strait. The Allied eastern strike force consisted of twoheavy cruisers (HMSExeter andUSSHouston), threelight cruisers (Doorman's flagshipHNLMSDe Ruyter,HNLMSJava,HMASPerth), and nine destroyers (HMSElectra,HMSEncounter,HMSJupiter,HNLMSKortenaer,HNLMSWitte de With,USSAlden,USSJohn D. Edwards,USSJohn D. Ford, andUSSPaul Jones). On paper, this seemed a formidable force, but its combat effectiveness was questionable. Belonging to several different navies, the ships had practically no experience in each other's naval doctrine and fighting styles, and most crucially there was a language barrier between the Dutch speaking Karel Doorman and the English-speaking US, UK, and Australian ships, hindering communications.
Upon departure, the Allied force was immediately spotted by a Japanesefloatplane launched from the convoy's main protection force, commanded by Rear AdmiralTakeo Takagi. The main Japanese group consisted of the heavy cruisersHaguro andNachi (the latter, Takagi's flagship, having launched the floatplane), and the destroyersKawakaze,Yamakaze,Ushio, andSazanami. This was supported by a second group led by Rear AdmiralShoji Nishimura, consisting of the light cruisersNaka andJintsū and the destroyersYūdachi,Samidare,Murasame,Harusame,Minegumo, andAsagumo. Upon learning of the opposing force's movements fromNachi, both groups sailed aside each other at 30 knots to intercept the opposing force. The Japanese heavy cruisers had ten 8-inch (203 mm) guns each and superbtorpedoes. By comparison,Exeter was armed only with six 8-inch guns, and only six ofHouston's nine 8-inch guns remained operable after her aft turret had been knocked out in an earlier air attack. While underway, Nishimura's group was joined by the nearby destroyersYukikaze,Amatsukaze,Hatsukaze, andTokitsukaze, before being attacked by land-based Dutch aircraft andB-17 bombers, but avoided damage due to the planes' poor marksmanship. CaptainTameichi Hara aboardAmatsukaze noted that the planes attacked the Japanese warships, confirming their goal was to mow through the protection force before attacking the convoy and believing it to have been a mistake by the planes to have not attacked the troopships.[5]
The next day, Doorman's force was tracked byNachi's floatplane while the Japanese fleet rigorously practiced in preparation for the coming engagement. Updates fromNachi's floatplane worried the Japanese, as Doorman's ships were in a position to pounce on the vulnerable transport ships, but Doorman ordered his fleet to turn South to refuel at Surabaya. However, upon receiving reports of the Japanese fleet, Doorman immediately turned his ships back to attack the enemy. These actions, perhaps somewhat misunderstood, came as a relief to Admiral Takagi, who Captain Hara recalled saying "The enemy ships were staying clear of our air raids on Surabaya, the enemy is in no shape to fight us." He ordered the convoy to turn around and the escort ships to form up into a fighting formation.[5]
At 15:48 on 27 February 1942,Amatsukaze's chief spotter Shigeru Iwata located Doorman's fleet at 31,600 yards. Captain Hara watched through his binoculars, clearly recognizingDe Ruyter's masts as the fleet quickly became visible to the other ships. Admiral Doorman aboardDe Ruyter in turn located the enemy force, with a brief scare due to a mistaken claim of battleships in the enemy formation, which was quickly corrected. Still, the allies could not make out any targets besidesHaguro andNachi because of the inferiority of their optical systems to those of the Japanese, because only one of Doorman's ships, theExeter, carried any form of radar, and because of the language barrier on the Allied side. Still, Doorman ordered his ships to turn west, hoping to prevent the Japanese fleet fromcrossing his T. With both fleets thereafter sailing in a parallel course,Haguro andNachi, which were training behind the other ships, could catch up to Nishimura's group.[5][6]
By 16:00, spotters on theElectra noticedJintsū, leadingYukikaze,Amatsukaze,Hatsukaze,Tokitsukaze, at 16,000 yards, and her 4.7-inch (12 cm) guns fired the first shots of the battle, closely followed by all the cruisers and several destroyers. Every ship aimed their guns atJintsū, straddling her several times, but not a single shell made its mark. TheNaka and her group of destroyers returned fire at 24,000 yards, and their shells, too, all missed their mark. Both sides rapidly closed the distance and, frustrated by the ineffective gunfire, Nishimura orderedNaka and his destroyers to fire torpedoes at 15,000 yards, letting out 43 torpedoes. A few exploded after running a few thousand yards; the rest missed. Nishimura's hastiness to engage at long range was later criticized by the Japanese admiralty due to the sheer amount of wasted ammunition. Recognizing this flaw, Takagi ordered all ships to close the range and charge the enemy as he watched his heavy cruisers blast away at long range.[5][6]
Exeter,Houston, andPerth all fired onHaguro and initially claimed to have blown up and sunk her. In fact,Haguro was untouched, as she andNachi scored the first hits of the battle.Haguro focused her gunfire onDe Ruyter, striking her with an 8-inch (203 mm) shell that blasted apart her auxiliary motor room, starting a fire that killed one crewman and injured six others. A second 8-inch (203 mm) shell fromHaguro punched throughDe Ruyter's unarmored portions without exploding. Meanwhile, Admiral Takagi's flagship focused her fire onHouston, whichNachi succeeded in hitting with two 8-inch (203 mm) shells, one punching through her bow and the other holing her stern, which managed to rupture an oil tank. Even when their shells didn't directly hit, near-miss and straddle damage still took a toll,Nachi's shells landing as little as 3 yards fromHouston.[6][7][8][9]
Jintsū leading a line of destroyers—Yukikaze,Tokitsukaze,Amatsukaze,Hatsukaze,Ushio,Sazanami,Yamakaze, andKawakaze—closed the range by Takagi's order, in the hope of enabling more accurate torpedoing.Electra switched fire to the cluster as 5.9-inch (15 cm) shells fromDe Ruyter continued to rain on the column. One ofElectra's 4.7-inch (12 cm) shells hitTokitsukaze, causing thick white smoke to burst out of the ship, blindingAmatsukaze behind her. A near miss fromDe Ruyter then lightly damagedAmatsukaze's hull and dashed water on her bridge. However, neither destroyer was critically damaged. In turn, the destroyers engaged in a gunfight withDe Ruyter, although no shells hit their mark.Yukikaze andTokitsukaze first let out 16 torpedoes at 6,000 yards, followed closely byAmatsukaze, then the five other destroyers behind her. A total of 70 torpedoes were aimed at the enemy, yet not a single hit was made.[5][9][10]
Though the torpedoes did not hit, they prompted the allied fleet to maneuver, enablingHaguro to switch fire fromDe Ruyter to theExeter, withExeter responding back. Engaging each other at 22,000 yards,Exeter's gunnery was poor, managing only a straddle by the 8th salvo.Haguro proved more effective, first scoring an 8-inch (203 mm) hit to her stern below the waterline which lifted the ship and caused considerable flooding. Another salvo fromHaguro registered a devastating hit onExeter when an 8-inch (203 mm) shell gouged intoExeter's engine. It exploded and destroyed six ofExeter's eight boilers, killing 40 men asExeter's speed dropped to 5 knots. Doorman's fleet then maneuvered chaotically, as, whenExeter began to fall out of formation,Houston,Perth, andJava all followed her, assuming they had missed a command from Doorman, leavingDe Ruyter charging alone at the enemy fleet before joining the other cruisers. Simultaneously,Haguro fired a spread of 8 torpedoes and continued to engage. The British destroyersJupiter,Encounter, andElectra came to assist the crippledExeter as Doorman's cruisers began to turn away, laying a smokescreen in an attempt to hide the disorganized formation.[7][8][11][12][13][14]
Up to this point, the battle of the Java Sea had been something of a stalemate, with both sides missing their shots due to extreme range and inflicting minor damage with the few hits scored.Haguro's hit onExeter was only the beginning of Doorman's misfortune. In an ironic twist, the only Japanese torpedo to make its mark during the course of the afternoon battle was one ofHaguro's launched at extreme range and hitting home 15 minutes after firing, striking the Dutch destroyerKortenaer. Within moments of the hit, the destroyer broke apart and sank with the loss of 66 men. Launched at a distance of 22,000 yards, this hit byHaguro was probably the longest-range torpedo hit in naval history.[7][12][13][15]
The American destroyersAlden,John C Edwards,John C Ford, andPaul Jones fired their torpedoes atHaguro andNachi, but none made their mark. Simultaneously, the British destroyers attempting to cover the crippledExeter were engaged by the Japanese destroyersAsagumo andMinegumo.Minegumo stayed at a longer range and attackedJupiter andEncounter, lightly damaging them with near misses, but failed to score any direct hits.Asagumo andElectra, by contrast, engaged each other at point-blank range.Asagumo took several 4.7-inch (12 cm) shells, temporarily leaving her dead in the water, killing five sailors and injuring 16 others.Asagumo, however, inflicted more damage than she received, a hail of 5-inch (127 mm) gunfire destroyingElectra's A and X turrets, engine room, communications, and electrical power, and settingElectra on fire.Electra desperately let out a spread of eight torpedoes at her opponent, but none hit, and in responseMinegumo switched fire from the other destroyers and joinedAsagumo in pounding the already crippledElectra. Western sources sometimes creditJintsū with assistingAsagumo, but Japanese records do not support this.Electra's remaining guns were destroyed, flooding overwhelmed damage control, and fires burned out of control underAsagumo's andMinegumo's bombardment.Electra's crew finally abandoned ship and left her to sink.Encounter andJupiter had been repelled byMinegumo's gunfire and retreated to assistExeter.[9][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
After almost two hours of fighting, Doorman's ships had not even come close to attacking the Japanese troop convoy. One of his cruisers was crippled, two more were damaged, and he suffered two destroyers sunk, while his ships, with their poor gunnery, had managed only to moderately damage one destroyer and lightly damage two others. He still wanted to attack the convoy, but recognized that he simply could not under the current conditions. Doorman thus decided to cut his losses and regroup whilst retiring in the general direction of Surabaya[24][25][26] which led Takagi to mistakenly believe the Allied ships were retreating to port.[27] The limpingExeter, no longer in condition to contribute further to the battle,[28] was ordered to break off from the force, takingWitte de With with her as escort into Surabaya.[29][30][31][32][33] However, after nightfall, the remainder of Doorman's ships changed direction and steamed back toward the convoy.[5][9][6]
Then, after much maneuvering for position, the plan began to backfire. The four American destroyers were dangerously low on fuel and had completely expended their torpedoes and were thus limited to gun armament only. At around 21:15 the American destroyers accordingly detached from Doorman's fleet to retire to Surabaya.[34][35][36][28] Again Doorman decided to absorb the losses and continued to charge on. However, at about 21:25 while traveling west along the coast of Java,Jupiter, one of Doorman's two remaining destroyers[37][38][39][40][41] hit a mine and sank with the loss of 84 men.[42][43] The mine that sankJupiter is generally thought to have been not Japanese, but Dutch, lain by the Dutch minelayerGouden Leeuw. Shortly thereafter, around 22:00 while now headed north, the Striking Force passed through the former battlegrounds and sighted men in the water. HMSEncounter, the lone remaining destroyer, was ordered to pick up the survivors, who turned out to be 113 men from the earlier sinking ofKortenaer, and after doing so retired to Surabaya.[37][44][45][46][47][48][49] Doorman now had not a single destroyer in his force, leaving him only his remaining heavy cruiserHouston and light cruisersDe Ruyter,Java, andPerth. But Doorman charged on, still hoping for victory.[9][23][6]
Unknown to Doorman,Haguro's floatplane had been tracking his force the entire time. After the daylight battle, Takagi believed he had secured a victory as his ships made post-battle reformations.Asagumo's crew conducted temporary repairs following her gunfight withElectra, getting the engine back up and running as she regained speed, retiring from the engagement and takingMinegumo to escort her.Haguro andNachi stopped in the water to recover their floatplanes, which had been catapulted shortly before the battle, but while this was being conducted, one ofHaguro's floatplanes still in the air noticed Doorman's fleet turning back, much to Takagi's shock.[5][18][19]
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Haguro andNachi instantly picked up speed and raced to engage the enemy yet again.Haguro's floatplane this time tracked Doorman's every movement, which were now far more predictable than earlier in the battle. It was just before midnight that the Japanese optical systems picked up the enemy force at long range. Steaming at maximum speed,Haguro andNachi closed to 16,000 yards. Low on ammunition for their main guns, they instead opted for a stealthy torpedo attack, in whichNachi unleashed eight torpedoes, andHaguro four.[5][7][9][13]
The Allied fleet detectedNachi's torpedoes at 23:32 and took evasive action, butJava, at the end of thebattle line, did not turn fast enough. A torpedo struck near her stern and ignited her magazine. The resulting explosion was so violent that 100 feet (30 m) of her stern was blown off and heat was felt onboard other ships in formation. Damage control was hopeless, and she sank in about 15 minutes.[50]: 316–317 Only 19 crewmembers survived.[7][51]: 190
Four minutes later, one ofHaguro's torpedoes hit Admiral Doorman's flagship. All power was destroyed as theDe Ruyter stopped dead in the water with significant flooding, and a massive fire broke out and enveloped the cruiser.Haguro's torpedo hit killed much ofDe Ruyter's damage-control crew, and the loss of all power disabled much ofDe Ruyter's damage-control equipment, meaning the massive fire could spread throughout the ship. Simultaneously, flooding slowly overwhelmed damage control andDe Ruyter's list steadily increased. Over a period of three hours, fires and flooding overwhelmedDe Ruyter as she capsized and sank with the loss of 367 men. Admiral Doorman and CaptainEugène Lacomblé were among the dead.[7][9][13][52]
Shouts of "Banzai" could be heard fromHaguro's andNachi's decks as crew members leaped for joy and hugged each other in excitement. Admiral Takagi chose not to attack with gunfire afterwards, knowingJava andDe Ruyter were already fatally damaged. The pair steamed out of the area to reinforce the invasion convoy. Depending on the source, they were either undetected, or were spotted but untouched by ineffective gunfire. With Doorman dead,Houston andPerth abandoned the mission and retreated. Meanwhile, as the US destroyers evacuated the battlefield they ran intoAmatsukaze andHatsukaze. Both sides exchanged fire, but no hits were scored and the US destroyers continued on their path whileAmatsukaze andHatsukaze regrouped with the fleet.[5]
With almost all of their ships sunk or damaged, the remaining allied warships halted all offensive actions and attempted to flee the vicinity, leaving the Dutch East Indies to the invaders. The Japanese convoys continued to Surabaya unmolested, aside from an air raid that damaged a single troopship. All the Allies had accomplished was that the troops on Java received a one-day respite, which ultimately changed nothing.Perth andHouston proceeded toTanjung Priok, arriving later that day. However, oil shortages meant they could be only half fueled, and they received no new ammunition.[9][53]
After their victory, the Japanese fleet while returning to the invasion convoy stumbled upon the Dutch hospital shipSSOp Ten Noort as she was sailed to the battle scene to rescue survivors.Op Ten Noort was halted byMurasame andAmatsukaze. Captain Hara aboardAmatsukaze peeked through his binoculars and watched Captain G. Tuizinga walk on deck after the Japanese yelled a message to the ship in English. Upon inspection, there were no patients on the ship, only crew and staff, and in responseAmatsukaze was ordered to escortOp Ten Noort to Singapore, where she would be converted into a prison ship. While underway,Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze crippled the submarineUSSPerch, enabling her to be finished off by the destroyersUshio andSazanami, thenAmatsukaze fatally wounded the Dutch submarineK-10, forcing her scuttling in Surabaya the next day.[5][10][54][55]
While traversing the Java Sea,Witte de With was damaged by land based Japanese aircraft and forced to retire for Surabaya. She was replaced by the destroyerUSSPope in escorting the crippledExeter to safety.[56]
Perth andHouston were at Tanjung Priok on 28 February when they received orders to sail throughSunda Strait toTjilatjap. Materiel was running short in Java, and neither was able to rearm or fully refuel. Departing at 19:00 on 28 February for the Sunda Strait, by chance they encountered the main Japanese invasion fleet for West Java inBantam Bay and were engaged by the groups escorting destroyers. The initial torpedo spreads fired from theFubuki,Shirayuki,Hatsuyuki, andAsakaze all missed, and in turnPerth hitShirayuki with a 6-inch (152 mm) shell to her bridge. However, the arrival of the convoy's other escorts, the heavy cruisersMogami andMikuma, the light cruiserNatori, and the destroyersMurakumo,Shirakumo, andShikinami quickly changed the tide of battle.[57][58][59]
Mogami andMikuma blastedHouston, crippling her with 30 shell hits and two torpedo hits, though in turnMikuma was hit by 8-inch (203 mm) shells that temporally disabled electrical power. Simultaneously,Perth became the focus of the escorting destroyers and dueled theHarukaze which she damaged with three dud 6-inch (152 mm) shell hits, but not beforeHarukaze hitPerth with a torpedo that destroyed her forward engine room, followed two minutes later by another torpedo from theShirakumo that flooded her bow, then two more torpedoes fromMurakumo which finished her off; the crew quickly abandoned ship and leftPerth to sink over 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the crippledHouston was attacked by theShikinami, which hit the cruiser with a final torpedo that resulted in the abandon-ship order being issued, leavingHouston to disappear beneath the waves.[58][60]
During the action, a spread of torpedoes fromMogami that missed the allied cruisers accidentally hit and sank the minesweeperW-2, the transport shipsSakura Maru andTatsuno Maru, the depot shipShinshu Maru, and the hospital shipHorai Maru; more damage to Japanese forces that any of the allied ships managed to inflict.Tatsuno Maru andShinshu Maru were later raised and repaired.[57][61][62]
The Dutch destroyerHNLMSEvertsen had been scheduled to depart Tanjung Priok with the cruisers, but was delayed, and she followed them about two hours later. Her crew sighted the gunfire of the main action, and her captain managed to evade the Japanese main force. However,Evertsen was then engaged by theMurakumo andShirakumo in the Strait. On fire and in a sinking condition after at least seven 5-inch (127 mm) shell hits,Evertsen grounded herself on a reef nearSebuku Island. The surviving crew abandoned ship just as the aftmagazine exploded and the destroyer fully sank.[57]
TheExeter, still badly damaged fromHaguro's shell hit, was continuing for safety inCeylon, and had traversed almost the entire Java Sea alongside the destroyersEncounter andPope, only to be located at 10:00 on 1 March by the heavy cruisersMyōkō andAshigara and their escorting destroyers, and engaged in a two hour long gun battle which saw no hits scored on either side. Just before 12:00, the battle experiencedHaguro andNachi arrived on the scene and opened fire, and 4 minutes laterExeter was finally hit by an 8-inch (203 mm) shell that destroyed what was left of her boilers. Slowing to a stop, gunfire from the cruisers destroyed her electrical power and guns and set her on fire, leading to the crew scuttlingExeter. Almost entirely out of ammo,Haguro andNachi finally withdrew, while the destroyersKawakaze andYamakaze bombardedEncounter, scoring hits that destroyed her steering gear and caused her to lose speed, and asMyōkō andAshigara joined into the pounding,Encounter was sunk to overwhelming gunfire.Pope initially escaped, only to be crippled by aircraft from the light carrierRyūjō and finished off by gunfire fromMyōkō andAshigara.[7][63][64]
_fueling_Clemson-class_destroyers_in_1942.jpg)
With the complete destruction of Admiral Doorman's fleet across the battles of the Java Sea and Sunda Strait, plus the death of Doorman himself by the hand ofHaguro's torpedo battery, ABDA fleet as a whole was completely disbanded, and there was one thing left for the remaining allied warships stuck in the Dutch East Indies-run. All of the former ABDA fleet warships fled the crumbling Dutch East Indies in hopes of reaching the safety of Australia. Many reached the ports of Sydney and Darwin successfully; among these lucky ships were the only allied survivors of the Java Sea battle, the four American destroyersJohn D. Edwards,John D. Ford,Alden, andPaul Jones, which while underway in theBali Strait encountered the Japanese destroyersHatsuharu,Nenohi,Wakaba, andHatsushimo and after a brief gunfight which inflicted no damage to either side successfully escaped toFremantle.[65][66]
_under_fire_and_sinking_on_1_March_1942_(80-G-178997).jpg)
However, many were not as lucky, Japanese forces raced to hunt down and destroy any allied vessels attempting to escape, starting immediately after the battle of Sunda Strait when the Japanese destroyersFubuki andHatsuyuki located the British minesweepersRahman andSin Aik Lee, sinking both vessels without a fight. Simultaneously, land-based aircraft sank the seaplane tenderUSSLangley, while dive bombers from the aircraft carrierSōryū sank the fleet oilierUSSPecos. and helped to sink the destroyerUSSEdsall alongside gunfire from the battleshipsHiei andKirishima and the heavy cruisersTone andChikuma. Later, the destroyersKasumi,Shiranui, andIsokaze sank the Dutch freighterModjokerto, the destroyerHayashio captured the Dutch cargo shipSpeelman, and finally on 4 March the heavy cruiserChikuma and the destroyerUrakaze sank the Dutch freighterEnggano.[67][68][69][70]
Perhaps most notably was a mass raid conducted from 1–4 March by the heavy cruisersTakao,Atago, andMaya and the destroyersNowaki andArashi, which claimed 15 ships sunk or captured, known by Japanese sources as the battle of Tjilatjap, which started on 1 March whenNowaki andArashi sank the Dutch cargo shipsTomohon andPageri, then later sank the British minesweeperScott Harley and the Dutch freighterToradjo and captured the Dutch freighterBintoehan. The next day,Takao andAtago sank the destroyerUSSPillsbury, whileMaya, Nowaki, andArashi sank the destroyerHMSStronghold, while on 3 MarchNowaki andArashi sank the gunboatUSSAsheville. Finally on 4 March, all five ships raided a convoy destined for Australia, together sinking the sloopHMASYarra, the oil tankerFancol, the depot shipAnking, and the minesweepersM-3 andM-51 and captured the freightersDuymaer van Twist andTjisaroea.[71][72][73][74][75]
As the increasingly successful invasion of the Dutch East Indies began to reach the port of Surabaya, many Dutch ships still at anchor were not in a condition to escape the port. In order to prevent capture, some 50 Dutch ships were scuttled in Surabaya. Among these was the destroyerWitte de With, still damaged by air attacks. While many of these ships were salvageable enough for the Japanese to raise and repair them, the operation was very successful as most of their warships were either completely destroyed or unable to serve combat roles. However, it completely decimated the Dutch navy for the rest of the war, effectively ending its role in the war outside of a few surviving submarines which continued to operate with the US Navy and Royal Navy, and a few surviving destroyers, flotilla leaders and gunboats serving with the Royal Navy.[75][76]
The Battle of the Java Sea ended significant Allied naval operations in Southeast Asia in 1942, andJapanese land forces invaded Java on 28 February. The Dutch surface fleet was practically eradicated from Asian waters and the Netherlands would never reclaim full control of its colony. The Japanese now controlled one of the most important food-producing regions (Java), and by conquering the Dutch East Indies, Japan also controlled the fourth-largest oil producing area in the world in 1940.[citation needed]
The U.S. andRoyal Air Force retreated to Australia. Dutch troops, aided by British remnants, fought fiercely for a week. In the campaign the Japanese executed many AlliedPOWs and sympathizing Indonesians. Eventually, the Japanese won this decisive battle of attrition and ABDA forces surrendered on 9 March.[citation needed]
As of 2002 the location of the wreck of only one of the eight ships sunk during the two so-called Java Sea Battles, HMSJupiter, was known and plotted on an Admiralty chart. However, given her location in very shallow water so close to shore she had already been heavily salvaged.[77]
In December 2002 the wrecks of HNLMSJava and HNLMSDe Ruyter were discovered by a specialist wreck diving group aboard the dive vessel MVEmpress.Empress then went on to discover the wrecks of HMSElectra in August 2003; HNLMSKortenaer in August 2004; and HMSExeter and HMSEncounter in February 2007. When discovered these wrecks were all in a very well-preserved state, save for battle damage.[78] In late 2008,Empress discovered remnants of the last wreck, USSPope, which had already been largely removed by illegal salvage diving operations.[79]
Although the MVEmpress team kept the locations of their discoveries secret, by 2017 all eight ships had been reduced to remnants or even entirely removed by illegal commercial salvage operations.[80][81][82][83]
