Talking Proud: Service & Sacrifice
Asiatic Fleet: Dark Days of 1942
“ABDA Command was an abject failure, and is a case study
in almost everything that can go wrong in coalition warfare.”
Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC
The Six Battles for the Netherlands East Indies (NEI)
“The potential oil supplies in this region made the (NEI) campaign essential”
Mathew Adams
Battle of Balikpapan
The Battle of Balikpapan in southern Borneo was the USN’s first surface sea battle of the Pacific War. I relied on three sources to describe the battle: Vincent P. O’Hara, John J. Domahalski, and Wikipedia.
Borneo, southeast of the Malay Peninsula, was in the possession of the British (North Borneo) and the Netherlands (South Borneo), known as Dutch Borneo. It was rich in oil. Neither the Dutch nor the British could defend Borneo.
The Japanese had their eyes on two airfields in Borneo: Kuching airfield in western North Borneo and Singkawang airfield on the western side of Dutch Borneo. Singkawang was only 340 miles from Singapore. The Japanese began their invasion of Malaya on December 8, 1941. Holding these two airfields on Borneo would present the Japanese with a significant advantage.
The Japanese also wanted the two most essential oilfields at Miri and Seria, both close to each other on the northwest side of Borneo, Miri just outside the British Protectorate of Brunei, Seria inside the protectorate.
The US entered WWII on December 8, 1941.
A Japanese Army detachment left Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, on December 13, and the IJN landed them to take the oilfields in western Borneo on December 15, 1941. The main body went to Kuching Airfield a week later. Their troops arrived at Kuching on December 24 and met serious resistance, but prevailed. They then moved against Singkawang Airfield. These two airfields in western Borneo were now ready to assist Japan’s capture of Malaya.
The IJN then turned its attention to the east side of Borneo, the oilfields, refineries, and harbor of Balikpapan, and the Manggar Airfield about 10 miles to the east-northeast. Japan took Tarakan Island and its port, north of Balikpapan, on January 12, 1942, so IJN forces could use its port to travel south.
On January 21, 1943, an IJN fleet of 15 troop transports supported by 21 other ships departed Tarakan bound for Balikpapan to the south. A Dutch Naval Aviation Service (MLD) seaplane spotted the IJN formation leaving Tarakan. Five USN and two Dutch submarines were ordered to the area, but could do nothing to stop the IJN movement.
The Americans had just entered the war a month earlier, considered the war in Europe to be the top priority, but was well aware of the war that would be fought in the Pacific, a vast naval and ground war.
The British at the time were retreating on the Malay Peninsula, and the US was backtracking following the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. The American menu was to disrupt and delay when the Japanese came to Borneo.
On January 23, a USN seaplane sighted the IJN convoy. Nine Dutch B-10 bombers attacked the IJN force, sinking one transport and damaging another. Nonetheless, the IJN force arrived at Balikpapan and anchored in the harbor on that day.
The Dutch garrison in Balikpapan was to play a defensive role; delay to gain time to destroy the oilfields north of the city, lay mines in the harbor, evacuate to the Mangarr Airfield, fly to Surabaya, and move to the hinterland to wage guerrilla war.
Admiral Hart, USN, commanded the naval forces of ABDACOM. He sent two light cruisers, the Boise (CL-47) and Marblehead (CL-12), and six destroyers from Kupang on the southwestern tip of Timor to the southeast of Borneo.
Several American and Dutch submarines were in the area and attacked the IJN convoy. A Dutch submarine sank a transport ship. The IJN sent its destroyers out to the Markassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes to hunt down the submarines.
The USS Boise (CL-47) light cruiser hit an uncharted pinnacle and had to retire to Java to the south, a Dutch colony, and then to Ceylon, Bombay, and to the San Francisco area for repairs. The USS Marblehead (CL-12) light cruiser blew a turbine and had to slow down. A destroyer escorted each.
That left four destroyers, the John D. Ford (DD-228), Pope (DD-225), Parrot (DD-218), and Paul Jones (DD-230) to press forward, commanded by Commander Paul H. Talbot, USN. Admiral Hart was determined to proceed with an attack despite the setbacks.
The Japanese began their landings on January 23 late at night and finished the next morning. The Dutch retreated inland.
It was nighttime on January 24, 1942. The IJN’s transports were lined up in Balikpapan harbor, eight near the shore, five further off, protected by a light cruiser and a few patrol boats. A Dutch submarine squeezed into the harbor area and attacked the light cruiser without effect.
The four USN destroyers sneaked into the anchorage area and attacked the transports carrying Japanese ground troops. Their battle plan was to employ all their torpedoes and then switch to their guns. Crews knew their Mark 15 torpedoes were not reliable.
It was dark, and the smoke from burning oil fields and nearby thunderstorms obstructed the view.
The USN destroyers attacked mainly with torpedoes on multiple passes. When the attack began, the IJN admiral did not believe enemy ships could penetrate his anchorage, especially at night, and he did not expect an ABDACOM destroyer force to attack.
The four American destroyers escaped with only one, the USS Ford, damaged. The Ford managed to sink a transport ship nonetheless.
The Parrot sank a patrol boat and a transport. Paul Jones and Pope sank a transport, and Paul jones sank a transport ship
Forty-eight torpedoes were used, only four of which sank four of the 12 transports.
Despite the Allied efforts, the Japanese took and occupied Balikpapan. They were able to repair the oil facilities and repair Manggar airfield to the northeast of Balikpapan. About 200 of a force of 1,100 Dutch soldiers reached Samarinda about 55 miles to the north on February 6 and were flown out to Java.
That said, the IJN was now on notice that the Allies would act.
Battle of Makassar Strait
The Battle of Makassar Strait has many names. I’ll stick with this one. This story was a test of geography. I had to look up just about every place name to do this story.
I used these sources: “Operation Battle of the Makassar Strait,” “Pocket Guide to Netherlands East Indies,” “Battle of Makassar Strait," and “With Luck and Determination: USS Marblehead and the Battle of Makassar Straight.”
To start, the Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo on the west and Celebes (Sulawesi) on the east. It is an important shipping route.
By the end of January 1942, Japan controlled the northern and western coasts of Borneo, Balikpapan and Tarakan on Borneo’s eastern coast, and the cities of Menado and Kendari on Celebes on the east side of the Makassar Strait.
Its next objective was to exert complete control of the Makassar Strait between Borneo and Celebes. To do that, the Japanese targeted Makassar City on the southern tip of Celebes and Banjarmasin City on the southern tip of Borneo.
On February 1, 1942, an Allied reconnaissance aircraft noted that a Japanese force was about to leave Balikpapan. Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman assembled a group of ABDACOM ships to respond. It included two Dutch cruisers, two USN cruisers, three Dutch destroyers, and four USN destroyers. Doorman planned to intercept the invasion of Makassar City and prevent the IJN from controlling the Strait.
On February 4, the ABDACOM fleet was headed to the southern entrance of the Makassar Strait to meet the IJN. Thirty-six IJN Mitsubishi Betty bombers and 24 IJN Mitsubishi twin-engine Nell bombers approached in “V” formation to attack.
The USN light cruiser USS Marblehead (CL-12) was hit by the bombers. She suffered severe underwater damage, fire swept the ship, she listed, her rudder jammed, and 15 crew members were killed.
The USS Houston (CA-30) light cruiser was also hit aft, killing 48 crew members.
The USS John D. Edwards (DD-216) escorted the two cruisers to Tjilatjap.
The crew managed to get in control of the Marblehead. She went to Tjilatjap, then on to Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), South Africa, and finally the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The Houston was able to get to Tjilatjap on the southwest side of Java Island for repairs and then went to Darwin to escort troops being sent to defend Timor.
On February 8, the IJN anchored off Makassar City. The IJN ships successfully landed ground forces at Makassar City on February 9, 1942, achieving their objective of holding the southeast section of the Makassar Strait.
Battle of Badung Strait
During late January and early February, Japanese forces were very busy in the Southwest Pacific. They concluded their capture of Borneo and Celebes. Singapore fell on February 15, 1942, and the Philippines was about to fall. The Japanese attacked Darwin, Australia, on February 19. The next target was Java.
Before moving against Java, a battalion of Japanese ground forces was tasked to take Bali Island, just off the east coast of Java. I used these sources: “Battle of Badung Strait,” “Battle of Bali,” and “Fire in the Night: The loss of Bali and Timor”
They IJN departed Makassar City on February 19, 1942, with two transports, escorted by one light cruiser and eight destroyers and landed at Sanur on Bali Island’s south without much resistance.
The USS Seawolf (SS-197) was on patrol during the landings and fired four Mark-14 torpedoes at two transports, damaging one. The IJN destroyers spotted Seawolf, and she was forced to dive and leave. While leaving, Seawolf ran aground but got free, and fired two torpedoes from her stern at the destroyers chasing after her, again with no effect.
Admiral Doorman’s strike forces were either dispersed for other duties or damaged and not available. He assembled what ships he could. B-17 bombers had attacked the Japanese before his ships left for their attacks.
One group of two Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) light cruisers, an RNN destroyer, two USN destroyers, and one Dutch destroyer departed Tjilatjap on Java’s southern coast. The plan was to fire torpedoes and then guns at Japanese ships, and then retire to the north.
A second group of one RNN light cruiser and four USN destroyers departed from Surabaya on Java’s northeastern coast, tasked to follow the first group and continue to create havoc.
A third group of nine RNN torpedo boats was to follow and attack what was left of the Japanese fleet still at anchorage in Sanur on southern Bali.
Several IJN ships had already left by the time Doorman’s force could attack.
The first group’s two RNN light cruisers approached at high speed ahead of the RNN destroyer HNLMS Piet Hein (F811) and opened fire. The IJN illuminated the Badung Strait, and the Dutch employed pyrotechnics as well. No hits were scored.
The two RNN cruisers continued to the northeast while the IJN turned to the southeast to confront the expected next group of Allied ships. The IJN sank the Dutch destroyer HNLS Piet Hein. The two USN destroyers with Piet Hein, the USS Pope and Ford retired to the southeast and did not follow the cruisers exiting to the north.
The second group of one RNN light cruiser and four USN destroyers arrived off the southern tip of Bali. The destroyers attacked with torpedoes without effect. These destroyers headed north. The IJN attacked the Dutch light cruiser HNLMS Tromp, hit her eleven times, and caused heavy damage. In response, Tromp returned fire and hit two destroyers damaging them. Tromp went to Australia for repairs.
As the Allied ships headed north, they attacked an IJN transport and caused heavy damage.
The USN destroyer Stewart (DD-224) was damaged, scuttled and later salvaged by the Japanese and used as a patrol boat.
The Dutch Balinese militia deserted, and Japanese forces landed and captured the Den Passer Airfield in southeast Bali, which gave them an advantage in their upcoming attack against Java.
The IJN displayed strong power fighting at night, which it knew to be its advantage, an advantage it would continue to use over and over.
It was evident that the Japanese would next move against Java. They employed two invasion forces. The western force left Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, with 56 ships and two infantry divisions and an infantry regiment on February 18, 1942. The eastern force left Lingayen Gulf, Philippines with 41 transports, carrying portions of a regimental combat group.
I used these sources: “Battle of the Java Sea,” and “The Battle of the Java Sea,” “Japanese Cruisers at the Battle of the Java Sea”
The Dutch had two strike forces on the ground, one coming from Surabaya in the east and Tanjung Priok in the west, a bit north of Batavia, which would be later renamed Jakarta, the current capital of Indonesia. They had an infantry regiment to guard the Surabaya Naval Base in the east and about 27,000 troops in the west.
The British had anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) units and an armored squadron. The Australians had several infantry battalions. The US had a field artillery battalion there as well.
Lieutenant-Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich, RNN, commanded Allied naval forces. He had two strike forces, one at Surabaya in the east and the other at Tanjung Priok in the west. Dutch Rear Admiral Doorman was subordinate to Helfich.
Doorman collected a substantial ABDACOM naval squadron. On February 24, 1942, this ABDACOM force assembled at Surabaya on Java’s northeast coast:
- Dutch light cruisers HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java
- USN heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30) (turret out of commission)
- British heavy cruiser Exeter (68)
- Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth. (D29)
- USN destroyers John D. Edwards (DD-216), Alden (DD-211), Paul Jones (DD-230), and Pope (DD-134)
- Dutch destroyers Kortenaer, Witte de With and Evertsen.
- British destroyers Encounter (H10), Jupiter (F85), and Electra (H27).
Lieutenant Commander William P. Mack, USN, has written,
“The Allies’ only hope of defending Java was to be able to control the sea north of Java. The decisive battle for control of this sea area was fought in the Java Sea off Surabaya on February 27 and 28, 1942 … Admiral Doorman’s force was a conglomeration of ships furnished by four nations. Most were damaged, or overage, or were badly in need of overhaul. Keeping them supplied and maintained was difficult and complex.”
The Japanese had been bombing daily. The ABDACOM squadron scouted the nearby Madura Island on February 24, 25, and 26, returning to Surabaya each night. The ships entered the Surabaya minefields when they received a report that a sizable Japanese force, including cruisers, destroyers, and a large number of transports, was heading toward Java. The ABDACOM force prepared for battle.
The Exeter and Perth joined the De Ruyter and Java and their destroyer escorts after the IJN invasion force was spotted moving south from Balikpapan, Borneo. Thirteen fighter aircraft provided air coverage.
Cdr. Mack commented, “The distance from Borneo to Java was only a night’s run at high speed.”
The ABDACOM force steamed to the north toward the Bawean Islands on the south side of the Java Sea. Cdr. Mack said the disposition of the ships in the ABDA force was not ideal. HMS Jupiter led the way well ahead of the others. She came under fire and headed back to the main body, the first indication they had made contact.
The ships on both sides soon went into full battle. The IJN force sailed ahead of the transports it was meant to protect, and the ABDA force was trying to get to them.
Cdr. Mack’s description of the battle as a “furious exchange of salvos” is apt. Mitch Williamson wrote,
“The Dutch East Indies were the major prize for which Japan had gone to war … the capture of the oil fields of Borneo and the Dutch East Indies as essential to make their country self-sufficient.”
Williamson described the battle in three parts:
- Afternoon battle
- Early night battle
- Late night battle
The ABDACOM fleet was essentially destroyed. A Dutch mine sank the destroyer HMS Jupiter. Torpedoes hit the Dutch light cruiser Java and she sank. A torpedo hit the flagship De Ruyter, and she sank, killing Admiral Doorman. The Dutch destroyer Korenaer was hit, split in two, and sank “in less than 30 seconds.” The Exeter was hit and moved south.
The IJN kept on coming and engaging. The IJN attacked the Evertsen with its guns, causing significant damage. She grounded herself, the crew abandoned ship, there was an explosion, and she sank. The IJN sank two Dutch patrol ships. Land-based aircraft sank the seaplane tender USS Langley (AV-3) and the fleet oiler USS Pecos (AO-6).
Japanese aircraft, an IJN battleship, and heavy cruiser gunfire sank the USS Edsall on March 1, 1942. IJN destroyers sank the HMS Stronghold, and the USS Asheville gunboat. Dutch cargo ships and a British minesweeper were also attacked and sunk.
The net result was that almost all of the ABDA ships were damaged or sunk. The defeat was clear and decisive.
The Japanese landed at three points on Java on March 1, 1942: Bantam Bay on the western tip of Java and Kragan on the northeast section of Java.
The battle of the Java Sea next extended to the Sundra Strait on the western end of Java, separating Java from Sumatra. The USN heavy cruiser Houston and Australian light cruiser Perth were ordered to sail through the Sundra Strait to Tjilatjap in southwestern Java on February 28.
Supplies at Tjilatjap were low so neither ship was able to refuel and rearm. Both ships came up against a massive IJN force. The Perth was sunk by multiple torpedoes fired at her. The Houston was also hit and sunk. The Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen had followed the two cruisers and was seriously hit by shells. The skipper grounded her on a reef and the crew abandoned her.
Bawean Island is about 75 miles north of Surabaya on northeast Java. The British heavy cruiser Exeter was hit in the Battle of the Java Sea but was able to make emergency repairs thought sufficient to get her to Ceylon for further repairs. The USS Pope and HMS Encounter escorted her. They headed west-northwest of Bawean Island on February 28, 1942.
On March 1 they sighted a significant IJN force of heavy cruisers and destroyers. The ABDACOM force tried to escape, to no avail. Exeter was sunk by shells and then torpedoes. The IJN went after the two destroyers. The Pope hid in a rain squall, but was spotted by Japanese aircraft which attacked and sank her.
The IJN heavy cruisers sank the USS Pillsbury on March 2, 1942.
The Encounter was struck by IJN shells and the skipper scuttled her. She capsized and sank. IJN destroyers attacked the USS Perch (SS-177) on March 1 causing significant damage. She surfaced, was spotted by Japanese destroyers, then dove and was struck again disabling her propulsion system. All this said, she surfaced, was hit by gunfire on March 3, dove and the crew of 59 escaped and was picked up by a Japanese destroyer.
On March 9, 1942, the Dutch surrendered unconditionally. On March 12, Australian and British army troops in the mountains surrendered.
The Japanese broke the Malay Barrier during February 1942, advanced into Burma, and by early March defeated ABDACOM and conquered the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese moved swiftly with supreme confidence. Allied forces were not prepared for such an onslaught, having underestimated Japanese power; they failed and paid a heavy price.
The next major naval battle was for the Coral Sea offshore eastern Australia, thought by most to be a draw. Then came the Battle of Midway, the first USN defeat of the IJN, one that halted Japan’s extension to the east. You know the rest of the story.
