In the Battle of Sunda Strait was a naval battle which occurred during World War II. On the night of February 28-March 1, 1942, the United States cruiser USS Houston and the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth faced a major Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) task force. After a fierce battle of several hours duration, both Allied ships were sunk. Two Japanese ships were sunk by friendly fire.

Background

In late February 1942, Japanese amphibious forces were preparing to invade Java, in the Netherlands East Indies.

On February 27, the main American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman, sailed northeast from Surabaya to intercept a Japanese invasion fleet. The ABDA force consisted of two heavy cruisers, including USS Houston (under Captain Albert H. Rooks), three light cruisers including HMAS Perth (Captain Hector Waller), and nine destroyers. Only six of the nine 8-inch guns on Houston were operable, since its aft turret had been knocked out in an earlier air attack.

The ABDA force engaged the Japanese force in the Java Sea. The Allied ships were all sunk or dispersed. Houston and Perth both retreated to Tanjung Priok, Java, the main port of Batavia (later Jakarta), where they arrived at 13:30 on February 28.

Battle

Later on February 28, Houston and Perth received orders to sail through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap, on the south coast of Java. The Dutch destroyer Evertsen, which was to have accompanied them, was not ready and remained in Tanjung Priok. Houston and Perth left at 19:00. Waller, who had seniority over Rooks, was in command. The only ships they expected to encounter were Australian corvettes on patrol in and around the strait.

By chance, just after 22:00, the Japanese 16th Army's Western Java Invasion Convoy — over 50 transports,and including the Army's commander, Lt Gen. Hitoshi Imamura — was entering Bantam Bay, near the northwest tip of Java. The Japanese troop transports were escorted by the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, led by Rear Admiral Kenzaburo Hara and the 7th Cruiser Squadron, under R. Adm. Takeo Kurita. Hara's light cruiser Natori, with the destroyers Harukaze, Hatakaze, Asakaze, Fubuki, Hatsuyuki, Shirayuki, Shirakumo, and Murakumo were closest to the convoy. To the north was V. Adm. Takeo Kurita's 7th Cruiser Squadron; its 2nd Division, the cruisers Mogami and Mikuma, with the destroyer Shikinami flanked the bay to the north.

Slightly further north, though not involved in the action, was the aircraft carrier Ryujo, with the 1st Division of the 7th Cruiser Squadron — Suzuya and Kumano — along with the seaplane carrier Chiyoda, and the destroyers Isonami, Shikinami and Uranami.

Some time around 23:00, the Allied ships were sighted by the patrolling Fubuki, which followed them surreptitiously. At 23:06, when they were about half-way across the mouth of Bantam Bay, Perth sighted a ship about eight kilometres (five mi) ahead, near Sint Nicolaas Point. It was thought at first that the ship was an Australian corvette, but when challenged, it made an unintelligible reply, with a lamp which was the wrong colour, and then turned away, making smoke. The ship was soon identified as a Japanese destroyer (probably Harukaze). Waller reported the contact and ordered his forward turrets to open fire.

In a ferocious night action that ended after midnight, the two Allied cruisers were sunk. A Japanese minesweeper and a transport were sunk by torpedoes from Fubuki. Three other transports— one of which was Ryujo Maru, on which Lt. Gen. Hitoshi Imamura was aboard— were also sunk but later refloated. After Imamura's ship was fatally hit and sank, he had to jump overboard. However a small boat rescued him and brought him ashore. (L.,Klemens,1999-2000)

References

• 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.
• 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.
• Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
• 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.
• Schultz, Duane (1985). The Last Battle Station: The Story of the USS Houston. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-312-46973-X.
• Skeels, Fred (2008). Java Rabble: A story of a ship, slavery and survival. Victoria Park: Hesperian Press. ISBN 978-0-85905-419-5.
• 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). 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.

External links

• Naval History (no date), "1942 03 01 0100 Surface Action Battle Of Sunda Strait"
• G. Hermon Gill, 1957, Official Histories – Second World War Volume I – Royal Australian Navy, 1939–1942 (1st ed,) Ch. 16 "Defeat in ABDA"
• US Navy report of the battle from 1943.. Retrieved on 2006-05-17..
• Chapter 3: The Japanese Invasion of the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, and Southeast Asia. The Campaigns of the Pacific War. United States Government Printing Office. (1946). Retrieved on 2006-11-20..
• Muir, Dan Order of Battle - The Battle of the Sunda Strait 1942
• L., Klemen, 1999-2000, The Netherlands East Indies 1941-42, "The conquest of Java Island, March 1942" (http://www.geocities.com/dutcheastindies/java.html, the Geocities link can only be added by an established user)