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In December 1941, the same month as Japanese
planes infamously attacked Pearl Harbour,
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the Imperial Japanese navy and army was beginning
a lightning campaign in south east asia and the
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east Indies. Over the course of just three months,
they would overrun almost the entire region
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in a remarkable string of victories.
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The campaigns for South East Asia and the
Dutch East Indies were triggered in July 1941,
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when the US, UK and Netherlands placed an oil
embargo on Japan. Oil was vital to Japan’s war
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economy, and the country had very small amounts
of domestic production. In 1939 the Empire of
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Japan had imported 19.4 million barrels of oil
from the US and 14.1 from the Dutch East Indies-
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compared to just 3.1 million barrels that were
extracted domestically. The oil embargo would soon
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cripple Japan’s economy. As Marc Lohnstein puts
it – “For Japan… only two choices remained open:
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to yield to US demands, or to acquire the
necessary raw materials by force.” As you
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might be able to guess, Japan chose war, and
preparations began for a grand strike south.
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As Japan did not have enough shipping to launch
simultaneous invasions across the entire region,
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their planners devised a plan to
take the East Indies sequentially.
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First to be attacked would be Malaya, Borneo and
the Philippines, with a subsequent island-hopping
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campaign concluding with the invasion of
the capital of the Dutch East Indies, Java.
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Key to this plan was a relentless pace and
overwhelming firepower from both the air and sea.
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As such, a large portion of the Japanese fleet was
assigned to the ‘Southern Expeditionary Force’-
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1 light aircraft carrier, 2 Battleships, 12 heavy
cruisers, 4 light cruisers and 52 destroyers.
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Under the overall command of
Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo,
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the navy would provide close escort and support
the invasion convoys as they progressed south.
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As for a relentless pace, the Japanese wasted no
time. By Christmas 1941 large parts of Malaya had
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fallen, as well as both Kuching and Miri in
British Borneo. When the island of Jolo west
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of the Phillipines was seized, Japan had the
required airbases to cover the first phase of
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attacks on the Dutch East Indies. As Japan’s
fleet carriers were busy elsewhere, capturing
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airbases suitable for land based aircraft
to use was vital for covering the advance.
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The Japanese force was large, manned powerful
modern ships and was extensively trained,
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with the support of a very powerful aviation arm,
highly skilled in attacking maritime targets.
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All things that the opposing Allied force was
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not and did not have.
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The Allied naval forces in South East Asia in
December 1941 were a disparate bunch, representing
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the differing pre-war priorities and dispositions
of three navies and four nations. After the
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British capital ships Prince of Wales and Repulse
were sunk off the coast of Malaya barely two days
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into the campaign, the largest allied force in the
region was Admiral Thomas Hart’s US Asiatic Fleet.
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The Asiatic fleet was a small and neglected force,
consisting only of the heavy cruisers Houston and
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Boise, the old light cruiser Marblehead, and 13
clemson-class destroyers that were commissioned
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during the first world war. It did have a force of
29 submarines- albeit old ones- which were useful,
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but its only planes were 28 catalina
flying boats- good for reconnaissance,
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but not much use against Japanese fighters.
The lack of aviation was a theme in the Royal
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Navy force in the region too. The aircraft
carrier Indomitable had originally been
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intended to accompany Prince of Wales and
Repulse, but had been delayed after striking
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a coral reef in the west indies. When it did
arrive in January 1942 it, and virtually all
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of Britain’s air assets, were funnelled into
Malaya, as the campaign there deteriorated.
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Britain did not have much else in the far
east. Their most powerful remaining ship
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was the York-class heavy cruiser Exeter. Exeter
was supported by the perth-class light cruisers
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Perth and Hobart and two old world war
1 vintage Danae class light cruisers.
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The cruisers were joined by a handful of
modern destroyers, as well as occasionally
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a variety of older destroyers and sloops
when deployed to escort convoys to Singapore.
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The third Allied naval power in the far
east was the Royal Netherlands Navy,
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which mustered three cruisers: Tromp, Java and the
most modern, De Ruyter. De Ruyter was a capable
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ship, but it was outclassed by equivalent
Japanese light cruisers. 7 Dutch destroyers
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were present along with 15 submarines,
all of which dated from the mid 1920s.
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Logistics and resupply were a nightmare for the
Dutch as their homeland was occupied by Germany,
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making obtaining fresh manpower
or spares virtually impossible.
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The situation was so bad that one of the
destroyers had no crew, and had to wait for one
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to be sunk so that its crew could be transferred.
This rag-tag multinational force would be based
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mostly on Java, variously mainly at Soerabaja
or Tandjong Priok. Neither of these ports had
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sufficient anti-air protection, which
would become a problem before too long.
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In so far as the Allied forces
had a plan going into 1942,
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it was to defend the so-called malay barrier
and keep the Japanese out of the Indian ocean,
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and to try and disrupt Japanese landings
in the Dutch East Indies where possible.
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Despite the large number of Japanese ships
deployed they did not have enough to escort
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all the invasion convoys, so it might be possible
to pick an undefended one off, even with the
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meagre forces provided to the Allied commanders.
On January 1st 1942 Admiral Thomas Hart arrived
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at Java, with his fleet having been relocated in
the face of the enemy invasion of the Phillipines.
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On arrival he was informed that he’d been
appointed as the overall commander of Allied
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naval forces in South East Asia, as part of the
newly-formed American-British-Dutch-Australian
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Command – a single unified Allied
command structure for the entire region.
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Admiral Hart soon had his work cut out for
him trying to halt the Japanese advance.
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On January 10th, a Japanese force under Major
General Shizuo Sakaguchi landed at Tarakan
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in Dutch Borneo, and quickly broke through
the single Dutch battalion defending the area.
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On the same day, Japan landed at Menado further
east, launching the first airborne assault in
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Asia to take the airfield there. With a
second line of airbases captured. missions
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could now be flown further south, lining up
attacks on Makassar, Kendari, and Balikpapan.
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Meanwhile, the Allies were doing their best
to respond to the myriad Japanese landings.
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Substantial air attacks were launched on
the newly-captured airbases by US, Dutch and
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Australian aircraft, and a naval forces prepared
to try and disrupt further Japanese landings.
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Under American Rear Admiral William
Glassford, ‘Task Force 5’ twice went
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to sea in mid-january on the
basis of faulty intelligence,
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searching in vain for Japanese
invasion convoys near southern borneo.
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On January 20th the cruiser Boise hit an
uncharted reef and suffered a hundred foot
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gouge in her side, forcing the cruiser to
be withdrawn from South East Asia entirely
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and Glassford’s ships to return to port.
Two days later, a Catalina flying boat
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spotted a Japanese invasion convoy
heading south to Balikpapan.
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Admiral Hart ordered Task Force 5 to engage, but
in the intervening days Houston and two destroyers
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had been reassigned to escort a convoy and
Marblehead had developed engine trouble.
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This left just the four destroyers of Commander
Paul Talbot’s 5th destroyer division available,
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and these ships set off north on January 23rd,
covered by poor weather. Marblehead and another
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destroyer followed behind, intending to
be on station to cover Talbot’s retreat.
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In the early hours of January 24th, the
four destroyers steamed into Balikpapan bay
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at high speed. They could spot 14 transports
anchored in the bay, silhouetted against the
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shoreline by oil wells that the retreating Dutch
had set ablaze. There were supposed to be 15,
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but shortly after midnight the Dutch submarine
K-18 had sunk the transport Tsuruga Maru,
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on the south-western edge of the invasion
convoy. Another transport, the Nana Maru,
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had been bombed by Dutch aircraft and was ablaze,
helpfully illuminating the ships around her.
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The local Japanese commander,
Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura,
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had taken his flagship Naka and destroyers to
the west of the convoy to hunt for K-18. This
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left the eastern approach to the convoy unguarded
when Talbot’s destroyers arrived on the scene.
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They quickly got stuck in, sinking four
Japanese transports over the next hour
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and damaging others for the cost of just a single
shell hit sustained on the USS John D. Ford.
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It was a victory for the Allies, one of their
first at sea against the Empire of Japan.
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It was though a victory which didn’t change very
much. The Japanese advance pressed on regardless,
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with Balikpapan secured by January 25th and the
airfield at Kendari captured on January 24th.
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This put the main allied naval base at
Soerabaja within range of Japanese bombers,
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heralding the start of near-daily air attacks.
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Things soon got worse for the Allies when
on February 4th Japanese bombers attacked
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the Allied Striking force while it was
attempting to hinder landings at Makassar,
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damaging Houston and forcing Marblehead to be
sent back to the US for repairs. The Japanese
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march southwards continued unabated. Makassar fell
on February 9th and Singapore on February 15th.
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This marked the final collapse of British
Malaya, and opened up Sumatra to Japanese attack.
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No time was wasted. Before Singapore
had even officially surrendered,
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airborne troops were being dropped over
Palembang, the southernmost part of Sumatra
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and home to two key allied airbases
and several important oil refineries.
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The allied defence held initially, but the
following day there was a large supporting
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amphibious invasion, which overran the
remaining Allied troops by February 16th.
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With the loss of southern Sumatra the net around
Java had closed from the west, and just days
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later the same happened on the eastern side. In
mid-february four Japanese fleet carriers arrived
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in the Java Sea, launching a devastating air raid
against Port Darwin on February 19th. 188 planes
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attacked the Australian port, sinking 9 ships in
the harbour and destroying many of the facilities,
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crippling the Allied ability to bring
supplies into the Dutch East Indies.
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On the same day Japanese troops landed on the
island of Bali, seeking to wrest control of the
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airfield at Denpasar from the Dutch authorities.
The allies hurled what naval and air force they
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had available at the landings, but it was to
no avail. Bali was soon controlled by Japan,
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and two Allied ships were taken out of action. The
next day it was Timor’s turn, as Japanese troops
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under Colonel Doi Sadashichi overran the island
– both the dutch and Portuguese controlled parts.
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Amidst this maelstrom on February 12th the
Allies appointed a new naval commander,
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Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich, who was determined
to mount whatever resistance he could to defend
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the last bastion of the Dutch East Indies
– Java. Join me in the next episode for the
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Battle of the Java Sea- make sure you subscribe
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