Conflict: World War II
Combatants: American/Dutch vs. Japanese
Location: Java Sea
Outcome: Japanese victory
On this day in 1942, Dutch Rear Admiral Karl Doorman was in command of a Combined Striking Force in the Java Sea. This force was composed of one American and two Dutch light cruisers, one American heavy cruiser, and four destroyers. On receiving word of a Japanese fleet in the nearby Makassar Strait, Doorman chose to intercept.
The Allied fleet was attacked by a squadron of thirty-six Japanese bombers. In this attack, Doorman's flagship was damaged and the American light cruiser Marblehead so badly hit that it had to return to port using its engines to steer. The American heavy cruiser Houston sustained a bomb strike that destroyed an entire gun turret and killed over fifty men.
Doorman then called off the attempted intercept. The allied warships retreated through the Lombak Strait.
Points of Interest:
With Doorman's Combined Surface Force out of the way, the Japanese seized Makassar two days later.
Despite another defeat, an American submarine did manage to sink a Japanese destroyer with the Makassar attack force.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
Gailey, Harry A.. (1995). The War in the Pacific. Novato, CA: Presidio Press.