Battle of Sunda Strait
The Battle of Sunda Strait was a naval battle which occurred during World War II in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java, and Sumatra. On the night of 28 February - 1 March 1942, the Australian light cruiser , American heavy cruiser , and Dutch destroyer faced a major Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) task force. After a fierce battle lasting several hours, all Allied ships were sunk. Five Japanese ships were sunk, three of them by friendly fire. Battle of the Java Sea In late February 1942, Japanese amphibious forces were preparing to invade Java, in the Dutch East Indies. On 27 February, the main American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval force, under Admiral Karel Doorman–a Dutch officer–steamed northeast from Surabaya to intercept an Imperial Japanese navy invasion fleet. This part of the ABDA force consisted of two heavy cruisers, including under the command of Captain Albert H. Rooks, three light cruisers, including under Captain Hector Waller, and nine destroyers. Only six out of nine of USS Houstons heavy guns were operational because her aft gun turret had been knocked out in an earlier Japanese air raid. The () force engaged the Japanese force in the Battle of 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, Dutch East Indies, where they arrived at 13:30 on 28 February. In the early evening on 28 February, Houston, Perth and the Dutch destroyer received orders to depart Tanjung Priok and head through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap, on the south coast of Java. Waller, who had seniority, was de facto commander of this force. The only ships they expected to encounter were Australian corvettes on patrol, in and around the strait itself. While Houston and Perth left at 19:00, Evertsen was not ready and followed the cruisers two hours later. By chance, just after 22:00, a Japanese invasion convoy bound for West Java - including the entire Sixteenth Army, under Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura, in over 50 transport ships - was entering Bantam Bay, near the northwest tip of Java.
