Second Battle of the Java Sea

The Second Battle of the Java Sea was the last naval action of the Netherlands East Indies campaign, of 1941–42. It occurred on 1 March 1942, two days after the first Battle of the Java Sea. It saw the end of the last Allied warships operating in the waters around Java, allowing Japanese forces to complete their conquest of the Dutch East Indies unhindered. The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command fleet were defeated at the first Battle of the Java Sea, on 27 February 1942, and its ships had been dispersed or sunk by the Japanese. The light cruiser and the heavy cruiser had retreated to Tanjung Priok, the port of the capital, Batavia, in the west of the island. They planned to withdraw via the Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap on the south of the island and departed on the evening of 28 February; but encountering the Japanese Western Invasion Force later that night in Bantam Bay, they were both sunk in the battle of Sunda Strait; in a related but separate action, the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Evertsen was also destroyed. The heavy cruiser —severely damaged in the first Battle of the Java Sea—had withdrawn to Surabaya in the east, escorted by the Dutch destroyer . There she was joined by , which arrived with the survivors from the destroyer . Also at Surabaya were the four U.S. destroyers of Destroyer Division 58 (DesDiv 58), which had also withdrawn there from the battle, and , which had been undergoing repairs. On 28 February, after nightfall, DesDiv 58 (, , , and ) departed for Australia via Surabaya's shallow eastern channel, and then exited the Java area by going south through the Bali Strait; after a brief encounter with Japanese destroyers they arrived safely at Fremantle on 4 March. After emergency repairs, Exeter also left for further repairs in Ceylon, leaving at dusk on 28 February, and escorted by Encounter and Pope. Witte de With was unable to leave, due to mechanical trouble, and was later bombed and sunk at Surabaya on 2 March.