19 February 1942

Battle of Badung Strait

VIVAnews - After successfully overrunning most of the islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Ambon, in early February 1942 the Japanese began to set their eyes on Bali.

The island of Bali was considered important to the Japanese due to its proximity to Java, the main Allies defense in Indonesia (then, the Dutch East Indies). The island possessed a strategic air and naval base which could be of useful for their military expansion.

On 18 February 1942, a Japanese convoy consisting of six destroyers and two transport ships crossed the Strait of Badung unopposed. Soon, a battalion of the 48th Infantry Division of the Japanese Imperial Army landed on the shores of Bali.

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Admiral Doorman, the Allies Naval Commander, who has received report of the Japanese invasion of Bali, immediately sent in all available ships to the island. Their mission was to intercept and destroy the Japanese convoy.

Unfortunately for the Allies, the short notice gave no time for their ships to coordinate their attacks. As a result, the Allies naval forces failed to arrive at the battle scene at the same time as one large convoy.

The first Allies vessels to arrive were two submarines, USS Seawolf and HMS Truant. Both submarines attacked the Japanese convoy but did no damage and soon had to withdraw after being chased by Japanese destroyers.

Later, the Allies Air Forces attacked the Japanese fleet, inflicting severe damage to Sagami Maru, one of their transport ships. This last attack forced the Japanese to retreat to the north.

Meanwhile, a group of Allies ships, consisting of two cruisers (HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java) and three destroyers (USS John D. Ford, USS Pope, and HNLMS Piet Hein), arrived in the Strait of Badung and sighted the Japanese fleet at 10.00pm on 19 January 1942.

After exchanging fires, a torpedo from Asashio, one of the Japanese destroyers, hit HNLMS Piet Hein, sinking the Dutch destroyer. Another series of attacks from the Japanese destroyers forced the two US destroyers to retire to the southeast. 

After successfully repulsing three Allies attacks, the Japanese fleet engaged with a second group of Allies naval forces who had just arrived in Badung Strait. The Allies vessels consisted of one Dutch cruiser and four US destroyers.

Despite their superior number and gun, the Allies failed to overwhelm the Japanese ships. In fact, the Dutch cruiser, HNLMS Tromp, suffered a major hit and had to retreat.

After exchanging fires and shelling the Japanese fleet for several hours, the US destroyers finally retreated and so did the Japanese fleet.

In all, the successive attacks by the Allies naval forces on 19 and 20 February 1942 failed to inflict serious damage to the Japanese navy. This failure led to the fall of Bali and the lesser Sunda Islands up to Timor into the Japanese hands in late February 1942.

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28 Maret 2024