Battle of Badung Strait

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Badung Strait


caption=
partof=World War II, Pacific War
date=18 February 1942 – 19 February 1942
place=Badung Strait off Bali in the Dutch East Indies
result=Japanese victory
combatant1=flag|Netherlands
flag|United States|1912
flag|United Kingdom
combatant2=flag|Empire of Japan
commander1=flagicon|Netherlands Karel Doorman
commander2=flagicon|Empire of Japan|naval Kyuji Kubo
strength1=3 cruisers, 7 destroyers, 7 torpedo boats, 2 submarines, 20 planes
strength2=4 destroyers, 2 transports
casualties1=1 destroyer sunk
1 cruiser damaged
1 destroyer damaged
casualties2=3 destroyers damaged |

The Battle of Badung Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 19 February – 20 February 1942 in Badung Strait between the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) and the Imperial Japanese Navy. In the engagement, the four Japanese destroyers, defeated an Allied force that outnumbered and outgunned them, escorting two transports to safety and sinking the Dutch destroyer "Piet Hein". The engagement demonstrated the Japanese Navy's considerable superiority over the Allies in night fighting.

Background

A battalion of the 48th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army landed on Bali on 18 February 1942.

Admiral Doorman's naval forces were scattered around Indonesia, but the invasion of Bali could not be ignored — it would give the Japanese an airbase within range of the ABDA naval base at Surabaya — so he sent in all available ships. The short notice gave no time to concentrate his ships; accordingly several Allied forces were to attack the Japanese.

The first Allied vessels to engage were the submarines USS "Seawolf" and HMS "Truant". Both attacked the Japanese convoy on 18 February but did no damage and were driven off by depth charges from Japanese destroyers. Later that day twenty planes of the United States Army Air Forces attacked the convoy but succeeded only in damaging the transport "Sagami Maru".

The Japanese were aware that their invasion convoy was likely to be attacked again, so they retreated north as soon as possible. The cruiser "Nagara" and the destroyers "Wakaba", "Hatsushimo" and "Nenohi" were well away and took no part in the action. The last ships to leave were the two transports, each escorted by two destroyers. "Sasago Maru" was escorted by "Asashio" and "Oshio"; the heavily damaged "Sagami Maru" was escorted by "Michishio" and "Arashio".

Battle

The first Allied group, consisting of the cruisers HNLMS "De Ruyter" and HNLMS "Java" and the destroyers USS "John D. Ford", USS "Pope", and HNLMS "Piet Hein", sighted the Japanese in Badung Strait at about 22:00 and opened fire at 22:25 on 19 February. No damage was done in this exchange of fire, and the two Dutch cruisers continued through the strait to the northeast, to give the destroyers a free hand to engage with torpedoes. Then "Piet Hein", "Pope" and "John D. Ford" came into range. At 22:40 a Long Lance torpedo from "Asashio" hit "Piet Hein", sinking the Dutch destroyer immediately. "Asashio" and "Oshio" then exchanged gunfire with "Pope" and "John D. Ford", forcing the two American destroyers to retire to the southeast instead of following the cruisers to the northeast.

In the darkness, "Asashio" and "Oshio" mistook each other for enemy ships and fired on each other for several minutes, without any damage.

About three hours later the second group of ABDA ships — the cruiser HNLMS "Tromp" and the destroyers USS "John D. Edwards", USS "Parrott", USS "Pillsbury", and USS "Stewart" — reached Badung Strait. At 01:36 "Stewart", "Pillsbury" and "Parrott" launched torpedoes but did no damage. Then "Oshio" and "Asashio" sortied again and there was another exchange of gunfire. "Tromp" was hit by eleven 5-inch shells from "Asashio", severely damaging her (she later had to return to Australia for repairs), and hit both Japanese destroyers, killing four men on "Asashio" (she suffered only slight damage) and seven on "Oshio".

"Arashio" and "Michishio" had been ordered by Admiral Kubo to turn back, and at about 02:20 they joined the battle. "Michishio" was hit by shells from "Pillsbury", "John D. Edwards" and "Tromp", killing thirteen of her crew and wounding 83. She lost speed and had to be towed after the battle. Both groups of ships turned away, and the engagement was over.

The third ABDA group — seven torpedo boats — arrived in Badung Strait at about 06:00 but did not encounter any Japanese ships.

Aftermath

The battle was a significant victory for the Japanese. Lieutenant Commander Gorō Yoshii of "Asashio" and Commander Kiyoshi Kikkawa of "Oshio" had shown great bravery and skill. They had driven off a much larger Allied force, sunk the destroyer "Piet Hein" and severely damaged the cruiser "Tromp", had sustained little damage themselves, and had protected their transport ships.

Bali's garrison of 600 Indonesian militia offered no resistance to the Japanese, and its airfield was captured intact. The Japanese continued their conquest of the Dutch East Indies with the capture of Timor on 20 February – 23 February. The ABDA forces engaged at Badung Strait were decisively defeated in the Battle of the Java Sea on 1 March 1942, in which the Dutch cruisers "Java" and "De Ruyter" were sunk and Admiral Doorman was killed. The "Tromp" evaded this fate, for she was withdrawn to Australia to repair damage suffered at Badung Strait. The destroyer "Stewart" was repaired in Soerabaia, where she was next captured by the Japanese and put to their service as the P-102 patrol vessel.

External links

* [http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Badung-Strait.htm Order of battle]
* O'Hara, Vincent, [http://www.microworks.net/pacific/battles/badung_strait.htm Battle of Badung Strait]
* Ramires, Felipe C. [http://www.smmlonline.com/articles/badoeng.html The fall of Bali and the naval battle of the Badoeng Strait 18 - 20 of February 1942]
* Womack, Tom [http://www.netherlandsnavy.nl/battle_balitimor.html Fire in the Night: The loss of Bali and Timor]
* Womack, Tom (February 1996), [http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/world_war_2/3788187.html?showAll=y&c=y Battle of Badoeng Strait: World War II Naval Duel off Bali]