Battle of Badung Strait

HNLMS De Ruyter off Java in 1942.

Date	18–20 February 1942
Location	Badung Strait off Bali in the Dutch East Indies
Result	Japanese victory

Belligerents

Netherlands

United States

United Kingdom

Empire of Japan

Commanders and leaders

Karel Doorman

Kyuji Kubo

Strength

Sea:
3 cruisers,
7 destroyers,
2 submarines
Air:
20 aircraft

4 destroyers,
2 transports

Casualties and losses

Unknown human losses
1 destroyer sunk,
1 cruiser damaged,
1 destroyer damaged

25 killed,
~83 wounded,
3 destroyers damaged
1 transport damaged

The Battle of Badung Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 19/20 February 1942 in Badung Strait (not to be confused with the West Java city of Bandung) 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 battle demonstrated the Japanese Navy's considerable superiority over the Allies in night fighting which lasted until the Battle of Cape St. George.

A battalion of the 48th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army landed on Bali on 18 February 1942. Dutch Admiral Karel 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, 20 planes of the United States Army Air Forces attacked the convoy but succeeded only in damaging the transport Sagami Maru.

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