Second Battle of the Java Sea

Battle of the Java Sea (II)
Part of World War II, Pacific War
HMS Exeter sinking
Date 1 March 1942 Location Java Sea Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Royal Navy United States Navy	Imperial Japanese Navy
Commanders and leaders
Oliver Gordon	Takeo Takagi Ibo Takahashi
Strength
1 heavy cruiser 2 destroyers	4 heavy cruisers 5 destroyers
Casualties and losses
1 heavy cruiser sunk 2 destroyers sunk 800 captured	1 destroyer heavily damaged

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 Netherlands 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 HMAS Perth and the heavy cruiser USS Houston had retreated to Tanjong 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.

The heavy cruiser HMS Exeter—severely damaged in the first Battle of the Java Sea—had withdrawn to Surabaya in the east, escorted by the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Witte de With. There she was joined by HMS Encounter, which arrived with the survivors from the destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer. Also at Surabaya were the four U.S. destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 58 (DesRon 58), which had also withdrawn there from the battle, and USS Pope, which had been undergoing repairs.

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