15 Feb 1942

Photo(s) dated 15 Feb 1942
Cruiser Exeter under air attack by B5N aircraft in the Gaspar Strait, 15 Feb 1942; note bombs falling astern of the cruiserHMS Exeter under attack by B5N aircraft during the Gasper Strait sortie, 15 Feb 1942HMS Exeter firing on Japanese aircraft, Gaspar Strait, 15 Feb 1942; photograph taken from HMAS Hobart
27 Feb 1942

Pacific Ocean
  • At the Battle of the Java Sea, Nachi launched scouting missions with her two floatplanes. She was surprised by the Allied Striking Force in the evening, but was able to escape without damage. ww2dbase [Nachi | Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java Sea | CPC]
28 Feb 1942

Pacific Ocean
  • Japanese submarine I-153 sank British freighter City of Manchester south of Java, Dutch East Indies; 3 were killed, 6 were captured by I-153's crew, and 128 were rescued by USS Whippoorwill and USS Lark. ww2dbase [Java Sea | CPC]
  • During the battle of the Java Sea, the Dutch light cruiser De Ruyter was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro, 375 crew lost their lives. Although a listed war grave the ship was salvaged illegally some time between 2002 and 2016. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java Sea | HM]
  • USS S-38 picked up 58 survivors of destroyer HMS Electra, which sank the day prior at the Battle of the Java Sea. ww2dbase [S-38 | Java Sea | CPC]
1 Mar 1942

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Permit fired three torpedoes at a Japanese destroyer in the Java Sea; all three torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [Permit | Java Sea | CPC]
  • At the Battle of the Java Sea, slightly damaged cruiser HMS Exeter, destroyer HMS Encounter, and destroyer USS Pope at 0850 hours. At 1245 hours, Nachi fired once again on HMS Exeter by gunfire. She departed the area at the end of the day with 90 Allied prisoners of war on board. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Nachi | Java Sea | CPC]
  • HMS Exeter was sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea shortly after 1200 hours. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Exeter | Java Sea | AC]
Photo(s) dated 1 Mar 1942
HMS Exeter sinking south of Borneo, Dutch East Indies, 1 Mar 1942, photo 1 of 2
2 Mar 1942

Pacific Ocean
  • Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors of HMS Exeter, HMS Encounter, and USS Pope which had been sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea on the previous day. ww2dbase [Ikazuchi | Java Sea | CPC]
  • USS S-38 spotted Japanese light cruiser Kinu in the Java Sea before dawn. She fired four torpedoes and claimed one hit, but Japanese records showed no damage to Kinu on that date. Japanese destroyers counterattacked with depth charges, causing no damage. S-38 escaped the area in the mid-afternoon. In the evening, she came upon a Japanese destroyer and fired two torpedoes at the target; both torpedoes missed. ww2dbase [S-38 | Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Java Sea | CPC]
4 Mar 1942

Pacific Ocean
  • USS S-39 (SS-144; Lieutenant J. W. Coe) fired four Mark 10 torpedoes at Japanese fleet oiler Erimo south of Belitung Island in western Java Sea, scoring three hits. Erimo's commanding officer, Captain Soma, beached Erimo to prevent sinking. The light cruiser Yura rescued survivors, but four crewmen were lost. Erimo was abandoned as a constructive total loss. ww2dbase [S-39 | Yura | Java Sea | CPC, HM]
25 Sep 1943

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Bluefish sank a Japanese ship south of Celebes, Dutch East Indies, hitting her with 3 of 10 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Bluefish | Java Sea | CPC]
26 Sep 1943

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Bluefish sank a Japanese patrol ship and damaged a transport south of Celebes, Dutch East Indies, hitting the patrol ship with 2 of 3 torpedoes fired and the transport with 1 of 5 torpedose fired. ww2dbase [Bluefish | Java Sea | CPC]
29 Nov 1943

Pacific Ocean
  • The Japanese ship, Suez Maru, carrying troops as well as 200 Japanese, 422 British, and 127 Dutch sick and wounded, was torpedoed by submarine USS Bonefish in the Java sea. Many were trapped in the holds and drowned, but others take to the water. A Japanese minesweeper in escort picked up nearly 300 of its own nationals but left between 200 and 250 Allied prisoners threshing in the sea. The minesweeper then began shooting the defenceless swimmers. One unconfirmed source claimed there was one survivor, British soldier Kenneth Thomas, who was picked up 24 hours later by Australian minesweeper HMAS Ballarat en route to Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), though most other sources noted that all prisoners perished. 69 Japanese were killed in the sinking. ww2dbase [Java Sea | AC, CPC]
30 Dec 1943

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Bluefish sank a Japanese oiler southwest of Borneo, Dutch East Indies, hitting her with 5 of 5 torpedoes fired. ww2dbase [Bluefish | Java Sea | CPC]
2 Nov 1944

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Barbero sank Japanese transport Kuramasan Maru in the Dutch East Indies, hitting her with 2 of 9 torpedoes fired., ww2dbase [Barbero | Java Sea | CPC]
2 Jan 1945

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Becuna sank two small vessels in the Java Sea in two separate engagements with her deck gun. ww2dbase [Becuna | Java Sea | CPC]
27 May 1945

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Boarfish intercepted a two-masted junk in the Java Sea; the search party sent aboard found nothing suspicious and allowed the ship to leave. ww2dbase [Boarfish | Java Sea | CPC]
29 May 1945

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Boarfish attacked a Japanese convoy in the Java Sea between Sumatra and Java with four torpedoes and observed at least one explosion against an oiler; she was severely damaged in the subsequent depth charge counterattack, but she would be able to set sail for home. ww2dbase [Boarfish | Java Sea | CPC]
30 Jun 1945

Pacific Ocean
  • USS Capitaine attacked five small Japanese craft with her deck gun in the Java Sea, sinking Bandai Maru. ww2dbase [Capitaine | Java Sea | CPC]
16 Jul 1945

Pacific Ocean
  • Submarine USS Blenny (Commander W. H. Hazzard, USN) fired 12 torpedoes at the 2,400-ton Japanese gunboat Nankai (former Dutch minelayer Regulus), scoring 4 hits and sinking her in the Java Sea. Two hours later, she engaged and damaged 300-ton Japanese submarine chaser Ch-1 with her deck gun. The Japanese crew abandoned the damaged ship in a lifeboat, which was approached by USS Blenny; only one survivor allowed himself to be picked up, while all others jumped into the water. Blenny sank CH-1 with machine gun fire. ww2dbase [Blenny | Java Sea | CPC, HM]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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A TBF Avenger of Torpedo Squadron VT-8 at Norfolk, Virginia, United States, Mar 1942. Note the red and white rudder stripes that were authorized for only four months.


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