World War 2: The Battle of the Java Sea

Overview

The Battle of the Java Sea: This little known sea battle was overshadowed by Pearl Harbor, The Philippines, Wake Island and other events at the outset of World War II. The Battle of the Java Sea was none the less a critical sea battle. The allies threw together a battle fleet to blunt Japanese expansion into South East Asia, Sumatra and Java.

This fleet was comprised mainly of the remnants of the American Asiatic Fleet, The British Far East Fleet and The Dutch East Indies Fleet. Out-gunned and out-numbered from the start, this fleet, commanded by Dutch Admirals, had it been given proper air cover and better communications, might have stopped the Japanese expansion across the Pacific and avoided entirely the later Battle of the Coral Sea.