1942-02-19
Battle of Badung Strait
Badung Strait, off Bali, on the night of 19-20 February 1942
A Japanese landing force was in Badung Strait, off Bali. The strait is also called Badoeng Strait. Rear Admiral Karel Doorman sent what ships he had in waves. Kortenaer grounded leaving Tjilatjap on 18 February and was not in the fight. The first wave came up the strait about 2130 on the 19th, in the order De Ruyter, Java, Piet Hein, John D. Ford, and Pope. Doorman's flag was in De Ruyter. He was not her captain. Asashio and Oshio were with the transport Sasago Maru. The Dutch cruisers fired, did no damage, and were not sunk. They went on to the northeast. Piet Hein was cut off. Gunfire and torpedoes from Asashio and Oshio sank her before midnight. Sixty-four of her crew were lost. Some accounts give the torpedo to Asashio alone. The sinking is not credited to one ship. Ford and Pope retired to the southeast and were not sunk. In the dark Asashio and Oshio fired on each other for a few minutes and did no damage. The second wave arrived after midnight on the 20th: Tromp, with Stewart, Parrott, Pillsbury, and John D. Edwards. Commander Jan Balthazar de Meester had Tromp. Asashio hit her with eleven shells. She was not sunk. Her guns hit Asashio and Oshio. Four men were killed on Asashio and seven on Oshio. Neither was sunk. Michishio, with Arashio and the already damaged transport Sagami Maru, was hit by gunfire from John D. Edwards and the other American destroyers. Thirteen of her men were killed and eighty-three wounded. That damage is not credited to one ship. Japanese destroyer gunfire flooded Stewart's steering-engine room. The ship that hit her is not named. She got back to Surabaya. Parrott grounded and got free. Pillsbury fired three torpedoes and missed. No Allied torpedo is known to have hit.
Sunk in this fight
One ship.
Action of Badoeng Strait, February 19, 1942. Office of Naval Intelligence, The Java Sea Campaign, 1943. Public domain. The chart spells the strait Badoeng. The first and second waves are marked. De Ruyter and Java are drawn going on to the northeast. Ford and Pope retire to the southeast. The sheet labels enemy destroyers, a cruiser, and cruisers or heavy cruisers. It does not name the ships.
Track of USS Pope and Ford, Action of Badoeng Strait, February 19, 1942. Office of Naval Intelligence, The Java Sea Campaign, 1943. Public domain. The sheet marks Piet Hein hit at 2237 and torpedoes fired. The times are the chart's. The sinking of Piet Hein is not credited to one ship on this page.
