Battle of the Java Sea

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5°0′S 111°0′E / 5.000°S 111.000°E / -5.000; 111.000

Battle of the Java Sea
Part of World War II, Pacific War
Bombs from a Japanese aircraft falling near the Dutch light cruiser Java in the Gaspar Strait east of Sumatra, Dutch East Indies, on 15 February 1942.
Date 27 February 1942 Location Java Sea, Dutch East Indies Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Allies Netherlands  United States  United Kingdom  Australia	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Karel Doorman † Conrad Helfrich[1]	Takeo Takagi[1]
Strength
2 heavy cruisers 3 light cruisers 9 destroyers	2 heavy cruisers 2 light cruisers 14 destroyers 10 transports
Casualties and losses
2 light cruisers sunk 3 destroyers sunk 1 heavy cruiser damaged 2,300 sailors killed	1 destroyer damaged 1 transport damaged by air raid 36 sailors killed

The Battle of the Java Sea (Indonesian: Pertempuran Laut Jawa, Japanese: スラバヤ沖海戦, romanized: Surabaya oki kaisen, lit. 'Surabaya open-sea battle') was a decisive^[2] naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II.

Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy on 27 February 1942 and in secondary actions over successive days. The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) Strike Force commander— Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman—was killed. The aftermath of the battle included several smaller actions around Java, including the smaller but also significant Battle of Sunda Strait. These defeats led to Japanese occupation of the entire Dutch East Indies.