055 - Chasing the Giants

Prelude to the Battle of Java Sea

Throughout February 1942, five nations waged war across the Pacific. Sometimes the battles were great, but more often than not, it was small skirmishes that ruled the day. That was particularly true in the farthest reaches of the Pacific Theater like the Java Sea.

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The American fleet was considerably smaller than the Japanese Fleet and to make matters worse, their stock of Capital Ships were split between two Oceans. With Pearl Harbor, the battleships were all but gone. This meant the U.S. Navy had to rely on a fleet of outdated Cruisers and Destroyers to protect the Pacific.
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From mid-January, Task Force 5 consisted of the Light Cruisers Marblehead and Boise as well as the Destroyers Parrott, Pope, John D. Ford, and John Paul Jones. Task Force 5 patrolled the shallow waters of the Dutch East Indies and the Java Sea. However, due to mechanical issues, Task Force 5 was quickly reduced to four destroyers – the USS Boise cut her hull on a jagged coral reef and the USS Marblehead lost one of her steam turbines and had to be sent to port for repairs.

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Shortly afterward, the small destroyer force encountered a Japanese Destroyer Division escorting a flotilla of 16 troop transports. After firing all ten of their torpedoes without recording a single hit, the American Destroyers quickly returned to port.

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Task Force 5 joined with other ABDA Forces only to encounter a force of Japanese Nell Bombers, which attacked the Combined Navy. The ADA Force, however, lacked concise leadership due to the four Navies working as one. After the attack, the Light Cruisers USS Houston and Marblehead took substantial hits, severely disabling them

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With the combined bombing raids on Darwin and surrounding islands, the ABDA Air Force was all but destroyed. The Japanese Air Force, however, was stout, able to rule the sea by way of immense air power. Until the Allies learned the value of these lessons, they would be under the thumb of the Japanese.

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