On the heels of Pearl Harbor, Allied forces were handed a crushing defeat by the Japanese. The battle has lessons for today's military planners.
On December 8, 1941, an Allied naval officer might reasonably have thought to himself “It’s not that bad.Really, could be worse.” The United States Navy (USN) could still pack a punch, and it could rely on assistance from the Royal Navy, the Royal Dutch Navy, and the Commonwealth navies.
Over the next three months the Japanese would take advantage of Allied confusion at every level to win a series of devastating victories over Allied naval forces. The Battle of Java Sea, fought on February 27, 1942, marked the high tide of Japanese naval power in the Pacific. Poor organization, strategic confusion, inter-service competition, and national infighting doomed an Allied task force to destruction at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy, opening the door to the conquest of Java and the rest of Southeast Asia. Indeed, the Battle of Java Sea is the nightmare that American naval planners have when they hear terms like “offshore balancing.”
The World of December 8, 1941
The United States Navy remained potent. At Oahu, five American battleships lay sunk or aground, but the port facilities at Pearl Harbor remained in good condition, and the aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet had avoided damage. Three battleships escaped with only light damage, with a fourth undergoing regular maintenance in the Puget Sound. Three fast carriers, twelve heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, and fifty destroyers remained ready for action, a force which could potentially cause huge problems for the Japanese. Reinforcements were on the way; USS Yorktown would join the Pacific Fleet in late December, with USS Hornet arriving in March. Other ships were forward deployed; the Asiatic Fleet included one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, and thirteen destroyers.
From its bases in Singapore and Colombo, the Royal Navy also remained in fighting shape. The most powerful surface unit in the Pacific was HMS Prince of Wales, the fast battleship that six months earlier had inflicted the mission-killing blow on the German Bismarck. Support for Prince of Wales included the old battlecruiser Repulse, four light cruisers and five destroyers. Much more help was on the way. Two fast and one slow carriers would arrive in Ceylon in the months after Pearl Harbor. Jutland veteran HMS Warspite was working up in the Puget Sound at the time of the Japanese strike. By March, the Eastern Fleet would include four Revenge class battleships, seven cruisers, and sixteen destroyers. The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse on an ill-conceived mission to intercept Japanese forces invading Malaya severely dented, but did not destroy, British naval power in the Far East.
The local navies also contributed. The Royal Australian Navy possessed two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and five old destroyers, and New Zealand could contribute another light cruiser. Finally, the Dutch defended their vast possessions with three light cruisers, seven destroyers, and a number of smaller warships.
Against this, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) could marshal six fleet and four light carriers, ten battleships, eighteen heavy cruisers, twenty light cruisers, and 126 destroyers. The Japanese had certain advantages; while their ships weren’t necessarily any newer, the IJN had a more casual attitude towards treaty compliance than either the United States or the United Kingdom. The Japanese also trained rigorously at night warfare, and displayed excellent gunnery skills at all times. Finally, the Japanese Type 93 (“Long Lance”) torpedo could strike targets at longer range and with greater punch than Allied torpedoes.
Photo Credit: Wikicommons
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Chris
Too much bean counting. As in any fight-psychology matters as much as muscle. Japan attained the initative and gained a psychological edge that demoralized many in the ABDA force. Also-you fail to give Japanese naval aviation its proper place-it was a decisive factor. Had the ABDA command trained together before 12/07/41-the results could well have been shockingly different. The Japanese took some very brave-but reckless gambles… and could/should have been called on them.
nildagoy
just support us and armed us with Coast Artillery units, Stinger anti-aircraft Missile Systems, Harpoon or Tomahawk anti-ship Missiles, an around 10 Million of your reported 350 Million guns available in the US mainland. and we will do the rest!
Kim’s Uncle
I think I hurt the Chinese pride about pointing out the limited Chinese effort in WWII! Why do Chinese fight such obvious widely known facts about china’s pathetic defense of china when a major power like Japan just went in slaughtered them like sheep?
Learn from those mistakes instead of defending reflexively out irrational pride!
It is obvious the disparity of power between china and Japan was because the Japanese were willing to learn from the west and embraced modernity while china was still stuck on superstitions and believed in the infallibility of their “advanced culture”! This insularity and narrow minded ness led Chinese into another dead end by embracing Mao and his doctrine of communism. It is amazing that a country with so many people have such limited diversity of opinions.
Now just watch the reaction I’ll get from pointing out china’s culture of narrow mindedness!
Namecalling, ad hominem, personal insults etc! This is china’s 5000 year old civilization as its best?
John Chan
@Kim,
It’s a fallacy that the West’s words must be taken as given truth. You are just told what has actually happened in the WWII; exposing westerner and Japanese’s revisionist version narratives that claim credit where credit is not due and white washing and glossing over their war crimes is not pathetic at all, it is a righteous way to put the record straight.
You should know that killing civilians is a war crime, your “Japan just went in slaughtered them like sheep” is an evidence proving Japanese committed war crimes that they have yet been redeemed; once the world get rid of the Fascist godfather USA who is shielding the unapologetic war criminal Japan, Japan will be brought to account for the war crimes it committed.
Nicholas Omare, Papua New Guinea
Enough Kim’s Uncle. That the DIplomat allows your racist remarks, lies and slanders for so long, while censoring other comments containing strong counter-points, brings to question the professionalism and credibility of the DIplomat.
Kim’s Uncle
China couldn’t save itself in WWII so let’s not get carried away by saying china freed anyone in WWII! LOL! The only thing china was good at was being a victim in WWII!
If china can’t learn from Japan’s experience of military adventure then china will get a terrible beating but on a far bigger scale than Japan!
John Chan
@Kim,
Japan is a small nation… it should not chew more than it can swallow, if it does it will be chock to death, that’s what has happened in WWII. USA should follow British Empire’s foot step to exit Asia gracefully; following Japanese greedy steps is a no no.
Mark Thomason
China occupied almost the entire energies of Japan's Army and Army Air Force. That was at least half of Japan's warmaking potential. The US would have prevailed either way, but an extra fifty divisions of troops, thousands more planes and pilots, or the equivalent warmaking potential, would have made it far more costly.