13 WARSHIPS

Grey River Argus, 16 March 1942, Page 5

13 WARSHIPS

LOST BY ALLIES

IN JAVA SEA FIGHTS

A Fortnight Ago

enemy loss of eight REPORTED.

BO.W, RUGBY, March 14. The Admiralty, in a communique, states:— Although full information o not yet available, it is now posaib e to give some account from P art ‘ c ? iars at present in hand, of events m the Java Sea on Friday, February x. 7, and on subsequent days, duun„ t..e Japanese invasion of Java. „ , On the afternoon of Friday, Feoruary 27, an Allied naval force consisting H.M.A.S. “Perth, H.M.S. “Exeter” th e United States cru.ser “Houston,” and tne Dutch cruisers “De Ruyter” and “Java, were at sea north of Sourabaya. The , AlUd cruisers were accompanied tne destroyers H.M.S. “Electra, H.M.S. “JupiterX and H.M.S. •‘Encounter and the Dutch destroyer Kortenaer.” This force was under the sea command of Admiral. Doorman, whose flag was flying m the De Ruyter.” The whole naval force m the area was under the strategical control .of Admiral' Helfrich of the Royal Netherlands Navy. ENEMY SQUADRON MET. At 4.14 p.m. Friday, February 27, this Allied force made contact: with • Jananese force about half way betwen Bawean Island and Souiabaya. The Japanese force cons.sted of at least two "Nati” class cruisers o ten thousand tons, armed with ten eight-inch guns; and a number of other cruisers. The Japanese cruisers had with them thirteen destroyers, organised in two flotillas. Action was joined at an extreme range. Almost at once, one of the Japanese destroyers’ flotillas launched an attack, but this was driven off bv fire of the Allied cruisers, and one of the enemy destroyers was seen to be hit -by shells from H.M.A.S. Perth. ' “EXETER” DAMAGED. Soon afterwards, the other Japanese destroyer flotilla delivered a torpedo attack. While action was being taken to avoid these torpedoes, H.M.S. “Exeter” was hit by an eighl inch shell in her boiler-room. This reduced her speed, and forced her to drop out of the line., Only one of the torpedoes launched in this attack took effect—this hit the Dutch destroyer “Kortenaer,” and she sank.

BRITISH DESTROYERS’ COUNTER ATTACK.

The three British destroyers were ordered to counter-attack the Japanese destroyers, who were retiring under cover of a smoke screen. Veiy little information is available about the result of this counter-attack. The "Jupiter” reported seeing only two enemy destroyers, both of which she engaged with gunfire. The destroyer, H.M.S. "Electra.' was not seen after she had disappeared into the smoke screen, and it is presumed that she was suiik.

FRESH ENGAGEMENT.

As soon as the Allied cruisers, except H.M.S. “Exeter.” who was unable to keep up, drew clear of the smoke, they again engaged the enemy. This time it was at shorter range. Less than half an hour later, the enemy cruisers turned away under the cover of smokescreens. It was seen that one of the enemy heavy-eight-inch-gun cruisers had been hit aft, and was burning fiercely. Admiral Doorman led his force round, and chased the enemy to the north-westward, but he failed to regain touch with the enemy in fading light.

NIGHT BATTLE.

After nightfall', the Allied cruisers sighted four enemy ships to the westward, and engaged them, but with what results is not known. Admiral Doorman attempted to work round these enemy ships in order to locate a convoy which was expected to be to the northward. This was found to be impracticable, owing to the high speed of the enemy, and Admiral Doorman then turned his force .to the southward close to Ihp coast of Java, intending to sweep to the westward along the coast in an attempt to intercept Japanese invasion convoys. Half an hour late± the Allied force had turned westward along the Java coast. “JUPITER” TORPEDOED. The destroyer, H.M.S. “Jupiter.” was disabled by an under-water explosion, and she sank four hours later. The “Jupiter” was not far from the mainland of Java, and a number of survivors from her have already reached Australia. MORE VESSELS TORPEDOED. At 11.30 p.m., when the Allied cruisers were about twelve miles north of Rembang, two enemv cru.s- / ers were sighted between our ships and the cdast. They were at once engaged, and a number of hits were secured on the enemy. The Dutch cruiser, “De Ruyter,” was hit by one shell immediately afterwards. The De Ruyter made a large alteration in her course, presumably in order to avoid torpedoes fired by the enemy, and the other Allied cruisers were conforming when under-water explosions occurred simultaneously in the "De Ruyter” and the Dutch cruiser “Java.” Both of these Dutch cruisers blew up, and sank at once. / ENEMY’S LOSS. It has been impossible to assess with accuracy the damage inflicted upon the enemy during the actions on Fridav. February 27th. Observers in the Australian cruiser “Perth” consider that one Japanese eight-inch-gun cruiser has been sunk, a second eight-inch-gun cruiser damaged, and a destroyer sunk. It has also been reported that a cruiser of the Mogami class (8,500 tons), with fifteen six-point-one-inch guns, was set on fire, and that three destroyers were seriously, damaged, and left on fire or sinking. AUSTRALIAN CRUISER’S END. The “Perth,” which received some damage, reached Tanjong Priok at 7 a.m. on Saturday, February 28. With the enemy in command of the sea and air north of Java in overwhelming force, the Allied Command was faced with the problem of

extricating the remaining Allied ships from a very dangerous situation. The wa v to Australia was barred by the six-hundred-mile-long island of Java, with the straits at either end of it under enemy control. After dark on Saturday, Feoruary 28 HM.A.S. “Perth” left Tanjong Priok with the intention of passing through the Sunda Strait west of Ja v a, during the dark hours. During the night a report was received from the “Perth,” which indicated that she had come into contact with a force of Japanese ships off St. Nicholas’ Point, at about 11.30 p.m. Nothing, however, has been heard of the “Perth” or of the United States cruiser “Houston,” since that time. The same night, H.M.S. “Exeter,” who was unable to exceed half speed, ‘eft Sourabaya accompanied b v h’m.S. “Encounter,” and • the U.S.A, destroyer “Pope.” On the forenoon of Sunday, March Ist., H.M.S. “Exeter” reported that she had sighted three enemy cruisers steering towards her. After that, no further signals were received from the “Exeter” of the encounter or the U.S. destroyer “Pope." The Dutch destroyer, “Evertsen,” encountered two Japanese cruisers in the Sunda Strait. She was damaged, and was beached. The destroyer, H.M.S. “Stronghold,.” and the Australian sloop, H.M.A.S. “Yarra,” are also missing, and they must be considered as lost. It has not been possible to form any estimate of the damage inflicted on the enemy by these ships during their last actions.

All of the other Allied warships which were in Java waters are known to be safe, except some small craft and auxiliaries about which information is not yet available.”

BRITISH LOSSES. The casualties of Allied Navies were as follows: — The British cruiser, “Exeter,” 8.390 tons, of six eight inch guns. The “Exeter” was of River Plate battle fame. The British destroyer, “Jupiter,” 1,690. tons. The British destroyer, “Electra,” of 1,375 tons. ■ The British destroyer, “Encounter,” of 1,375 tons. The British destroyer, “Stronghold,” of 905 tons. AMERICAN LOSSES. The United States cruiser, “Houston,” of 9,059 tons, with nine eightinch guns. The U.S. destroyer, “Pope,” of 1,190 tons. DUTCH LOSSES. The Dutch cruiser, “Java,” of 6,670 tons, with ten five-point-nine inch guns. 1 The Dutch cruiser, “De Ruyter,’ of 6,450 tons, with seven five-point-hine inch guns. The Dutch destroyer, "Kortenaer,” 1,310 tons. The Dutch destroyer, "Evertsen,” of 1,310 tons. AUSTRALIAN LOSSES. The Australian cruiser, "Perth,” .of seven thousand tons, with eight sixinch guns. \ The Australian sloop, “Yarra, of 1,060 tons. CANBERRA, March 15. The Australian Prime Minister (Hon. J. Curtin) has announced that the Australian cruiser “Perth” and the Australian-built sloop "Yarra, were both presumed to have been lost in the South Pacific. Mr Curtin said that there was no news of any survivofs, but it was possible that some members of the crews had managed to reach shore or had been picked up ty other ships. Mr Curtin said that the enemy claim that the "Perth” had been sunk was made some days ago. At that time, however, the Naval Board had no information to substantiate this.

The position then was that the “Perth” fought successfully and was unharmed in the battle in the Java Sea. She had returned to a Javanese port after the battle. From that port she reported to the Naval Board from her personal observation during the battle, on the severe losses inflicted on the enemy by the Allied forces. Subsequently the “Perth” and “Yarra” had sailed from Java for an Australian port. They had not arrived and nothing having been heard from them, it must therefore be presumed that the ships had been lost, The “Perth”, which was built in 1934, was of 6,980 tons, and had a complement of 683. The “Yarra” was built in 1935. She was of 1,060 tons, and had a complement of 151.

The Japanese Losses (Rec. 8.30). LONDON, March 14. The United States Navy Department, in a communique, states that in the Java Sea fighting, the Japanese lost eight ships, which are believed to have either been sunk or damaged. BRITISH NAVY’S STRAIN. (Rec. 10.20). LONDON, March 14. Rt. Hon. K. V. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty, in a speech, ftaid: “The war in the Far East has not gone according to plan. It has gone with great adversity to the Allies, and, as a consequence, an indescribable stress and strain have been nlaced on the Royal Navy. I am glad to nay a tribute to the members of this grand service. LONDON, March 13.

The First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr ;Ai. V. Alexander) said to-day that Britain was , passing through what he described as one of the very difficult periods in Britain’s naval history. “We are giving hard blows, but we are also receiving hard blows,” he said.

An example of how hard theseblows could be was the announcement by the Prime Minister of Australia (Mr J. Curtin) that the cruiser Perth and the Australian-built sloop Yarra were presumed lost. Malayan Casualties 17,031 AUSTRALIANS. 8.0.W. RUGBY, March 13. Australian casualties in Singapore and Malaya generally totalled 17,031, comprising 287 officers and men killed before the battle of Singapore commenced and 16,744 missing. These figures included those killed and wounded on Singapore Island. These figures were announced by the Australian Army Minister (Mr F. M. Forde), who added that Australian casualties in the Middle East, including prisoners, were 13,335. In releasing these figures the Minister said that the Malayan and Singapore total was based on calculations as definite information about A.I.F. losses ceased soon after the fall of Singapore.