The campaign against Java and the Dutch East Indies in early 1942 demonstrated to the Allies, if any confirmation were still needed, that Pearl Harbor and the destruction of Force Z were anything but flukes. The Allied command, named ABDA for its American, British, Dutch, and Australian components, was by definition a polyglot force which suffered from all the normal disadvantages of differences in languages and lack of common training. By contrast, the Japanese forces ABDA would face were finely honed and supported by vastly superior airpower. The campaign that was about to unfold would reflect these disparities in full measure.

(Map developed from Dull, "A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy." Original map by Donald Hoegsburg)

Legend:

= Battle

#1 = Battle of Makassar Strait, February 4, 1942
#2 = Battle of Badung Strait, February 19-20, 1942
#3 = Battle of the Java Sea, February 27-March 1, 1942
#4 = Battle of Sunda Strait, February 28, 1942

Aftermath

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