The termination of the Java battles witnessed the Japanese not only securing the vast resources of the Southwest Pacific, but also firmly establishing a defensive perimeter along the arc of large islands stretching from Singapore east through Sumatra and Java, across the north shore of New Guinea, and finally on to its eastern anchor at Rabaul in New Britain. Nihon Kaigun had demonstrated conclusively that it was a naval power to be reckoned with. The Japanese were consummate fighters, and every bit the equal of the Western navies they had faced so far.