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The Second Battle of the Java Sea was the last naval action of the Netherlands East Indies campaign, of 1941–42. It occurred on 1 March 1942, two days after the first Battle of the Java Sea. It saw the end of the last Allied warships operating in the waters around Java, allowing Japanese forces to complete their conquest of the Netherlands East Indies unhindered. ==Background== The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command fleet were defeated at the first Battle of the Java Sea, on 27 February 1942, and its ships had been dispersed or sunk by the Japanese. The light cruiser and the heavy cruiser had retreated to Tanjong Priok, the port of the capital, Batavia, in the west of the island. They planned to withdraw via the Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap on the south of the island and departed on the evening of 28 February; but encountering the Japanese Western Invasion Force later that night in Bantam Bay, they were both sunk in the battle of Sunda Strait. The heavy cruiser —severely damaged in the first Battle of the Java Sea—had withdrawn to Surabaya in the east, escorted by the Dutch destroyer HNLMS ''Witte de With''. There she was joined by , which arrived with the survivors from the destroyer HNLMS ''Kortenaer''. Also at Surabaya were the four U.S. destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 58 (DesRon 58), which had also withdrawn there from the battle, and , which had been undergoing repairs. On 28 February, after nightfall, , , , and of DesRon 58 departed for Australia via the Bali Strait; after a brief encounter with a Japanese destroyer they arrived safely at Fremantle on 4 March. After emergency repairs, HMS ''Exeter'' also left for further repairs in Ceylon, leaving at dusk on 28 February, and escorted by HMS ''Encounter'' and USS ''Pope''. ''Witte de With'' was unable to leave, due to mechanical trouble, and was later bombed and sunk at Surabaya on 2 March. As ''Exeter'' had too much draft for the Bali Strait, it was decided to go via Sunda Strait, which was thought still open; the morning of 1 March found the three Allied ships westnorthwest of Bawean island, heading westwards. The ships were making , as much as ''Exeter'' could manage. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Second Battle of the Java Sea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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