Sunday, 1 March 1942

US NAVY

ATLANTIC & PACIFIC— Base Force, Pacific Fleet is redesignated Service Force Pacific; Train, Atlantic Fleet is redesignated Service Force Atlantic.

PACIFIC—Battle of Sunda Strait continues as heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30) and Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth (Captain Hector M.L. Waller, RAN), heading for Sunda Strait, are attacked by three Japanese cruisers and nine destroyers (Rear Admiral Kurita Takeo). In the melee, Houston (05°50'S, 105°55'E) and Perth are sunk by torpedoes and gunfire of Japanese heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma; Japanese minesweeper W.2 and transports Ryuho Maru, Tatsuno Maru, Sakura Maru and Horai Maru are sunk, and landing ship Shinshu Maru damaged, by torpedoes fired by heavy cruiser Mogami; destroyers Shirakumo and Harukaze are damaged by gunfire. Houston's commanding officer, Captain Albert H. Rooks, killed while his ship is being abandoned, is later awarded the Medal of Honor (posthumously) in recognition of his heroism, courage, gallantry and distinguished service during the period between 4 and 27 February.

            Japanese oiler Tsurumi is torpedoed by Dutch submarine K-XV east of Nicholas Point, Banten Bay, Java.

            In another action in the wake of the Battle of the Java Sea, Japanese heavy cruisers Myoko, Ashigara, Haguro and Nachi engage three Allied ships (Captain Oliver L. Gordon, RN) fleeing Java, sinking British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and destroyer HMS Encounter. U.S. destroyer Pope (DD-225), the third ship, escapes the cruisers but is located and bombed by floatplanes from seaplane carriers Chitose and Mizuho. Damaged by one close-miss, Pope is then located by carrier attack planes from Ryujo and bombed; scuttling is in progress when Myoko and Ashigara deliver the coup de grace with gunfire at 04°00'S, 111°30'E.

            Japanese planes bomb Surabaya, Java; destroyer Stewart (DD-224), previously damaged on 19 and 20 February 1942, is damaged again, by bomb.

            Japanese naval forces sweep the waters south of Java. Destroyer Edsall (DD-219) is sunk by gunfire of battleships Hiei and Kirishima, heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma, and planes from carriers Akagi and Soryu; the amount of main battery shells expended in the attempt to sink the U.S. ship amounts to 297 15-inch and 844 eight-inch. Edsall's five enlisted survivors are executed at Kendari subsequently. Oiler Pecos (AO-6), with Langley (AV-3) survivors on board as well as evacuees from Java, is bombed and sunk by carrier bombers from Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu, and Soryu, south of Christmas Island, 14°27'S, 106°11'E.

            Submarine Perch (SS-176) is depth-charged and damaged by Japanese destroyers Amatsukaze and Hatsukaze, 73 miles west of Bawean Island, Java Sea, 06°30'S, 113°50'E.

            As Japanese invasion of Java proceeds, Allied planes bomb enemy ships off the beaches: RAF Wildebeests damage light cruiser Kinu, transport Johore Maru, and army cargo ship Tokushima Maru. Dutch Martin 139s, RAF Blenheims, RAAF (or RAF) Hudsons also claim damage to Japanese ships.

            ABDA Command is dissolved as the fall of Java looms.

            Small reconnaissance seaplane from Japanese submarine I-25 reconnoiters Hobart, Tasmania.

ATLANTIC—PBO (VP 82), on an antisubmarine sweep, bombs and sinks German submarine U-656 south of Newfoundland,46°15'N, 53°15'W. U-656 is the first U-boat sunk by U.S. Navy forces during World War II.

            Tug Sagamore (AT-20) attempts to tow damaged U.S. tanker R.P. Resor (torpedoed by German submarine U-578 on 27February) to shallow water to permit salvage, but to no avail. The gutted ship sinks about 31 miles east of Barnegat, New Jersey.

US ARMY AIR FORCE

FIFTH AF—Last Heavy Bomber mission flown from Java.

US ARMY

MIDWAY—MAG 22 is formed from squadrons on the island.

LUZON—Japanese 14th Army, during period 6 January to date, has suffered severe setback on Luzon and sustained almost 7,000 casualties (2,700 killed and over 4,000 wounded).

NETHERLANDS EAST INDIES—Japanese, now in undisputed control of air and sea, make rapid progress on the ground on Java. Allied planes based on Java are virtually wiped out, many of them on the ground. After a final effort to stall enemy by air, surviving air personnel begin assembling in Jogjakarta, the last remaining airfield in Java, for withdrawal to Australia. Since Java ports are untenable, Allied naval command is dissolved and ships are directed to withdraw to Australia. U.S. DD’s Edsall and Pillsbury and PG Asheville, as well as a few British corvettes, are unable to make good their escape. Of Admiral Doorman’s original Java Sea striking force (5 cruisers and 10 DD’s), only 4 U.S. DD’s succeed in reaching Australia. Cruisers Houston (U.S.) and Perth (Aus) and DD’s Pope (U.S.), Encounter (Br), and Evertsen (Dutch) are lost while trying to escape.

BURMA—Burma 1st Division covers concentration of Chinese 5th Army in Toungoo area. 200th Division of the army, which is already disposed in this area, regains Nyaunglebin and Pyuntaza, on Rangoon–Mandalay road. General Wavell arrives in Burma and orders Rangoon held as long as possible, at least until reinforcements en route (63d Brigade Group) arrive. Indian 17th Division returns toward Waw, which is to be defended.

USSR—Soviet advance comes to a halt during March. Battle line remains about the same throughout month, despite continued fighting on all fronts. Germans are unable to relieve isolated II Corps, Sixteenth Army, SE of Staraya Russa, but succeed in withdrawing salient SW of Kaluga; contain Soviet attacks on southern front, which are extended to region E of Kharkov.

US MARINE CORPS

Battle of Sunda Strait.