The Battle of Balikpapan (1942)

In December 1941, parts of the Japanese Southern Army Group landed in the northern northern part of Kalimantan Island, which belonged to Great Britain, and on January 11–12, 1942, a Japanese landing force captured Tarakan Island , located at the northern entrance to the Strait of Makassar . On January 11–13, with the help of air and sea landing, the Japanese captured the port of Manado on the island of Sulawesi . Having gained control of the northern entrance to the Makassar Strait, the Japanese were able to proceed with the operation to capture Balikpapan. Admiral Ibo Takahashi gave the order for this operation on January 17.

Before entering the sea, the Japanese sent emissaries to Balikpapan, who demanded that the Dutch commandant of the city not to harm the oil fields, otherwise threatening the residents and prisoners with repression. Absolutely correctly interpreting the ultimatum as information about the approach of the enemy, the commandant immediately ordered the destruction of oil fields, and the Dutch command sent aircraft and fleets to the Strait of Makassar.

January 21, 16 Japanese transports escorted by three patrol ships left the island of Tarakan; the first echelon were two vehicles escorted by two destroyers. On the night of January 23, the first echelon was spotted by the US submarine Sturgeon, which attacked it, but to no avail. That same evening, a Japanese convoy was attacked by Dutch planes that sank the Nama-maru transport.

Half an hour after the Dutch air attack, at 20 hours on January 23, a detachment of Japanese minesweepers approached the site of the planned transport stop, and at 21:30 the landing of troops began. The landing was covered by the formation of Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura : the 4th brigade of destroyers (9 ships), minesweepers and one sea hunter. The landing of troops took place against the backdrop of a flaming city, however, puffs of black smoke from burning oil prevented the view in the coming darkness.

Having received information about the advancement of the Japanese convoy, US Rear Admiral William Glassford put to sea his compound anchored in the Kupang Bay in the Dutch part of Timor Island: the Marblehead and Boyce cruisers, and the Ford and Pope destroyers, Parrot and Paul Jones. The Boyce, crossing the Sape Strait, hit an underwater reef and was unable to continue swimming; Glassford moved his flag to Marblehead and replenished its fuel supplies with the Boyce, and Boyce sent it for repairs to the south coast of Java.

On the night of January 23-24, the American compound approached the parking lot of Japanese transports. Japanese cover vessels retreated east in search of the previously seen Dutch submarine K-XVIII, and the Americans managed to slip into the vehicles at a distance of a torpedo volley, but the close range and high speed did not allow them to aim, their only victim was the transport “Sumanoura-maru” "Displacement of 3,500 tons. The explosion of a torpedo at the side of the transport confused the Japanese: some decided that they were attacked by submarines, others understood what was the matter, but in the dark they could not distinguish friends from enemies. On the way back, the Americans launched a new series of torpedoes, and sank the Tatsukami-maru and Kuretake-maru transports, as well as the patrol ship No. 37 with a tonnage of 750 tons, which they took in the dark for the destroyer. At this time, the Japanese were already firing fiercely, and the American formation preferred to withdraw from the battle.

Despite the tactical success of the American ships, he did not have much influence on the course of events: most of the Japanese troops were already on the shore, only some of the equipment and supplies that did not have time to unload were sunk to the bottom. Japanese troops, not meeting resistance, took an airfield, and began to slowly move towards the city - the Netherlands managed to destroy the bridges. On January 25, the Japanese entered Balikpapan - the Dutch garrison retreated without a fight.

Having captured Balikpapan, the Japanese surrounded the Dutch troops, still defending Samarind , and marched overland to Banjarmasin , which was captured without a fight on February 10.

• I.V. Mozheiko “West wind - clear weather” - Moscow: AST LLC, 2001. ISBN 5-17-005862-4
• S. E. Morrison “The American Navy in the Second World War: The Rising Sun over the Pacific Ocean, December 1941 - April 1942” - Moscow: AST LLC, 2002. ISBN 5-17-014254-4