Konstam, Angus/Tooby, Adam (Illustr.) ABDA Striking Force 1942

The joint Allied command lost at Java Sea

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the almost simultaneous invasions of the Philippines and Malaya were soon followed by the invasion of oil-rich Dutch East Indies. In mid-January, the American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command was established to unite the available forces, with the naval component being the most integrated. It was the first joint Allied fleet of the Second World War. In this book, naval historian Angus Konstam examines this almost forgotten formation, which was tasked with defending the Malayan Barrier and preventing Japanese access to the Indian Ocean and Australian waters. Its brief success at the Battle of Belikpapan in January 1942 was followed by a relentless, gruelling erosion of ABDACOM forces during a series of naval battles fought in the straits and islands of the southern Java Sea. Outnumbered and without sufficient air support, this was a hopeless task, ending in the destruction of the fleet in the battles in the Java Sea and the Sunda Strait. With numerous illustrations and photographs, this book documents the rise and fall of the ABDACOM fleet a unique mix of cruisers and destroyers from four Allied navies and its achievements in confronting the Imperial Japanese Navy.