Battle of the Java Sea

Battle of the Java Sea; David A. Thomas; André Deutsch, London, 1968. First edition. From the blurb The Battle of the Java Sea, the Forlorn Battle as Churchill called it. Was one of the most disastrous episodes in the darkest year of the last war 1942. Even as Japanese bombers struck at Pearl Harbour, another campaign was developing as Japanese invasion convoys steamed south towards the Philippines, Malaya and the East Indies. The Allies British, Australian, American and Dutch assembled an ill-assorted fleet in a vain attempt to stem the coming invasion. Virtually within hours of the declaration of war Britain s only two capital ships in the area, Prince of Wales and Repulse, were lost to air attack in the gulf of Siam. Denied air cover, wrestling with the difficulties of an unworkable system of command and communication, outclassed in tactics, speed and firepower, the Allied ships were frittered away in a series of piecemeal actions. The Dutch cruisers de Ruyter and Java went down, as did the Exeter, victor of the River Plate, and the Australian cruiser Perth and the USS Houston. For the Japanese, it was a classic example of the offensive use of sea power for the Allies a humiliating defeat, both in its speed and completeness. Mr. Thomas has produced an hour-by-hour account that is both vivid and accurate. Map endpapers and black & white photographs. This book, 260 pages is in fine condition in a fine dust jacket that is now in a protective mylar wrap.…