On December 8, 1941, an Allied naval officer might reasonably have thought to himself “It’s not that bad.Really, could be worse.” The United States Navy (USN) could still pack a punch, and it could ...

The voice was like a voice of doom. It was the voice of Dr. Hubertus Johannes van Mook, Lieutenant Governor General of The Netherlands East Indies: It is not that dozens of battleships, scores of ...

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In early November, an international diving expedition set out from Indonesia into the Sea of Java to find the wrecks of several Dutch warships that sank during World War II. The team planned to place ...

Players: Allies: ABDA Eastern Strike Force (five cruisers and nine destroyers) commanded by the Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman. Japan: 2nd and 4th Destroyer Flotillas and 5th Cruiser Squadron.

Speaking in October this year on the readiness of U.S. armed forces, then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper referenced Task Force Smith—a unit decimated in the early days of the Korean War as a result ...

British cruiser H.M.S. Exeter being cheered by sailors and dock workers as she is brought alongside the quay at Plymouth, England, on Feb. 15, 1940. Rider AP The HMS Exeter, a heavy cruiser in the ...

The Battle of Java Sea, fought on February 27, 1942, marked the high tide of Japanese naval power in the Pacific. Poor organization, strategic confusion, inter-service competition, and national ...