Post by Administrator on Feb 27, 2022 16:44:50 GMT
National Memorial Arboretum
On This Day in 1942, Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Battle of the Java Sea, in a failed attempt to stop the invasion of Java.
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) naval force was almost totally destroyed, and over two thousand sailors were lost. The following day, Japanese land forces invaded Java and led to Japanese occupation of the entire Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.
During the Battle of the Java Sea, Royal Navy J-class destroyer HMS Jupiter (F85) struck a mine and sank off the north Java coast. More than 80 men went down with the ship and a quarter of those captured by the Japanese would later die while imprisoned.
Although the explosion was initially thought to have been caused by a Japanese torpedo, the mine had been laid earlier in the day by the Dutch minelayer HNLMS Gouden Leeuw as she steamed with the ABDA cruiser force.
Earlier today, a service was held in the Millennium Chapel at the Arboretum to remember those who served in HMS Jupiter (F85) on the 80th anniversary of the sinking. A tree dedicated to HMS Jupiter can also be found in the Naval Review at the Arboretum.
On This Day in 1942, Allied navies suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Battle of the Java Sea, in a failed attempt to stop the invasion of Java.
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) naval force was almost totally destroyed, and over two thousand sailors were lost. The following day, Japanese land forces invaded Java and led to Japanese occupation of the entire Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.
During the Battle of the Java Sea, Royal Navy J-class destroyer HMS Jupiter (F85) struck a mine and sank off the north Java coast. More than 80 men went down with the ship and a quarter of those captured by the Japanese would later die while imprisoned.
Although the explosion was initially thought to have been caused by a Japanese torpedo, the mine had been laid earlier in the day by the Dutch minelayer HNLMS Gouden Leeuw as she steamed with the ABDA cruiser force.
Earlier today, a service was held in the Millennium Chapel at the Arboretum to remember those who served in HMS Jupiter (F85) on the 80th anniversary of the sinking. A tree dedicated to HMS Jupiter can also be found in the Naval Review at the Arboretum.
