Battle of the Sunda Strait (February 28 - March 1, 1942)

The Battle of the Sunda Strait commenced in earnest on 28 February at 11.06pm when the Japanese invasion force assigned to western Java engaged and attacked by HMAS Perth and the USS Houston.

Two Allied cruisers that had fought in the Battle of the Java Sea tried to attack transports bringing Japanese soldiers to three landing sites in western Java from which they planned to capture the capital, Batavia.

The badly outnumbered Allie ships sank, as did several Japanese ships, some of which were hit by their own forces.

At the Sunda Strait the already battered and exhausted Perth and Houston, joined by the Dutch cruiser Evertsen sunk a minelayer, four transports and damage a Japanese cruiser but at catastrophic cost.

All three ships were sunk at the cost of over 1,000 lives. The 671 men rescued were taken prisoner by the Japanese. The survivors held captive in Java and Singapore and most laboured in the infamous Thai-Burma Railway.

The invading forces soon capture Batavia, and joining the soldiers landing on the eastern coast, took control of the entire island.
Battle of the Sunda Strait (February 28 - March 1, 1942)