Archives of World War II Remembered

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World War II Remembered: Balikpapan, Island of Borneo
By Jennifer King and Timothy Rollins
February 1, 2002

Dateline: Late January 1942
Balikpapan, Island of Borneo
Pacific Theater of Operations

The Japanese moved quickly through the Pacific in the first months of 1942. The Japanese had three specific objectives in their military thrust - the rich oil fields of the Dutch East Indies, particularly Borneo; the Philippines and the associated mainland areas of Southeast Asia. Japan was determined to control the natural resources of these areas, including the world's largest supply of tin and rubber. As she advanced through the Pacific in a series of well-planned and well-executed attacks, she was careful to coordinate any action with air support.

The hastily assembled ABDACOM forces had some differing objectives. The British were mainly concerned with the protection of Singapore and the eastern entrances to the Indian Ocean. The United States and Australia wanted to make sure that the enemy's penetration of the Southeast Pacific was stopped, so that they would have access to bases while reconquering the region. The Dutch considered Java and Sumatra as a second homeland. There were over a half million Dutch living in these islands - they had been living and trading there for over three centuries. The Dutch East Indies were a vital concern of the government of the Netherlands.

ABDACOM, under the Supreme Command of British Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell, not surprisingly decided that the protection of Singapore should be foremost. Admiral Hart (covered in last week's installment) had been appointed commander of ABDACOM's naval flotilla. ABDAFLOAT, which included the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and the Dutch Naval Forces. Hart had divided his fleet into four task forces, Rear Admiral W.A. Glassford's Striking Force, based at Surabaya; patrol aircraft; submarines and the Service Force based at Darwin, Australia. Hart took responsibility for the flank east of Bali, the British took the western flank and the Dutch took the center.

Captain John Wilkes, who had taken command of the sub force on 10 December 1941, was newly based at Surabaya, Java. On 19 January 1942, six of the subs were sent out to patrol the Makasser Strait between Borneo and Celebes. Japanese Admiral Takahashi, who was pleased with the quick fall of northern Borneo, sent Admiral Nishimura out in order to expedite the next operation, the capture of Balikpapan, an important oil center. The subs spotted the Japanese task force on the night of 22-23 January, and proved otherwise valuable by sinking a couple of Japanese ships. The Japanese invasion force anchored offshore on 23 January, at approximately 2000 hours.

In the meantime, Rear Admiral William A. Glassford Jr.'s Striking Force had mobilized his four destroyers John D. Ford, John D. Edwards, Parrott and Paul Jones. These destroyers were "four stackers", relics of the First World War. Nevertheless, the "cans" made haste for Balikpapan. The retreating Dutch had fired their oil facilities, and the destroyers who had steamed into Balikpapan Bay used this to great advantage, silhouetting the transport ships against the background of the bright flames.

The old American destroyers succeeded in sinking four transports and a patrol ship. After-action reports were mixed, for there were 12 transports available to sink, and 3 available patrol craft. The Americans were hampered by - at the time - a little known fact. The torpedo firing heads were badly manufactured, and did not explode upon contact. This failure would be discovered, and fixed, in 1942.

However, the Battle of Balikpapan was the first surface action seen by the U.S. Navy in the Pacific War, and the first undertaken by the USN since 1898. ***