Battle of Balikpapan (1942)

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Battle of Balikpapan
Part of World War II, Pacific War
Date January 23, 1942–January 24, 1942 Location Balikpapan, eastern Borneo island Result Japanese victory
Belligerents
Netherlands  United States	Empire of Japan
Commanders
Lieutenant Colonel C. van den Hoogenband (ground forces) Rear Admiral William A. Glassford (US Navy) Commander Paul H. Talbot(US Navy)	Major General Shizuo Sakaguchi Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura
Strength
1,100 infantry 4 destroyers	5,500 infantry 1,100 naval infantry 15 destroyers
Casualties and losses
Most POWs were executed after surrendering	Japan: ?

v • d • e Pacific campaigns 1940–42 French Indochina – Thailand – Malaya – Pearl Harbor – Hong Kong – Philippines – Guam – Wake – Dutch East Indies – New Guinea – Singapore – Australia – Indian Ocean – Doolittle Raid – Solomons – Coral Sea – Midway

Dutch East Indies campaign 1941-42 Borneo 1941-42 – Manado – Tarakan 1942 – Balikpapan 1942 – Ambon – Makassar Strait – Palembang – Badung Strait – Timor – 1st Java Sea – Sunda Strait – Java – 2nd Java Sea

This article concerns the naval and land battles of Balikpapan in 1942. For information on the 1945 landings by Australian forces in the same area, see Battle of Balikpapan (1945).

The Battle of Balikpapan took place on January 23-January 24, 1942, off the major oil producing town and port of Balikpapan, on Borneo, in the Netherlands East Indies. After capturing oilfield at Tarakan in Battle of Tarakan (1942), the Japanese force under the command of Major General Shizuo Sakaguchi from Sakaguchi Detachment moved forward to Balikpapan with hope that the oilfields had not been destroyed.

Contents 1 Defences in Balikpapan area 2 Dutch air and sea counter-attack 3 Attack from U.S. Navy 4 Capture of Banjarmasin 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Defences in Balikpapan area

The Dutch army in Balikpapan numbered approximately 1,100 troops, under the command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel C. van den Hoogenband. The city itself was protected with coast, anti-aircraft and field batteries. The entrance of harbor was protected by a minefield laid by a minelayer ship Soemenep (Lt. T. Jellema).

On January 18, the Dutch commander instructed to destroy the oilfields in Balikpapan and started to evacuate staffs to Samarinda. However the destruction was not severe; the only serious damage was to tanks, pipes and special quays in the harbor area.

Since January 22, the Japanese fleet was sighted moving south, and the 24th formations of Dutch bombers attacked the convoy. Despite being bombed on January 24 around 20:00, the Japanese unit had successfully landed on approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) southeast of Balikpapan airfield. The assault unit landed without meeting enemy resistance and, by dawn, had occupied the airfield. The southward advance moved slowly as the bridges had been destroyed, and the unit reached the northern outskirts of Balikpapan City on the night of the January 25. The Dutch garrison troops had been withdrawn to the interior of Borneo mainland, and the Japanese entered the city without a fight.

After Balikpapan was occupied, a new infantry detachment led by Lt. Col. Kume was ordered to protect the oil fields. The main troops and fleet led by Sakaguchi moved southward to invade Banjarmasin in south Kalimantan, which is rich in oil, rubber, timber and coal. Banjarmasin would be built as a base to further invade Java.

Balikpapan remained under Japanese control until July 1945 when the Japanese unit was defeated by Australian troops in the Battle of Balikpapan (1945).

[edit] Dutch air and sea counter-attack

In the afternoon of January 23, 9 Dutch Martin Model 166 (B-10) bombers attacked the Japanese convoy. The transport ship Tatsugami Maru was damaged and Nana Maru sank. Near Balikpapan, the Dutch submarine K-XVIII under Lt. Cdr. van Well Groeneveld, attacked and sank the another transport Tsuruga Maru and reportedly damaged the patrol boat P-37 by midnight.

[edit] Attack from U.S. Navy

While the Japanese invasion force was landing at Balikpapan, on the morningnight of January 24 around 02:45, the Allied (ABDACOM) the 59th US Navy Destroyer Division under Rear Admiral William A. Glassford and Commander Paul H. Talbot attacked the Japanese navy escort led by Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimura for about 4 hours. The U.S. Destroyer Division composed of USS Paul Jones, USS Parrott, USS Pope and USS John D. Ford, and attacked mainly the 12 transport ships. At least 3 transport ships (Kuretake Maru, Sumanoura Maru, Tatsukami Maru) and a patrol boat (P-37) were sunk from the torpedo attacks.

This action was the first involvement of U.S. Navy in south east Asia since Battle of Manila Bay (1898). However most of the torpedoes launched by the Allied destroyer missed the targets or did not explode. Because the landing had taken place around 21:30, the raid was rather late to stop the capture of Balikpapan.

[edit] Capture of Banjarmasin

The attack on Banjarmasin was done by concentrating on land force under Colonel Kyohei Yamamoto with sea force support under Captain Yoshibumi Okamoto from 146th infantry regiment. The land force started to move on January 30 while the sea force had sailed on January 27. Although the land force had to cross the dense jungle and faced tropical heat and rain, they quickly occupied small towns of Moera Oeja, Bongkang, Tandjoeng, Amoentai, Barabai, Kandangan and Rantau. The sea force moved only at night and launched surprise attack at Kotabaru in Laut island. After occupying Martapura airfield, on February 10, Banjarmasin was captured without a fight. The Dutch unit under command of Lieutenant Colonel H. T. Halkema had retreated to defend Kotawaringin airfield in central Kalimantan.

[edit] References

• Costello, John (2002), "The Pacific War", Perennial - HarperCollins, ISBN 0-688-01620-0

[edit] External links

• The capture of Balikpapan
• The capture of Bandjermasin
• Battle of Balikpapan January 24, 1942
• Order of Battle