23rd March (continued)
While both sides were keeping their main carrier forces back, the first surface engagement was between the cruiser and destroyer forces that had been sent out; the IJN force to cover the invasion convoy, the Allied force to intercept it. The weather was not good for spotting ships, with too much cloud cover; in addition the allied planes were either keeping an eye on the convoy or being held back for the invasion. So the first contact was a 1100 when a lookout on HMS Exeter spotted the masts of the Japanese cruiser Haguru. The forces were fairly even. The IJN force consisted of the heavy cruisers Haguru and Nachi, the light cruisers Naka and Jintsu and 14 destroyers. The Allied force consisted of the heavy cruisers HMS Exeter and USS Houston, the light cruisers HMAS Perth, HMAS Hobart, HMS Dragon and HMS Danae, with 9 destroyers. However the Japanese cruisers had been constructed with scant regard for the treaty limits and in balance outweighed the allied squadron. However the first act of the captain of HMS Exeter had been to make a sighting report, and as a result HMS Colossus, held some 50 miles to the rear of the advancing cruisers, was preparing her torpedo planes for a strike.
Additional information on Japanese forces came from US cryptographers at Pearl Harbor. They had informed Nimitz some days previously that they suspected a Japanese carrier force was heading for the area of New Guinea, and a task force built around the USS Lexington and the USS Enterprise had been sent to cover the area. The sighting of the invasion fleet heading for Java and the news of fresh attacks in Malaya made Nimitz suspect that the suspected Japanese force was either another diversion, or perhaps (given the Japanese proclivity for complicate multiple operations) covering a follow-on invasion of New Guinea. In fact the shortage of available troops and transports had forced the IJN to make the operation just another diversion, and the fleet carriers Skokaku and Zuikaku with the light carrier Ryuju, supported by a cruiser force, are northeast of the island. Both carrier forces have sent out search planes throughout the day, but no contacts are made until late in the afternoon when a Japanese seaplane sights the Lexington. Due to clouds she misses the Enterprise, and only one carrier is reported to Nagumo.
Somerville now has two main tasks; to fix and destroy the Japanese carrier force reported behind the invasion convoy, and to sink as many of the transports as possible. He therefore uses his carriers to search the area for the carriers, while he prepares a AS strike. The RAF will attack the transports again.
In Malaya, the Japanese attacks is still making ground in the gaps between the Imperial defence lines, but are slowing as the Australian troops counterattack their rear. The RAF has established a superiority in the air, and in addition to keeping the Japansese air force off the ground troops is attacking any supply dumps and artillery parks the allies have been able to find - some by air, some found using small patrols of special forces and locals infiltrated past the Japanese lines. Alexander and Blamey suspect the Japanese supply situation is not all it could be, and are intending to use the Japanese tendency to advance as far as possible to cut off and destroy as many men as possible. The armoured force is being prepared to cut off the Japanese spearheads, although small numbers of tanks have been used to delay the Japanese attacks.
The cruiser forces off Java start firing at 1155. Both sides gunnery is unimpressive in its accuracy, and the Japanese force starts to manoeuvre for a massed torpedo attack. This commences at 1225, and the force fires off some 90 Long Lance torpedoes at long range. The result is less that devastating; only one ship is hit, as HMAS Perth is hit forward. The heavy torpedo wrecks her bows and her forward turrets, and the cruiser is forced to turn away and slow to a few knots to avoid further damage. The rest of the allied force moves to cover her, and at last a number of hits are made. HMS Exeter is hit on her rear turret, rendering it inoperable, and HMS Danae receives two 6" hits which fortunately only do minor damage. In return the Haguro is hit twice by 8" shells, knocking out one of her forward turrets.
At about 1250 the strike from HMS Colossus arrives. The light carrier only has 11 torpedo planes available and operational, covered by 8 Sparrowhawks, but the Japanese cruiser force currently has no air cover at all (the Japanese fighters are at the moment over the invasion convoy which is closing the coast of Java). The AA fire from the warships is intense, and one Sea Lance is shot down and another forced to withdraw trailing smoke. The other nine target two of the Japanese cruisers, hitting the Haguro with one torpedo and the Jintsu with one. The other ships are strafed by the Sparrowhawks once they realise that there is no air cover, and the heavy cannon fire results in the loss of one of the destroyers, which blows up after being strafed, breaking in two and sinking fast (it was later ascertained that a cannon shell had set off one of her oxygen-powered torpedoes. With the damage caused to both sides, neither side was willing to carry on combat for the moment, and both the forces withdrew slightly. The Japanese intending to make a night attack once they had repaired their immediate damage, the allies to allow their air force to continue to reduce the enemy strength. In any case, the original allied task of finding and attacking the invasion fleet was now thought to be better served by air attack, using the cruiser force once sufficient damage had been done.
The invasion fleet itself had been the subject of two more heavy attacks during the day from RAF and RAAF Beaufighters and a squadron of Cormorant dive bombers operating from land bases. The convoy had been covered by Japanese fighters, and the allies had lost seven Beaufighters and three Cormorants as well as five Sparrowhawk fighters to the fighters and the AA. The Japanese had lost twelve fighters, and the cruiser HIJMS Mogami was sinking, as were four transports, with another two transports burning. However the Japanese commander pressed on despite these losses, and by the late afternoon was ready to make his landings on the island. The troops had now been reduced to some 9,000, and a considerable amount of equipment had been lost. The Japanese intention was to establish a foothold for additional troops to exploit; another division was available in the Celebes to reinforce the landings