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Naval Base Borneo

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Borneo
Geography
Location Southeast Asia
Coordinates 0°00′00″N 114°00′00″E / 0°N 114°E / 0; 114Coordinates: 0°00′00″N 114°00′00″E / 0°N 114°E / 0; 114
Archipelago Greater Sunda Islands
Country


Philippines campaign (1941–1942)
Dutch East Indies campaign
Solomon Islands campaign
New Guinea campaign
New Britain campaign
Philippines campaign (1944–1945)
Borneo campaign


Naval Base Borneo and Naval Base Dutch East Indies was a number of United States Navy Advance Bases and bases of the Australian Armed Forces in Borneo and Dutch East Indies during World War II. At the start of the war, the island was divided in two: British Borneo and Dutch East Indies. Both fell to the Empire of Japan, Japan occupied British Borneo and the Dutch East Indies in 1942 until 1945.[1][2]

History[]

Map of the 1942

Map of the 1942 American-British-Dutch-Australian Command

To the north, the US Naval Base Philippines fell to Japan before Borneo in 1941 and 1942, as such many US Navy ships and submarines escaped the Philippines and traveled south to ports in Borneo and the Dutch East Indies. On 25 November 1941 knowing that hostile Japan actions in the Pacific was coming, Admiral Hart, commander of the Asiatic Fleet, movef Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 57 (USS Whipple, USS Alden, USS John D. Edwards and Edsall) with the destroyer tender USS Black Hawk, to Balikpapan, Borneo, so the whole fleet would not be at Manila Bay in the Philippines. As Japan advanced south into Borneo these vessels fled further south to form the new US Naval Bases in Australia.[1] Some of the Royal Netherlands Navy vessels, like Netherlands submarines: HMAS K9 and HNLMS K VIII, also fled to bases in Australia.[3] With the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) the Allies tried to limit the advance of Japan. ABDACOM did not have enough troops or supplies to carry out the mission. Japan viewed the Dutch East Indies as a prize for its vast quantities of natural resources. In 1941, the Dutch East Indies was a major producer of: rubber, oil, quinine, coffee, tea, cacao, coconut, sugar, pepper, and tobacco. Due to Japan's aggression in China and other places, the US put an oil embargo on Japan.[4][5]

During the Borneo campaign in 1944 and 1945 the Allies both built new bases and used captured Japan bases for staging advances in Borneo and the Philippines.[6] Many ports and cities held by Japan did not surrender until the end of the war.[1][7][8] As the Allies won more battles and moved in on Japan, Japan moved many of the 1942 Prisoners of war, mostly British and Australian in the 1945 Sandakan Death Marches. Like the Bataan Death March of 1942, many died in the Marches.[9][10]

Dutch East Indies became independent from the Netherlands and Japan on 27 December and is now the nation of Indonesia.[11] British Borneo the northern parts of the island of Borneo, became the nation of Brunei on 1 January 1984 and parts became two states in Malaysia.[12] For current base since 1949 see Indonesian Navy.

Naval Bases[]

  • Naval Base Morotai, Major US Base opened September 1944, staging action in Philippines. Fleet Post Office # 936.[13]
  • Naval Base Sanga-Sanga, on Tawi-Tawi Island, support Sanga-Sanga Airfield[16][17]
  • Naval Base Brunei Bay at Brunei Bay with Australian Army also to support Brunei Airfield[18]
  • Naval Base Tarakan at Tarakan with Australian forces, after Battle of Tarakan. Fleet Post Office # 1157[19]
  • Naval Base Balikpapan at Balikpapan, Fleet Post Office # 1156, use after fall of US Naval Bases in the Philippines retaken in June 1945 in the Battle of Balikpapan[20]
  • Naval Base Batavia at Batavia, Java (now Jakarta )Fleet Post Office #1155 (lost March 1, 1942)[21]
  • Naval Base Banjermassin at Banjarmasin, Borneo Fleet Post Office #1158 (lost in Battle of Banjarmasin)
  • Naval Base Samarinda, in 1942 ABDACOM operated from the port at Samarinda to support Samarinda Airfield[22]
  • Naval Base Java, in 1942, the US set up a port to deliver planes and bombers to Yogyakarta Airfield as part of ABDACOM.[23]
    • Naval Base Sourabaya at Sourabaya Java, Fleet Post Office # 3043
    • Naval Base Tjilatjap, also called Naval Base Cilacap at Cilacap Java, in 1942 ABDACOM operated from the port at Tjilatjap. Base supported Pasiran Airfield. The USS Langley (CV-1) was sunk on her way to deliver more planes to Tjilatjap.[24]
  • Saumlaki Seaplane Base in Saumlaki Bay used in 1942 by US Navy and Netherlands Naval Aviation. On Tanimbar Islands in Maluku province.[25]
  • Naval Base Kudat at Kudat, British North Borneo, Fleet Post Office # 3103
  • Naval Base Kudat Brunei at Brunei, British North Borneo, Fleet Post Office # 3104 SF
  • Naval Base Ceram Island at Ceram Island, Fleet Post Office # 3135, support post war Boela Airfield, now Boela Airport
  • Naval Base Talaud Island on Talaud Islands Fleet Post Office # 3124, post war base (Operation Gossipmonger was canceled)
  • Naval Base Koepang at Koepang, Timor, Fleet Post Office # 3049, support post war Koepang Airfield
  • Naval Base Manado at Manado, Celebes, Fleet Post Office # 3066, support post war Mapanget Airfield
  • Naval Base Kendari at Kendari, Celebes leet Post Office # 3052, support post war Kendari Airfield
  • Australian bases, with US support:
    • Naval Base Sandakan, at Sandakan Borneo Fleet Post Office # 3128, freed July 1, 1945, support Sandakan Airport[26]
    • Naval base Labuan Island to support Timbalai Airfield, after Battle of Labuan[27][28]
    • Naval Base Timor in Portuguese East Timor[29]
  • Naval Base Muara Island after Battle of North Borneo
  • Naval Base Weston at Weston, Sabah, after Battle of North Borneo

Dutch East Indies Fleet 1942[]

The Netherlands had a fleet of vessels in Dutch East Indies in 1942, many were lost in the war and some fled to Australia. The fleet included: Light cruisers: HNLMS De Ruyter HNLMS Java and HNLMS Tromp. Destroyers: HNLMS Piet Hein, HNLMS Van Nes , HNLMS Van Ghent, HNLMS Kortenaer, HNLMS Banckert, and HNLMS Witte de With. Eight minelayers and minesweepers. Light cruiser HNLMS Sumatra. K VIII-class submarine K-VII, K-VIII, K-IX, K-X, K-XI, K-XII, K-XIII, K-XIV, K-XVI, K XVIII and O-XIX. Gunboat: HNLMS Soerabaja and light cruiser: HNLMS Evertsen. Submarine tender Zuiderkruis.[30]
Major Dutch East Indies seaports included: Makassar, Tangerang, Batavia (Jakarta), Semarang Tegal and Surabaya.[31][32]
The main base of the Dutch East Indies Fleet was at the Soerabaja Naval Base at Surabaya Java, supported by the Morokrembangan Seaplane Base with Dornier Do 24 seaplanes . Dutch Naval Base Tandjong Priok at Java was the main sub base.[33]
The major Islands of the Dutch East Indies were:

  • Borneo, invaded January 1942, at Balikpapan, Tarakan, Samarinda
  • Sumatra, was invaded February 1942
  • Java, was invaded February 1942[34]
  • Timor, was invaded February 1942
    • Koepang Seaplane Base on West Timor[35]
  • Celebes, now Sulawesi, was invaded in January 1942 at Manado and Kendari
    • Lake Tondano Seaplane Base[36]
  • East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara, invaded February 1942
  • Maluku Islands, (Moluccas Islands was invaded in January 1942, including Ceram Island
  • Dutch New Guinea in Western New Guinea, northern ports invaded, see US Naval Base New Guinea

British Borneo[]

British Borneo bases lost in the war and occupied by Japan included: Port of Sandakan, Port of Muara and Temburon. The British Pacific Fleet's East Indies Fleet also porting in nearby Singapore Naval Base. The British South Pacific Fleet joined the 1942 ABDACOM and many of the British ships were lost in the war. Some ships retreated to British bases in the Indian Ocean and other free British Western Pacific Territories.[37][38]

POWs[]

Further information: Japanese war crimes and Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies

As in other theaters of war Japan's treatment of POWs and civilians was very poor. Many were exhausted from hunger and disease. Many deaths were caused by the diversion of food, such as rice, to Japanese troops from the Dutch East Indies population. Between 4 and 10 million Indonesians from the Dutch East Indies were turned into Japan's forced labourers, called romusha. Four million died in the Dutch East Indies as a result of famine and forced labour.[39][40]International Red Cross packages were not distributed to POWs.[41][42] In the Dutch East Indies there were both massacres and executions of POWs:[43][44]

Gallery[]

See also[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Pacific Wrecks – Borneo". https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/borneo.html. 
  2. ↑ Long, Gavin (1963). The Final Campaigns. Australia in the War of 1939–1945, Series 1 – Army, Volume VII. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 1297619. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070206/. 
  3. ↑ HMAS K9ozatwar.com
  4. ↑ Klemen, L (1999–2000). "General Sir Archibald Percival Wavell". Dutch East Indies Campaign website. https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/wavell.html. 
  5. ↑ Roberts, Andrew (2009) (in en). Masters and Commanders: The Military Geniuses Who Led the West to Victory in World War II (1 ed.). London: Penguin Books. pp. 66–68. ISBN 978-0-141-02926-9. https://archive.org/details/masterscommander0000robe_g9v1. 
  6. ↑ Smith, Robert Ross (1996). The Approach to the Philippines. Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army. LCCN 53060474. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Approach/index.html. 
  7. ↑ Operation Borneo: The last, untold story of the War in the Pacific, 1945, by Gerard Case, 28 June 2004
  8. ↑ Australians in Borneo During WW IIborneo.com.au
  9. ↑ Sandakan Death Marchesdiggerhistory.info
  10. ↑ https://ww2db.com/country/dutch_east_indies
  11. ↑ Indonesiavce.eu
  12. ↑ Bruneibritishempire.co.uk
  13. ↑ Morotaipacificwrecks.com
  14. ↑ Wamapacificwrecks.com
  15. ↑ Pitupacificwrecks.com
  16. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Sanga-Sanga (Sanga Sanga) Tawi-Tawi Island, ARMM, Philippines". https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/philippines_sanga-sanga.html. 
  17. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Sanga-Sanga Airfield (Sanga Sanga, Tawi-Tawi) Tawi-Tawi Province, Philippines". https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/philippines/sanga-sanga/. 
  18. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Brunei (Sultanate of Brunei, Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace)". http://pacificwrecks.com/. 
  19. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Tarakan Island, North Kalimantan Province, Borneo, Indonesia". https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/borneo_tarakan_island.html. 
  20. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Balikpapan, East Kalimantan Province, Borneo, Indonesia". https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/malaysia/timbalai/index.html. 
  21. ↑ Jakarta pacificwrecks.com
  22. ↑ Samarindapacificwrecks.com
  23. ↑ Yogyakarta Airfieldpacificwrecks.com
  24. ↑ Tjilatjappacificwrecks.com
  25. ↑ Saumlaki Seaplane Basepacificwrecks.com
  26. ↑ Sandakanpacificwrecks.com
  27. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks Timbalai Airfield". https://pacificwrecks.com/airfields/malaysia/timbalai/index.html. 
  28. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks, Australian bases". http://pacificwrecks.com/. 
  29. ↑ "Pacific Wrecks – Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (East Timor)". https://pacificwrecks.com/provinces/timor_east.html. 
  30. ↑ Submarine tender Zuiderkruis]dutchsubmarines.com
  31. ↑ The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies
  32. ↑ Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait 1942US Navy
  33. ↑ Soerabaja Naval Basepacificwrecks.com
  34. ↑ Battle of Java SeaUS Navy
  35. ↑ Koepang Seaplane Basepacificwrecks.com
  36. ↑ Lake Tondano Seaplane Basepacificwrecks.com
  37. ↑ Watson, Graham. "Royal Navy Organisation in World War 2, 1939–1945: EASTERN FLEET 1.1942-EAST INDIES FLEET 11.44-". Gordon Smith, 19 September 2015. https://www.naval-history.net/xGW-RNOrganisation1939-45.htm#33. 
  38. ↑ Stephen Roskill, War at Sea, Vol. II, p.22
  39. ↑ Mizuma 2013, pp. 49–68
  40. ↑ Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1998, pp. 157–158) quoted in Vickers (2013, p. 85)
  41. ↑ Marcel Junod, International Red Cross
  42. ↑ Researching Japanese War Crimes January 28, 2015, National Archives
  43. ↑ An account of the Japanese occupation of Banjumascornell.edu
  44. ↑ Japanese Occupation of the Dutch East Indies and the Colijn Sisters 7/6/2017 by Mei Mei Chun-Moy
  45. ↑ Tanker Augustina massacrecnooks.nl

Template:Borneo


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