Rising Sun, Falling Skies

The disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II

Rising Sun, Falling Skies cover

Description

Author Jeffrey Cox conducts a thorough and compelling investigation of the Java Sea Campaign, the first major sea battle of the Pacific War, which inflicted huge costs on the Allies and set the stage for Japan's rout across the Pacific and Indian oceans.

Few events have ever shaken a country in the way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the United States. The Japanese forces then continued to overwhelm the Allies, attacking Malaya with its fortress of Singapore, and taking resource-rich islands in the Pacific in their own blitzkrieg offensive.

Allied losses in these early months after America's entry into the war were great, and among the most devastating were those suffered during the Java Sea Campaign, where a small group of Americans, British, Dutch, and Australians were isolated in the Far East – directly in the path of the Japanese onslaught.

It would be the first major sea battle of World War II in the Pacific.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1. On the Day Before
Chapter 2. Just a Little More Time
Chapter 3. Breakdown
Chapter 4. Finding Trouble
Chapter 5. Shooting at Venus
Chapter 6. Slapped Together
Chapter 7. Luck – The Battle of Balikpapan
Chapter 8. Bloody Shambles
Chapter 9. Can't Catch a Break – The Battle of the Flores Sea
Chapter 10. A Thousand Cuts
Chapter 11. Too Clever by Half – The Battle of Badoeng Strait
Chapter 12. No Breath to Catch – Preliminaries to the Battle of the Java Sea
Chapter 13. Nerk Nerk Nerk – The Sinking of the Langley
Chapter 14. One Shell – Day Action of the Battle of the Java Sea
Chapter 15. A Turn Too Far – The Second Part of the Battle of the Java Sea
Chapter 16. A Hopeless Plan – The Escape from Java
Chapter 17. Dancing in the Dark – The Battle of Soenda Strait
Chapter 18. Nowhere to Run – The Second Battle of the Java Sea
Chapter 19. To the Winds – Escape Attempts from Java
Chapter 20. Aftermath – Not Quite Vanquished

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Product details

Published Mar 20 2014
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 504
ISBN 9781472808332
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 40 b/w
Series General Military
Short code GNM
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Jeffrey Cox

Jeffrey R. Cox is a litigation attorney and an ind…

Resources

Book Vote

Tell us what titles you would like to see published by Osprey, then vote for your favourites in our monthly book vote!

Related Titles

Sign up for Osprey membership for access to thousands of plane profiles, maps, battle scenes and more. Plus up to 30% off website purchases