Dropping the Ball at Bali
2000 hours. The wind was a Force 5 Easterly at 20 knots. The sky was cloudless with a quarter moon. There was no sea haze but there were 6 squalls scattered about and more to come in all probability. The squalls were light and only reduced visibility into or through them by 1,000 yards. It was a wet but not too stormy night.
RAdm Palliser peered ahead into the darkness from the bridge of HMS Danae which bore his flag. Force Z or what was left of it was deployed with the RNN DesGrp 1 in line abreast from the port some 3,000 yards to his front. The three RN D class cruisers were in a divisional column followed by the three RNN cruisers in a second divisional column and RNN DesGrp 2 in a column behind the cruisers. The whole lot was cracking on at 25 knots on a heading of 315 degrees.
RAdm Tanaka led the column in Jintsu followed by the four destroyers of DesDiv 16. The invasion convoy was 3,000 yards behind the column and the whole shebang was doing 11 knots on a heading of 270 degrees and 4 points off Force Z’s port bow.
The Dutch DDs could see 6,000 yards as could the RN cruisers. The Dutch cruisers could see 12,000 yards and the railing destroyers 4,000 yards. The IJN could see 8,000 yards. There was no radar present so this would acquisition or nothing.
Jintsu’s masthead saw the Dutch destroyers at 2006 hours and held fire. At 2009 hours, Tanaka ordered the convoy to turn to 180 degrees and his column to increase speed to 16 knots and turn away together under smoke. At 2009 hours Tanaka turned together to 190 degrees and again increased speed to 21 knots.
Tanaka’s forces having never gotten within 6,000 yards avoided being acquired by the RNN DDs or the RN cruisers and the smoke hid Jintsu from the RNN cruisers. Tanka thus avoided Force Z and Bali fell.
