USS Langley - CV-1
USS Langley - CV-1
bigpigeon.us webpage  WW II - Japan > Japan Lashes Out > The Dutch Indies Lost, updated by RAC 4 Aug '19.
jAmong Japanese conquests in early 1942 were the Netherlands East Indies, then a Dutch colony and today the nation of Indonesia. A hastily-organized coalition of American, British, Dutch and Australian forces, known as ABDA, attempted to resist but were quickly brushed aside with the loss of some thousands of Allied lives.

The United States contributed most of the remainder of the Asiatic Fleet as well as army air force units and a battalion of ground troops to ABDA operations. Almost all personnel were killed or captured.

Among the Unites States losses was our first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, ferrying USAAF aircraft and crews for the defense of Java. The Langley was torpedoed south of Tjilatjap, Java on 27 Feb '42 and was then scuttled.
1942 Japanese Capture of the Dutch East Indies
Japanese Capture of the Indies
Sources for the WW II - The Dutch Indies Lost webpage
  • The webpage header photo, USS Langley - CV-1 is courtesy of pinterest.com.
  • The Japanese Capture of the Indies map is courtesy of DeDuijn at wikibooks.org.
Pottawattamie County, Iowa WW II Deaths - the Dutch Indies Lost  (updated 4 Aug '19)
World Wars > WW II > Pott. Co. Deaths has parental and spousal information.
  • Koebel, Kenneth L., USAAF; P-40 pilot in 13th or 33rd Pursuit Sqdn.; survivor of the 27 Feb '42 sinking of the 27 Feb '42 sinking of the USS Langley, died 1 Mar '42 on the destroyer USS Edsall 430 miles south of Java. The Langley was ferrying fighter aircraft to Java to be used in the defence of the Dutch East Indies.