Battle of Balikpapan (1942) 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 January 1942 – 24 January 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Indonesia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Pacific War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Empire of Japan, Netherlands, Shōji Nishimura, United States, William A. Glassford | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -1.2461, 116.8217 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The First Battle of Balikpapan took place on 23–25 January 1942, off the major oil-producing town and port of Balikpapan, on Borneo, in the Netherlands East Indies. After capturing mostly-destroyed oilfields at Tarakan, Japanese forces sent an ultimatum to the Dutch that they would be executed if they destroyed the oilfields there, to no avail.
After destroying the oilfields, Dutch forces retreated inland, taking up positions in and around Samarinda II Airfield, while the Japanese landed and seized the also-destroyed refineries. Shortly thereafter, an American naval task force ambushed the invasion convoy and sank multiple transport ships, but they ultimately failed to stop Japan from swiftly occupying Balikpapan.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Balikpapan (1942) (revision 1381088390), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Balikpapan (1945) 1945 · 4 km
Other battles of the Pacific War
- Battle of Hong Kong 1941
- Battle of Wake Island 1941
- Battle for Henderson Field 1942
- Battle of Badung Strait 1942
- Battle of Christmas Island 1942
- Battle of Corregidor 1942
- Battle of Manado 1942
- Battle of Midway 1942
- Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse 1942
- Battle of Palembang 1942
All 56 battles of the Pacific War →
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