The Battle of the Java Sea in World War II

The Battle of the Java Sea in World War II The Battle of the Java Sea occurred on February 27, 1942, and was an early naval engagement of World War II (1939-1945) in the Pacific. With the beginning of fighting in the Dutch East Indies, Allied forces attempted to unite to slow the Japanese advance south towards Australia. This saw a combined American, British, Dutch, and Australian fleet formed to protect Java. In late February, this fleets Eastern Strike Force, led by Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, engaged the approaching Japanese in the Java Sea. In the resulting engagement, Doorman doggedly attacked the Japanese but proved unable to halt their advance. The battle concluded with the loss of the light cruisers HNLMS De Ruyter and Java as well as Doormans death. In the wake of the fighting, the remaining Allied ships fled though most were destroyed in separate actions a short time later. Background In early 1942, with the Japanese rapidly advancing south through the Dutch East Indies, the Allies attempted to mount a defense of Java in an effort to hold the Malay Barrier. Concentrating under the unified command known as American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, Allied naval units were divided between bases at Tandjong Priok (Batavia) in the west and Surabaya in the east. Overseen by Dutch Vice Admiral Conrad Helfrich, ABDA forces were badly outnumbered and in poor condition for the approaching fight. To take the island, the Japanese formed two major invasion fleets. Japanese Attacks Along the Malay Barrier. US Army Center for Military History Japanese Sighted Sailing from Jolo in the Philippines, the Japanese Eastern Invasion Fleet was spotted by ABDA aircraft on February 25. This led Helfrich to reinforce Rear Admiral Karel Doormans Eastern Strike Force at Surabaya the next day with several ships from the Royal Navy. Upon their arrival, Doorman held a meeting with his captains to discuss the upcoming campaign. Departing that evening, Doormans force consisted of two heavy cruisers (USS Houston HMS Exeter), three light cruisers (HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java, HMAS Perth), as well as three British, two Dutch, and four American (Destroyer Division 58) destroyers. Sweeping the north coast of Java and Madura, Doormans ships failed to locate the Japanese and turned for Surabaya. A short distance to the north, the Japanese invasion force, protected by two heavy cruisers (Nachi Haguro), two light cruisers (Naka Jintsu), and fourteen destroyers, under Rear Admiral Takeo Takagi, slowly moved towards Surabaya. At 1:57 PM on February 27, a Dutch scout plane located the Japanese approximately 50 miles north of the port. Receiving this report, the Dutch admiral, whose ships were beginning to enter the harbor, reversed course to seek battle. ABDA Commander Rear Admiral Karel Doorman2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, nine destroyers Japanese Commanders Rear Admiral  Takeo TakagiRear Admiral Shoji Nishimura2 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers, fourteen destroyers The Battle Begins Sailing north, Doormans exhausted crews prepared to meet the Japanese. Flying his flag from De Ruyter, Doorman deployed his ships in three columns with his destroyers flanking the cruisers. At 3:30 PM, a Japanese air raid forced the ABDA fleet to disperse. Around 4:00 PM, Jintsu spotted the re-formed ABDA ships to the south. Turning with four destroyers to engage, Jintsus column opened the battle at 4:16 PM as the Japanese heavy cruisers and additional destroyers came up in support. As both sides exchanged fire, Rear Admiral Shoji Nishimuras Destroyer Division 4 closed and launched a torpedo attack. Exeter Disabled Around 5:00 PM, Allied aircraft struck the Japanese transports but scored no hits. At the same time, Takagi, feeling the battle was drifting too close to the transports, ordered his ships to close with the enemy. Doorman issued a similar order and the range between the fleets narrowed. As the fighting intensified, Nachi struck Exeter with an 8 shell that disabled most of the ships boilers and created confusion in the ABDA line. Badly damaged, Doorman ordered Exeter to return to Surabaya with the destroyer HNLMS Witte de With as an escort. The Sides Close Shortly thereafter, the destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer was sunk by a Japanese Type 93 Long Lance torpedo. His fleet in disarray, Doorman broke off the battle to reorganize. Takagi, believing the battle was won, ordered his transports to turn south towards Surabaya. Around 5:45 PM, the action was renewed as Doormans fleet turned back towards the Japanese. Finding that Takagi was crossing his T, Doorman ordered his destroyers forward to attack the approaching Japanese light cruisers and destroyers. In the resulting action, the destroyer Asagumo was crippled and HMS Electra sunk. Repeated Attacks At 5:50, Doorman swung his column around to a southeast heading and ordered the American destroyers to cover his withdrawal. In response to this attack and concerns about mines, Takagi turned his force north shortly before sunset. Unwilling to give in, Doorman steamed away into the darkness before planning another strike on the Japanese. Turning northeast then northwest, Doorman hoped to swing around Takagis ships to reach the transports. Anticipating this, and confirmed by sightings from spotter planes, the Japanese were in position to meet the ABDA ships when they reappeared at 7:20 PM. After a brief exchange of fire and torpedoes, the two fleets separated again, with Doorman taking his ships inshore along the Java coast in another attempt to circle around the Japanese. At approximately 9:00 PM, the four American destroyers, out of torpedoes and low on fuel, detached and returned to Surabaya. Over the next hour, Doorman lost his last two destroyers when HMS Jupiter was sunk by a Dutch mine and HMS Encounter was detached to pick up survivors from Kortenaer. A Final Clash Sailing on with his four remaining cruisers, Doorman moved north and was spotted by lookouts aboard Nachi at 11:02 PM. As the ships began to exchange fire, Nachi and Haguro fired spreads of torpedoes. One from Haguro fatally struck De Ruyter at 11:32 PM exploding one of its magazines and killing Doorman. Java was hit by one of Nachis torpedoes two minutes later and sank. Obeying Doormans final orders, Houston and Perth fled the scene without stopping to pick up survivors. Aftermath The Battle of the Java Sea was a resounding victory for the Japanese and effectively ended meaningful naval resistance by ABDA forces. On February 28, Takagis invasion force began landing troops forty miles to the west of Surabaya at Kragan. In the fighting, Doorman lost two light cruisers and three destroyers, as well as one heavy cruiser badly damaged and around 2,300 killed. Japanese losses numbered one destroyer badly damaged and another with moderate damage. HMS Exeter sinks during the Second Battle of the Java Sea, March 1, 1942. US Naval History Heritage Command Though soundly defeated, that the Battle of the Java Sea lasted seven hours is a testament to Doormans determination to defend the island at all costs. Many of the remaining units of his fleet were subsequently destroyed at the Battle of the Sunda Strait (February 28/March 1) and the Second Battle of the Java Sea (March 1). Many of the wrecks of those ships lost at the Battle of the Java Sea and the subsequent actions have been destroyed by illegal salvage operations.

Visas de turista, trabajo y estudio solo para mexicanos

Visas de turista, trabajo y estudio solo para mexicanos Obviamente, los  mexicanos pueden obtener todas las visas americanas disponibles para todo e mundo. Adems, tienen visas disponibles solo para esos nacionales para visitar, trabajar y estudiar. Todas esas ventajas afectan a visas no inmigrantes. Por el contrario, en las visas de inmigrantes para obtener la green card los mexicanos resultan perjudicados. En este artà ­culo se explican por un lado, los  caminos abiertos a mexicanos con  ms facilidades y, por otro,  tambià ©n los caminos cerrados. Visas de turista para los mexicanos Los mexicanos pueden obtener las visas de turista y de negocios conocidas como B1/B2 que aplican a todos los extranjeros. Pero adems, si viven en la zona fronteriza con Estados Unidos, pueden solicitar si asà ­ lo prefieren una visa lser  que tambià ©n se conoce como tarjeta de cruce. Hay que tener claro que las lser son muy cà ³modas para cruzar la frontera de una manera rpida. Pero tienen importantes limitaciones que las distinguen de las visa que se sellan en el pasaporte. Por ejemplo, con una visa lser la estancia en Estados Unidos no puede ser superior a 30 dà ­as. Adems, est limitada la entrada a 25 millas a contar desde la frontera. Con la excepcià ³n de ciertos puertos fronterizos como Nogales o Douglas que permiten internarse en el interior de EEUU hasta 75 millas. Adems, es muy importante saber que sà ³lo se pueden utilizar en puestos aduaneros terrestres. No sirven para viajar a Estados Unidos por barco o avià ³n. Por à ºltimo, estas visas tambià ©n las pueden solicitar los extranjeros que residen legalmente en Mà ©xico y tienen su domicilio en la zona fronteriza. Visas de trabajo para mexicanos Adems de las visas de trabajo disponibles para todos los extranjeros, existen visados que sà ³lo aplican a los mexicanos o a un grupo limitado de nacionales de ciertos paà ­ses entre los que se encuentra Mà ©xico. Los profesionales pueden acceder a una visa TN, creada al amparo del Tratado de Libre Comercio de Norteamà ©rica (NAFTA). Tienen una tramitacià ³n especial y pueden beneficiar a un amplio abanico de profesiones que se encuentran listadas en Apà ©ndice 1603.D.1 y que son estas 60. Para poder solicitarla, es preciso tener una oferta de trabajo a tiempo completo o parcial. Est expresamente prohibido el autoempleo. Adems, existen visas no inmigrantes para trabajar temporalmente en Estados Unidos a las que pueden acceder los nacionales de ciertos paà ­ses, entre ellos los mexicanos, que de hecho son la nacionalidad con ms visas aprobadas en las categorà ­as H-2A y H2-B. Por ejemplo, las H-2B  sirven  trabajar en una gran variedad de empleos, muchos de ellos en el sector turà ­stico y que no requieren de estudios superiores. Para esta categorà ­a se pueden ofertar un mximo de 66.000 mil visas por aà ±o fiscal. Generalmente se conceden por un aà ±o, pudià ©ndose extender hasta un mximo de tres. Adems, estn las H-2A para trabajar en el sector de la agricultura. El cà ³nyuge y los hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os de una persona a la que se le dà © esta visa pueden viajar con à ©l o con ella a Estados Unidos, si bien tienen prohibido trabajar mientras dure su estancia. Pero lo hijos podrn estudiar en las escuelas americanas. Este es un listado de ms de 60 reclutadores mexicanos de trabajadores temporeros para trabajar en Estados Unidos. Diferentes a las visas de trabajo son las de inversià ³n, pero permiten trabajar en la empresa que se crea. Los mexicanos pueden acceder a las E-1 para empresas de import/export y a las E-2, donde hay que tener claro desde el principio cà ³mo entender el monto de capital que se debe invertir.   Las visas de inversià ³n E-1 y E-2 pueden ser disfrutadas, adems, por ciudadanos de otros paà ­ses, pero no de todos. Visas para estudiar en Estados Unidos Adems de las tà ­picas F-1 y M-1, los mexicanos y los canadienses que viven a lo largo de sus respectivas fronteras con Estados Unidos pueden estudiar en este paà ­s con una visa F-3. Esas visas son atractivas pero tambià ©n tienen inconvenientes, como por ejemplo que sà ³lo se pueden utilizar para estudiar en escuelas y universidades que estn a un mximo de 75 millas de la frontera. Cà ³mo acelerar el paso por el control migratorio de Estados Unidos Los mexicanos pueden formar parte de programas que permiten un pase ms rpido por el control de las autoridades de Inmigracià ³n de los Estados Unidos.   Para las fronteras terrestres y marà ­timas, se puede utilizar SENTRI, mientras que para ingresar a USA por un aeropuerto el programa correcto es Global Entry. Malas noticias para mexicanos En los prrafos anteriores se seà ±alaron importantes ventajas para mexicanos. Sin embargo, no todo son buenas noticias. Y es que la alta tasa de inmigracià ³n mexicana en los Estados Unidos provoca que en algunas categorà ­as migratorias debe esperar ms aà ±os para emigrar o, simplemente, algunos caminos les està ©n prohibidos. Por ejemplo, los mexicanos, junto con los indios, chinos y filipinos deben esperar ms aà ±os que el resto de nacionalidades en ciertas peticiones de familia, como por ejemplo las peticiones de ciudadano para hermanos o hijos casados o hijos mayores de 21 aà ±os. Asimismo, no pueden participar en la loterà ­a de visas de la diversidad, que permite obtener la green card a los ganadores de un sorteo. Este es un artà ­culo legal, es meramente informativo.