Editing United States Asiatic Fleet (section)

====Battle of Java: 27 February 1942 to 3 March 1942====
{{Main|Battle of Java}}

Eight U.S. Navy Asiatic Fleet ships were sunk by enemy warships or airplanes during the Battle of Java when the Japanese invaded the island of [[Java]]. This was the final battle of the [[Dutch East Indies campaign]]. The [[seaplane tender]] (former aircraft carrier) {{USS|Langley|AV-3|2}} was transporting 32 brand new [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk]] fighter planes from Australia to Java when she was sunk with 16 killed on 27 February. Hundreds more ''Langley'' survivors were killed when the other naval ships that rescued them were also sunk soon afterwards. The oil tanker {{USS|Pecos|AO-6|2}} was trapped and attacked by numerous Japanese ships and airplanes and was sunk on 1 March. 232 survivors were rescued and over 400 ''Pecos'' crew and survivors from ''Langley'' were left behind and drowned due to Japanese submarines threatening the U.S. ships that were rescuing the survivors. The destroyer {{USS|Pope|DD-225|2}} was attached to an Allied fleet as the only U.S. vessel and was sunk in the [[Second Battle of the Java Sea]]. The destroyer {{USS|Stewart|DD-224|2}} was badly damaged and scuttled at [[Surabaya]] on 2 March 1942. On 3 March the submarine {{USS|Perch|SS-176|2}} was sunk while attacking a Japanese convoy northwest of Surabaya. A major tragedy happened when three Asiatic Fleet warships, destroyers {{USS|Edsall|DD-219|2}} and {{USS|Pillsbury|DD-227|2}} and gunboat {{USS|Asheville|PG-21|2}}, were sunk on 1–3 March 1942 with no survivors while supporting the Allied forces during the Battle of Java. There were reports that there were prisoners-of-war from these 3 ships but none of them survived [[List of Japanese-run internment camps during World War II|Japanese prisoner-of-war camps]] to tell their stories. No logs and no records of these three ships' final hours exist. The U.S. Navy did not know what happened to the ships and fallen sailors until after World War II. From these 3 ships approximately 450 crewmen and officers were killed or died while prisoners-of-war.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-003/h-003-3.html |title=H-003-3 the Valor of the Asiatic Fleet |website=www.history.navy.mil |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-003.html |title=H-Gram 003 |website=www.history.navy.mil |access-date=19 September 2021}}</ref>