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Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman ( April 23, 1889 - February 28, 1942) was a Dutch admiral ( Dutch: schout-bij-nacht) during World War II.He was originally a naval pilot in the Royal Netherlands Navy, but rose through the ranks to become rear admiral in 1940.
In early 1942 he was made commander of the combined American, British, Dutch and Australian ( ABDA) fleet in the Dutch East IndiesThe Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, ( Dutch: Nederlands Indi was the name of the colonies colonised by the Dutch East India Company which came under administration of the Netherlands during the ninteenth century (see Indonesia). Starting in, a force consisting of cruiserIn military terminology, a cruiser is a large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously. Historically they were generally considered the smallest ships capable of independent operations — destroyers usually requiring outside support suchs and destroyerThis article treats on the type of ship. For other things called destroyer , see Destroyer (disambiguation). USS Lassen (DDG-82), an Arleigh Burke class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intes.
In February 1942, ordered by Admiral Hellfrich , the successor of Admiral Thomas Hart in ABDA, to undertake offensive action against the Japanese invasion, he led his fleet into the battle of the Java SeaThe Battle of the Java Sea was a major naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War Two. Allied ships suffered a disastrous defeat at the hand of the Imperial Japanese Navy, in action over several days in February-March 1942. The action included the against a much stronger JapaneseJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh task force in the Java SeaThe Java Sea Jawa Sea is a large ca. 310,000 sq. km), shallow sea in the southern Pacific Ocean. It was formed toward the end of the last ice age when two large river systems were drowned out. It lies in the midst of the Indonesian islands of Borneo to th. This battle proved a disaster for the AlliesIn general, allies are people or groups that have joined an alliance and are working together to achieve some common purpose. In general English usage, those who share a common goal and whose work toward that goal is complementary may be viewed as allies. Doorman became a Dutch maritime icon, because of his last words to the fleet: ""Ik val aan, volg mij!" (I am attacking, follow me). In reality he only issued the command All ships follow me to prevent confusion when the damaged HMS Exeter sailed back to harbor on its own. Doorman just wanted to indicate that his ships should not follow the Exeter.
Karel Doorman died when his flagship De Ruyter (named after the famous Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter) was struck by a torpedo and went under. There was time to escape the sinking flagship, but Doorman chose to go under, according to old naval tradition.
Several ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy have been named Karel Doorman.
Doorman, Karel
Doorman, Karel
Doorman, Karel
