Editing Battle of the Java Sea (section)

=== Scuttling of the Dutch Navy ===
As the increasingly successful invasion of the Dutch East Indies began to reach the port of Surabaya, many Dutch ships still at anchor were not in a condition to escape the port. In order to prevent capture, some 50 Dutch ships were scuttled in Surabaya. Among these was the destroyer ''Witte De With'', still damaged by air attacks. While many of these ships were salvageable enough for the Japanese to raise and repair them, the operation was very successful as most of their warships were either completely destroyed or unable to serve combat roles. However, it completely decimated the Dutch navy for the rest of the war, effectively ending its role in WW2 outside of a few surviving submarines which continued to operate with the US navy and Royal navy, and a few surviving destroyers, flotilla leaders and gunboats serving with the Royal navy.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dutch Warship Losses in the Dutch East Indies 1941-1942 |url=https://www.oocities.org/dutcheastindies/dutch_losses.html}}</ref>