The Fire Night at Balikpapan

Commander Paul Talbot leads 4 flush-deck destroyers inherited from the Great War — USS John D. Ford, USS Pope, USS Parrott, and USS Paul Jones — toward a bay turned into an inferno. Before evacuating Balikpapan, the Dutch set the oil fields ablaze: the fires light up the harbor like daylight, silhouetting against orange and black the crowded shapes of a Japanese invasion fleet at anchor, transports and tankers packed together. Talbot knows his aging ships are among the last surface units the Allies can muster in the theater; losing them would be a blow nearly impossible to recover from.

Yet the situation is remarkable. Japanese escort destroyers are scattered, enemy attention is fixed on the landing, and the fire creates a screen of smoke even as it betrays positions. Never have the Allies faced a target so dense, so stationary, so exposed.

Talbot must decide quickly: drive into the heart of the anchorage and launch a torpedo attack on the transports, risking being caught between the escorts; hold his destroyers back and withdraw without engaging, saving these irreplaceable ships; or strike only the Japanese escorts to clear a lane for retreat, keeping his torpedoes away from the transports. Charging into the anchorage means betting boldness against survival, while every dispatch from the Pacific brings only defeat.