Takeo Kurita
By chance, just after 22:00, a Japanese invasion convoy bound for West Java including the entire Sixteenth Army, under Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura, in over 50 transport ships was entering Bantam Bay, near the north-west tip of Java. The Japanese troop transports were escorted by the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, led by Rear Admiral Kenzaburo Hara, and the 7th Cruiser Division, under Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita. Light cruiser (with Admiral Hara aboard), with the destroyers , , , , , , , and were closest to the convoy. Flanking the bay to the north were the heavy cruisers and , accompanied by the destroyer .