Tarakan Island
Due to the continued "tense and unpredictable" situation in the Far East at that time, Admiral Hart desired to "obtain additional security from surprise attack" and reduce the possibility of the Japanese cutting off "certain of his surface forces" from British and Dutch bases in the event of war. To that end, on 24 November 1941, CINCAF ordered Task Force 5, formed around , two destroyer divisions (57 and 58, the former including "Alden") and "Black Hawk", to the ports of Balikpapan and Tarakan Island, Borneo. Hart directed the detachment commanders to proceed to these ports for fuel, but to "have difficulty" in doing so, with a view toward lingering in those ports "for a protracted period if necessary."