HMS Encounter (H10)

HMS Encounter was an E-class destroyer of the Royal Navy before and during World War II, serving in home waters and in the Norwegian Campaign, before joining the Mediterranean Fleet and serving on the Malta Convoys, and then in the Eastern Fleet until sunk by Japanese warships in the Second Battle of the Java Sea on 1 March 1942.

Service
On the 30 July she joined Force H, sailing on the 31st with six other destroyers as escort to Argus in Operation Hurry&mdash;the first "Club Run"&mdash;to deliver twelve Hurricane fighter aircraft to the besieged island of Malta.

While serving with the Eastern Fleet in 1942, she and the destroyer USS Pope (DD-225) were attacked by four Japanese cruisers and four destroyers in the Second Battle of the Java Sea. Encounter suffered major damage and was scuttled by her crew. Eight of the ship's company were killed and the remaining 149 became prisoners of war, 38 of whom died in captivity. Pope was later attacked and sunk by 12 dive-bombers after sustaining many direct hits.

The following day, the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer JAPANESE DESTROYER Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors from HMS Encounter and USS Pope. The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was Sir Sam Falle, later a British diplomat. This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kudō placed the Ikazuchi at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of a book and a 2007 TV programme.

Discovery of wreck
The wrecks of Exeter and Encounter were first located by divers off Java in February 2007, and their identities confirmed at that time.