Commodore Yosaphat "Yos" Sudarso (24 November 1925 – 15 January 1962) was an Indonesian

naval officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

killed at the

Battle of Arafura Sea The Battle of Arafura Sea ( id, Pertempuran Laut Aru), also known as the Battle of Vlakke Hoek ( nl, Slag bij Vlakke Hoek), was a naval battle in the Vlakke Hoek Bay (Etna Bay) of the Arafura Sea in Western New Guinea on January 15, 1962, between ...

. At the time of his death, Yos Sudarso was deputy chief of staff of the

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol I ...

and in charge of an action to infiltrate

Dutch New Guinea Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...

. He was promoted to vice admiral ( id, Laksamana Madya) posthumously. The Battle near Vlakke Hoek (Etna Bay) of the

Arafura Sea The Arafura Sea (or Arafuru Sea) lies west of the Pacific Ocean, overlying the continental shelf between Australia and Western New Guinea (also called Papua), which is the Indonesian part of the Island of New Guinea. Geography The Arafura Sea is ...

stopped an attempt by the Indonesian Navy to drop off 150 soldiers in

Kaimana Kaimana is a small port town in West Papua, Indonesia and capital of the Kaimana Regency. It had a population of 13,613 at the 2010 Census. In March 2007, the Indonesian Navy conducted a training exercise off the coast of Kaimana in Kaimana Ba ...

in Dutch New Guinea for sabotage and to incite the local population against the Dutch government. Sudarso was in charge of the operation at sea, while Colonel Murshid commanded the infiltrants. Three ''Jaguar''-class torpedo boats left the

Aru Islands The Aru Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Aru) is a group of about 95 low-lying islands in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It also forms a regency of Maluku Province, with a land area of . At the 2011 Census the Regency had a po ...

in the middle of the night but were intercepted by a Dutch reconnaissance plane, as the Dutch had anticipated the action for weeks. The torpedo boats responded to the flares sent off by the plane by shooting at it. The Dutch destroyer then joined the scene and sunk the KRI ''Matjan Tutul'', commanded by Sudarso. The other two ships, KRI ''Matjan Kumbang'' and KRI ''Harimau'', fled, but one hit a reef and the other was disabled by shooting. The ''Evertsen'' was able to save most occupants of the ''Matjan Tutul'', but at least three sailors died, among whom was Commodore Sudarso. The action itself was an abject failure and General

Nasution General of the Army Abdul Haris Nasution ( Old Spelling: Abdoel Haris Nasution; 3 December 1918 – 6 September 2000), was a high-ranking Indonesian general and politician. He served in the military during the Indonesian National Revolution a ...

even refused to relay the bad news to

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

, forcing Colonel Murshid to do this in person. However, the small battle was partially responsible for the subsequent involvement of the Soviet Union and United States in the case of Dutch New Guinea, and it is honored in Indonesia by "Sea Sacrifice Day," an annual nationwide day of remembrance. Twelve years after his death, Yos Sudarso was officially added to the register of Indonesian heroes of the Revolution. Indonesia issued a special postage stamp to commemorate his service to his country, while the KRI ''Harimau'' was made into a monument at

Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum The Purna Bhakti Pertiwi Museum, is a history museum specialized on the life of Suharto, the former second president of Indonesia and a powerful political figure in modern Indonesian history. It is located in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), Jak ...

Taman Mini Indonesia Indah Taman Mini "Indonesia Indah" (literally ''"Beautiful Indonesia" Mini Park''—the apostrophes are in the name—abbreviated as TMII) is a culture-based recreational area located in East Jakarta, Indonesia. Since July 2021, it is operated by the G ...

Matjan Tutul (replica), Satriamandala Museum

Indonesia's

Yos Sudarso Island Pulau Yos Sudarso or Pulau Dolok is an island separated only by the narrow Muli Strait from the main island of New Guinea. It is part of the Merauke Regency, in the Indonesian province of South Papua. The island is leaf-shaped, about long with an ...

and

Yos Sudarso Bay Yos Sudarso Bay ( id, Teluk Yos Sudarso), known as Humboldt Bay from 1827 to 1968, is a small bay on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea. ...

are named in his honor. There are two Indonesian Navy ships named after him. The first ship was KRI ''Jos Sudarso'' (351), a

Riga-class frigate The Riga class was the NATO reporting name for class of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was ''Storozhevoi Korabl'' (escort ship) ''Project 50 Gornostay'' ('' Ermine stoat''). The Riga clas ...

commissioned in 1963 and retired in 1986. The second ship is an ex-Dutch ''Van Speijk''-class frigate named KRI ''Yos Sudarso'' (353) which is still active in the fleet today.

References

{{Authority control Indonesian military personnel 1925 births 1962 deaths Indonesian Christians Indonesian Roman Catholics National Heroes of Indonesia