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Sunda Straits Crisis
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Sunda Straits Crisis
The Sunda Straits Crisis was a two-week confrontation between the United Kingdom and Indonesia over the passage of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier HMS Victorious through the Sunda Strait, a major waterway separating the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, occurring between August and September 1964. The incident was part of the larger Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, an armed conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia (with the military support of Britain) over the formation of the latter as an independent state.
On 27 August 1964, the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious and her two destroyer escorts sailed through the Sunda Strait, an international waterway claimed by Indonesia, en route to Australia. Upset by the casual warning the British had given of the ships' impending passage through the Strait (a telephone call made two days before, which did not mention the carrier) and wary of the possibility that the British were attempting to provoke a violent response, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided two days later to prohibit the warships from making the return journey to Singapore, scheduled for the middle of September.
Infuriated by what was perceived as another affront to British prestige after the recent landings at Pontian and Labis by Indonesian volunteers in southwestern Malaysia, members of the British Cabinet, particularly Peter Thorneycroft and Louis Mountbatten, favoured sending the carrier back through the Strait in spite of the Indonesian ban. Though British naval commanders in the Far East had grave concerns that the Victorious would be indefensible while in passage, the prevailing opinion was that not to send the ship would result in an immense political defeat on both a domestic and international scale as well as the loss of rights to an important waterway. Tension mounted as the British and Indonesians each refused to bend, and as the carrier's time to sail came, war became increasingly likely.
On 10 September, however, the Indonesians proposed a way out: an alternative route through the Lombok Strait. The British took them up on this offer, to the relief of both parties, and the Victorious made a peaceful return through Indonesian territory. War was averted, and the climax of tensions during the confrontation had been passed. Never again was the threat of all-out war a realistic possibility, despite some large land battles in northern Borneo the following spring, and the confrontation wound down by late fall of 1965. It had never escalated into a major conflict, and a peace deal was signed the following year.
On 31 August 1957, the British territory of Malaya received its independence from the Crown as a part of Britain's colonial withdrawal from the Far East, after nearly a decade of tortuous counter-insurgency warfare by British and Commonwealth troops against Malayan rebels in the Malayan Emergency. British plans dictated that the new state would be federated with the British colonies of Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei in northern Borneo in order to better protect British military and economic interests in those regions. Brunei did not join, but Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore had all agreed to join the new Federation by 1963. This project, labeled the 'Grand Design' by politician Malcolm MacDonald in the 1950s, became the cornerstone of British strategic thinking concerning Southeast Asia, and led to the initial federation of the numerous Malayan states in spite of their various differences, with Singapore and the Borneo states joining later. This plan also earned the support of the Malaysian government, which hoped to forestall claims from Indonesia on Borneo.
Indonesia, meanwhile, and especially her longtime president Sukarno, was vehemently opposed to the creation of the Federation. Sukarno opposed both the preservation of the 'imperialist' British presence in Southeast Asia, a region in which he aspired to be the supreme power, and the incorporating of the Borneo colonies into the new Federation, as his goal was to control the entire island. Indeed, through possession of the Kalimantan region, Indonesia already controlled the vast majority of Borneo. To improve Indonesia's position at the negotiating table before the Federation was created, Sukarno initiated a period of Konfrontasi (confrontation) with Malaysia. Consisting initially of frequent raids by Indonesian 'volunteers' into Malaysian territory, the conflict was not considered a war by either side, least of all by the Indonesians. When questioned on what the confrontation was, Foreign Minister Subandrio of Indonesia replied, "Confrontation does not include war, because it can be carried on without war."
To Sukarno, this sort of operation had a number of merits. Starting a military operation against 'imperialists' would help to bind together the antagonistic forces of the army and the Communist Party (PKI) in supporting him, while not creating a fully conflict would prevent the militarily superior British and their Commonwealth allies from using their full force. Indonesia had also pulled off a successful operation using similar techniques in the West Irian campaign against the Dutch a decade prior, a raiding campaign into Western New Guinea had ended with the Dutch ceding that territory to prevent Indonesia from 'falling' to Communism.
The main part of the confrontation is generally split into three distinct phases. In the first, Indonesia supported revolts against Anglo-Malaysian rule in northern Borneo, most notably the Brunei Revolt in December 1962. In the second, the guerrilla raids began in earnest, from April 1963 onwards. The fighting in this phase, while causing some damage and casualties, was relatively minor and the incursions were usually only made up of platoon sized bands crossing the Kalimantan border into Sarawak and Sabah. These operations were the essence of the initial strategy to improve the Indonesian negotiating position and continued alongside said negotiations throughout the summer of 1963. However, on 16 September, the negotiations concluded with the formation of the Malaysian Federation, which included Malaya, Singapore, and the two Borneo states (Sarawak and Sabah). In response, the raids were intensified into larger groups working with or consisting of Indonesian regular troops. This was the beginning of the escalation of the conflict into its third and most dangerous phase.
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Sunda Straits Crisis
The Sunda Straits Crisis was a two-week confrontation between the United Kingdom and Indonesia over the passage of the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier HMS Victorious through the Sunda Strait, a major waterway separating the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra, occurring between August and September 1964. The incident was part of the larger Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, an armed conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia (with the military support of Britain) over the formation of the latter as an independent state.
On 27 August 1964, the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious and her two destroyer escorts sailed through the Sunda Strait, an international waterway claimed by Indonesia, en route to Australia. Upset by the casual warning the British had given of the ships' impending passage through the Strait (a telephone call made two days before, which did not mention the carrier) and wary of the possibility that the British were attempting to provoke a violent response, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided two days later to prohibit the warships from making the return journey to Singapore, scheduled for the middle of September.
Infuriated by what was perceived as another affront to British prestige after the recent landings at Pontian and Labis by Indonesian volunteers in southwestern Malaysia, members of the British Cabinet, particularly Peter Thorneycroft and Louis Mountbatten, favoured sending the carrier back through the Strait in spite of the Indonesian ban. Though British naval commanders in the Far East had grave concerns that the Victorious would be indefensible while in passage, the prevailing opinion was that not to send the ship would result in an immense political defeat on both a domestic and international scale as well as the loss of rights to an important waterway. Tension mounted as the British and Indonesians each refused to bend, and as the carrier's time to sail came, war became increasingly likely.
On 10 September, however, the Indonesians proposed a way out: an alternative route through the Lombok Strait. The British took them up on this offer, to the relief of both parties, and the Victorious made a peaceful return through Indonesian territory. War was averted, and the climax of tensions during the confrontation had been passed. Never again was the threat of all-out war a realistic possibility, despite some large land battles in northern Borneo the following spring, and the confrontation wound down by late fall of 1965. It had never escalated into a major conflict, and a peace deal was signed the following year.
On 31 August 1957, the British territory of Malaya received its independence from the Crown as a part of Britain's colonial withdrawal from the Far East, after nearly a decade of tortuous counter-insurgency warfare by British and Commonwealth troops against Malayan rebels in the Malayan Emergency. British plans dictated that the new state would be federated with the British colonies of Sarawak, Sabah, and Brunei in northern Borneo in order to better protect British military and economic interests in those regions. Brunei did not join, but Sarawak, Sabah, and Singapore had all agreed to join the new Federation by 1963. This project, labeled the 'Grand Design' by politician Malcolm MacDonald in the 1950s, became the cornerstone of British strategic thinking concerning Southeast Asia, and led to the initial federation of the numerous Malayan states in spite of their various differences, with Singapore and the Borneo states joining later. This plan also earned the support of the Malaysian government, which hoped to forestall claims from Indonesia on Borneo.
Indonesia, meanwhile, and especially her longtime president Sukarno, was vehemently opposed to the creation of the Federation. Sukarno opposed both the preservation of the 'imperialist' British presence in Southeast Asia, a region in which he aspired to be the supreme power, and the incorporating of the Borneo colonies into the new Federation, as his goal was to control the entire island. Indeed, through possession of the Kalimantan region, Indonesia already controlled the vast majority of Borneo. To improve Indonesia's position at the negotiating table before the Federation was created, Sukarno initiated a period of Konfrontasi (confrontation) with Malaysia. Consisting initially of frequent raids by Indonesian 'volunteers' into Malaysian territory, the conflict was not considered a war by either side, least of all by the Indonesians. When questioned on what the confrontation was, Foreign Minister Subandrio of Indonesia replied, "Confrontation does not include war, because it can be carried on without war."
To Sukarno, this sort of operation had a number of merits. Starting a military operation against 'imperialists' would help to bind together the antagonistic forces of the army and the Communist Party (PKI) in supporting him, while not creating a fully conflict would prevent the militarily superior British and their Commonwealth allies from using their full force. Indonesia had also pulled off a successful operation using similar techniques in the West Irian campaign against the Dutch a decade prior, a raiding campaign into Western New Guinea had ended with the Dutch ceding that territory to prevent Indonesia from 'falling' to Communism.
The main part of the confrontation is generally split into three distinct phases. In the first, Indonesia supported revolts against Anglo-Malaysian rule in northern Borneo, most notably the Brunei Revolt in December 1962. In the second, the guerrilla raids began in earnest, from April 1963 onwards. The fighting in this phase, while causing some damage and casualties, was relatively minor and the incursions were usually only made up of platoon sized bands crossing the Kalimantan border into Sarawak and Sabah. These operations were the essence of the initial strategy to improve the Indonesian negotiating position and continued alongside said negotiations throughout the summer of 1963. However, on 16 September, the negotiations concluded with the formation of the Malaysian Federation, which included Malaya, Singapore, and the two Borneo states (Sarawak and Sabah). In response, the raids were intensified into larger groups working with or consisting of Indonesian regular troops. This was the beginning of the escalation of the conflict into its third and most dangerous phase.
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