On 24 September 2018, the Corts Foundation concluded her second Senshi Sōsho project with the publication of volume 26 of the Senshi Sōsho series by Leiden University Press, both in print and Open Access, titled "The Operations of the Navy in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal". The presentation was held in the Great Auditorium of Leiden University with guests anrepresentatives from several countries, in particular Japan, Indonesia, USA and the Netherlands.

The publication is available at:
The Leiden University Repository
[Download PDF >>] [Order a copy >>]

The publication concerns the translation from Japanese into English of the operations of the Japanese Imperial Navy during the invasion of the Dutch East Indies at the start of the second world war. The book presents new insights in these operations, in particular the operations in the Java Sea on 27 and 28 February 1942, when an allied fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Karel Doorman was defeated with a large loss of life. 

Dr. Willem Remmelink, as final editor, was responsible for final edition and translation, assisted by an advisory board of Japanese and Dutch experts.
On 24 September 2018, the president of the Corts Foundation, Mr. Egbert Jacobs, presented the first copy to Prof. Dr. Rutgers, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University, Mr. Hiroshi Inomata, Ambassador of Japan, and Mr. Theo Doorman, son of the late Rear Admiral Karel Doorman. Additional copies were presented to Captain Mark A. Imblum, U.S. Navy Defense and Naval Attaché, Mr Din Wahid, the cultural attaché of Indonesia, and Prof. Dr. Ing. Wardiman Djojonegoro, former Secretary of Education of Indonesia.

Between 1966 and 1980, the War History Office of the National Defense College of Japan (now the Center for Military History of the National Institute for Defense Studies) published the 102-volume Senshi Sōsho (War History Series). These volumes give a detailed account of the operations of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War. The present volume is a complete translation of volume 26 of the Senshi Sōsho series. It offers military historians and the general public an in-depth view of the way the Japanese military prepared and executed their operations.

Introductions and presentations were given by:

• Mr. Egbert Jacobs, President of The Corts Foundation
• Dr. Anita van Dissel, maritime historian, presented "The Voice of War" concerning the background of the Battle in the Java sea from the Dutch perspective. [Presentation >>] [Footage >>]
• Dr. Willem Remmelink, historian and final editor of the volume presented, “You Engage, and Then You See”, concerning the course of the Battle of the Java Sea. [Presentation >>] [Footage >>]
• V. Adm. (ret.) Matthieu Borsboom presented the Japanese Navy from an operational perspective. [Presentation >>]

The publication can be ordered online and can be downloaded in PDF via The Leiden University Repository.

An independant review by Stone & Stone Second World War Books (California, USA) is available here >>

Prior publication of volume 3 of the Senshi Sōsho series has been done by The Corts Foundation in 2015. (Read more >>)