Pensacola Convoy - Aftermath

Aftermath

The Bloemfontein was able to transport the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery to Surabaya, Java arriving on 11 January 1942, where it joined other Allied forces. The battalion was commended for its service in the Battle of Java, during March 1942. After a general Allied surrender, most of its personnel became POWs. However, Headquarters 26th Field Artillery Brigade evacuated Java on 27 February 1942 and returned to Australia on 4 March 1942.

Seventeen of the eighteen P-40 fighter planes shipped on the Admiral Halstead were quickly assembled, then assigned to the 17th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), formed 15 January from pursuit pilots of the Far East Air Force sent from Luzon at the end of December 1941 to ferry the aircraft back to the Philippines. Japanese advances southward into the Netherlands East Indies cut the ferry route and isolated MacArthur's forces, however. From Brisbane on 16 January, the 17th PS flew its aircraft across northern Australia to Darwin, Northern Territory, where it remained until 24 January, when it moved via Kupang and Bali to its base on Java. On 1 March, the squadron evacuated Java, leaving its surviving aircraft to the Dutch military.

Eleven of the A-24s reached Java on 11 February, assigned to the 27th Bombardment Group's 91st Bomb Squadron. All were lost in action. Several others were later assigned to the 3rd Bombardment Group; most of these were shot down on 26 July 1942, while attacking Japanese shipping off Buna, New Guinea.

The battalions of the 147th and 148th Field Artillery Regiments on the convoy were sent to Darwin to reinforce northern Australia. The 147th units were later reorganized as the 147th and 260th Field Artillery Battalions. The 148th units became the 148th Field Artillery Battalion. Both battalions served in the Southwest Pacific.

USS Pensacola served in many notable actions of World War II; she was decommissioned on 26 August 1946.