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Once reunited, he then broke off from the engagement and circled around the Japanese to intercept the transports somewhere in the north.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=89|pages=}} The force was now reduced to the cruisers ''De Ruyter'', ''Java'', ''[[USS Houston (CA-30)|Houston]]'', and ''[[HMAS Perth (D29)|Perth]]''. The destroyers had either been sunk, severely damaged, tasked with escorting the crippled ''Exeter'', or forced to break off due to lack of fuel and torpedoes.<ref name=":03" />{{Rp|page=89, 92, 96|pages=}}
[[File:NH 111605 Japanese heavy cruiser, HIJMS NACHI (cropped).jpg|thumb|Japanese heavy cruiser ''Nachi'' (pictured) torpedoed ''Java'' with devastating effect.]]During the night of the 26th, the cruisers were temporarily followed by Japanese [[Floatplane|floatplanes]], which gave the enemy an understanding of the fleet's route. Unaware, the Allied cruisers passed near the invasion force but were ambushed by the Japanese [[Heavy cruiser|heavy cruisers]] ''[[Japanese cruiser Haguro|Haguro]]'' and ''[[Japanese cruiser Nachi|Nachi]]''. Under cover of darkness, the Japanese closed to {{Convert|9,000|yd|m}} undetected and fired a spread of torpedoes followed by a renewed gun duel. ''Java''<nowiki/>'s crew, exhausted and low on ammunition, did not shoot back at such a long range.<ref name=":74" />{{Rp|page=314-316|pages=}}
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