Did the Battle of the Java Sea change any policies in the U.S. Navy?
The injuries in the Battle of the Java Sea led to U.S. Navy restrictions on bare arms & legs. When the US cruisers Houston and Marblehead were bombed and severely damaged: “Most of the severe injuries were burns on exposed parts of the body; it was largely as a result of this experience that the United States Navy forbade shorts or sleeveless shirts to be worn at sea, no matter how hot the climate”. Samuel Elliot Morison: page 301 of “The Rising Sun in the Pacific: 1931-April 1942” (1948), Volume 3 in his History of the United States Naval Operations in WWII. (Thank you to John Wilson for this information.
The injuries in the Battle of the Java Sea led to U.S. Navy restrictions on bare arms & legs. When the US cruisers Houston and Marblehead were bombed and severely damaged: “Most of the severe injuries were burns on exposed parts of the body; it was largely as a result of this experience that the United States Navy forbade shorts or sleeveless shirts to be worn at sea, no matter how hot the climate”. Samuel Elliot Morison: page 301 of “The Rising Sun in the Pacific: 1931-April 1942” (1948), Volume 3 in his History of the United States Naval Operations in WWII.
