On March 2, 1942, Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors from the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Encounter (H10) and United States Navy destroyer USS Pope (DD-225). These ships had been sunk the previous day in the Second Battle of the Java Sea, along with HMS Exeter (68), in the Java Sea between Java and Borneo, off Surabaya. The survivors had been adrift for some 20 hours, in rafts and lifejackets or clinging to floats, many coated in oil and unable to see. Among the rescued was Sir Sam Falle, later a British diplomat.[8] This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kudō placed Ikazuchi at risk of submarine attack, and interfered with her fighting ability due to the sheer numbers of rescued sailors