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| Vice Admiral TNI (Ant) Yosaphat Soedarso |
Yos Sudarso's name is known by the Indonesian people as a national hero, and his name has been immortalized as the name of a street in Indonesian territory and also an island in Papua. He died in the Aru Sea, on January 15, 1962, at the age of 36 aboard the KRI Macan Tutul on a mission to liberate West Irian (Papua) through the battle of the Aru Sea after his ship KRI Macan Tutul was shot by the patrol boat Hr. Ms. Eversten belonged to the Dutch fleet during the Trikora campaign.
In many books that review the biography and profile of Vice Admiral TNI (Ant) Yosaphat Soedarso, better known as Yos Sudarso, he is said to have been born in the Salatiga region, Central Java on November 24, 1925. He was born with the full name Yosaphat Soedarso from a married couple Sukarno Darmoprawiro and Mariyam. Yos Sudarso's father worked as a policeman during the colonial period.
Since childhood, Yos Sudarso was known as a person who was calm, intelligent, and polite in socializing. When he was still a child, he attended HIS (Hollandsch Inlandsch School) school which was at the elementary level, graduating from there in 1940 he then entered MULO (Meer Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs) in the city of Semarang.
After only five months of going to school, Japan then came to colonize Indonesia. Yos Sudarso finally returned to Salatiga and chose to continue his junior high school education there until 1943. After graduating from there, he then entered a teacher's school in the Muntilan area.
Join the Navy
However, he did not complete his education at the school because at that time there was a transfer of power from the Netherlands to Japan. Finally, Yos Sudarso entered the Maritime High School in Semarang, where he studied for a year and received officer education at Goo Osamu Butai and became the best graduate. His achievements led him to be hired as a pilot on the Goo Usamu Butai ship.
When the proclamation of Indonesian independence was proclaimed on August 17, 1945, Yos Sudarso then joined the Maritime BKR (People's Security Agency), which was later named the Republic of Indonesia Navy Army (ALRI).
Here Yos Sudarso often took part in military missions or operations in quelling rebellions that occurred in the areas at that time. Even though at that time the fleet of ships owned by Indonesia was still very minimal.
In 1950, the Netherlands recognized Indonesian sovereignty. Yos Sudarso was also appointed as the commander of the ship on KRI Alu. Then move to KRI Gajah Mada, KRI Rajawali to KRI Pattimura. Yos even served as a court judge even though it was only 4 months in 1958 to be precise.
In 1959, the internal upheaval in the Navy reached its peak. Yos Sudarso along with Colonel Ali Sadikin and other officers disagreed with the leadership of Admiral Subiyakto, who at that time served as the chief of staff of the navy.
The conflict caused Admiral Subiyakto to be replaced by Colonel R.E Martadinata as the new chief of staff. Not long after that, Yos Sudarso quickly rose in rank from deputy to commodore (first admiral).
The Heroic Story of Yos Sudarso and the Famous Battle of the Aru Sea
In 1961, the confrontation between Indonesia and the Netherlands over the liberation of West Irian from Dutch hands reached its climax. President Soekarno at that time formed the People's Tri Command (Trikora) and the following year, in 1962, Soekarno formed the Mandala Command in the liberation of West Irian with headquarters in Makassar. Yos Sudarso was entrusted with the task of Deputy for Operations.
A tough task for Yos Sudarso. The heroic story of Yos Sudarso's battle finally happened on January 15, 1962. At that time Yos Sudarso was on patrol with three ships namely the KRI Macan Tutul, KRI Macan Kumbang, and KRI Harimau under his command.
The silent operation was carried out around the Aru sea area around the Maluku region. It wasn't long before the Dutch Neptune planes on patrol dropped flares. The situation that was quiet and dark then turned bright. Three Dutch ships with full weaponry and larger sizes then appeared to split the night sky.
The three Dutch ships were already waiting for them. The first warning shot was fired by the Dutch and fell beside the KRI Harimau. Colonel Sudomo then ordered return fire but missed.
Yos Sudarso, who realized that this battle would be unequal in terms of weapons, he then ordered the three ships under his command to temporarily withdraw. A 180-degree maneuver was then carried out by the three ships. But unlucky, the KRI Macan Tutul boarded by Commodore Yos Sudarso got stuck.
The Dutch thought that the Indonesian ships would maneuver to attack. The Dutch then opened fire to attack. KRI Macan Tutul at that time faced a Dutch destroyer. Yos Sudarso then ordered the KRI Macan Tutul to attach the body so that the other two ships could leave the battlefield.
The first shot fired by the Dutch destroyer missed the KRI Macan Tutul. On the next occasion, the shot fired by the Dutch destroyer finally hit the hull of the KRI Macan Tutul, hull number 650.
The death of Yos Sudarso
The West German-made KRI Macan Tutul caught fire and slowly sank to the bottom of the ocean with 24 crew members. The rest of the crew who survived became prisoners of the Dutch. Commodore Yos Sudarso's last sentence just before the ship sank was:
"Stir up the Fighting Spirit" he radioed to the other two ships that had survived.
Commodore Yos Sudarso, who as a child dreamed of becoming a soldier, finally died at sea while defending the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia. He left a wife named Siti Kustini and five children. The Indonesian government awarded Yos Sudarso the title of National Hero for his services. His name is also immortalized as a street name in various regions in Indonesia.
Many veils covered the death of Yos Sudarso in the battle at the Arafuru Sea. Starting from the leak of the secret operation by the Dutch, then the government did not know about this operation, such as President Soekarno, as written in the book Conspiracy Behind the Sinking of Matjan Tutul (2011) by journalist Julius Pour.
In addition, the Air Force (Air Force) was accused of being the party most responsible for the incident because it did not provide aircraft assistance which resulted in the removal of KSAU Admiral Suryadarma who was replaced by Lt. Col. Omar Dhani as told in the book Dan Toch Maar! (2009) written by Sukono.
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