I have not seen the other pics from the February 4 bombing. This is the only one I have seen. I ask the question because it looks very close in quality to other pictures I have seen that have been identfied as the Exeter, either in the February 14 bombing or in the Battle of the Java Sea itself. I do not see how they could have come from the Battle of the Java Sea. The pictures look Japanese in quality (Japanese pics from World War II tended to be very grainy and high in contrast), but their ships were not close enough to take such photos and spotting their aircraft would have stayed above antiaircraft range. That suggests that the picture came from one of the Allied ships, or was taken by an attacking aircraft -- the Japanese took pictures of the attack on Force Z from a similar angle.
The picture here is of such quality that we might never know for sure what that ship is. The Northampton-class cruisers had a very prominent tripod foremast with a covered lookout post on the top. Behind that post were the arms for the flags. The point about the "blob" in the photo is well taken, but the arms are well below that blob. I would also point out that the stacks appear to be too high.
And thank you for the book suggestions. I have both of Winslow's books and managed to track down a difficult-to-find copy of van Oosten's, which appears to be the gold standard for the Battle of the Java Sea. Also got a renamed version of Hoyt's. Also have Ship of Ghosts, which is more about the ordeal of the survivors than the battle istelf, but it has some nice tidbits in it. Also have the Pacific War accounts of Morison, Prados, Hull, Costello and Toland, who all go into the battle in considerable detail. Online, I (obviously) enjoy the Dutch East Indies' campaign site and the US battle narrative at Hyperwar, and Tony Tully has a great if unfinished (by his own admission) account at the Asiatic Fleet's site. Trying to track down Thomas' book.
Anything I can get my hands on about the campaing is worth it, in part because at least in the US they are so rare and they don't always (or even usually) agree. For instance, what was the disposition of the Combined Striking Force's Dutch and American destroyers entering battle? The accounts do not agree -- I have seen the Dutch destroyers off the port beam, off the port quarter and directly astern; and I have sent he US destroyers directly astern and off the starboard quarter. For another example, it's hard to track down what precisely happened to the Witte de With. Was it damaged by its own depth charge? If so, why? Was it trying to atatck submarines or was it swept overboard? How badly was it damaged? Why was it sent back with the Exeter? Not a lot of accounts deal with that issue. But I do very much enjoy piecing them together.