HMAS Perth and USS Houston - Heroes To The Last

[mnscottsman]

My great uncle who I am named after died on the USS Houston, RIP James E Watt

[nikkinou1985]

Hector Waller is my nieces Great Grand Father

[Detourwa]

Just read a new book called Arthur War. Written by one of the sailor on board the Perth. Couldn't put it down.

[Fredelatorsion]

They did at the just moment everything they had to do.

[frankydman]

""For action in the Battle of Sunda Strait. Sunk in action with HMAS Perth against incredible odds. The two ships steamed into a Japanese invasion force and were sunk in the ensuing battle."

[jimmywrangles]

Good video,shame WMG has no soul or sense of honour.

[sr633]

Good men, good ships. RIP

[carsieplg]

nice vid shame about wmg anyway my grandfather served on hms penelope in the med in ww2 and was sunk of the coast of anzio italy 415 died and 206 survived my grandfather being one she had so many battle scars she was nicknamed pepperpot during the siege of malta looking at history the cruisers and destroyers where the workhorses protecting carriers to islands to even go and hunt down the enemy ships and they always give as good as the got

[kolchack55]

Great video! The courage of the men who served on these two ships will never be forgotten. I think it is wonderfull that there is a forum like youtube.

[grl8862]

The friendship between the Perth and the Houston survivors has endured for a very long time, in fact over 50 years. Prior to 1942 we had never heard of USS Houston, and probably they had not heard of HMAS Perth. Then suddenly we found ourselves fighting together in that disastrous Java Sea battle, which ended when only the Perth and Houston remained out of our fleet of 14 ships. - Harold Hill from HMAS Perth

[grl8862]

(Con't) The next night our two ships took on that huge Japanese invasion fleet in the Sunda Straits. We had no hope of winning, but we made a great team, and we certainly gave them hell until our ammunition ran out, and we were sunk. Yes, the survivors of our two ships have been blooded together in battle. I guess these shared experiences do create a special kind of bond. - Harold J. Hill from HMAS Perth (Book - Wind Tracks on the Waters) - Thought I'd add something from someone that was there.

[planeguy51]

This is the stuff that real heroes are made of.

The Perth and the Houston, fighting bravely,

despite little chance of victory, and going

down fighting.

God bless them all.

[AmericanPatriot867]

These Men Are Truly the Bravest, USS Houston (CA-30) & HMAS Perth Went Up Against a Japanese Invasion, Thats Pure Courage, They Fought To The End, They Never gave Up. God Bless The United States & our Allies

[2510smo]

My Father in Law is 89 served on Perth as a Medical Orderly. He survived the sinking, worked on the Thailand-Burma Railway, survived being bombed by Allies on a POW Ship going from Singapore to Burma, survived being strafed by allied planes on a POW train, survived the war. His brother was on Perth when it was commissioned & war was declared in 1939,his Brother returned to Australia & transferred to another Australian Naval Ship which was sunk & he survived the war also. Great Video.

[BigTed5]

The story of these two ships and their crews is an incredible tale of bravery and the perseverence of the human spirit.

Such gallant men should always be remembered and honored

Godbless our two nations.

[crpdst2003]

Asiatic fleet, ABCD command, Ballikapan, 4 pipers, Houston, Perth, Exeter, Langely, DeRuyter, Tromp, Steward, Marblehead, etc.... all names ring to me... those men fought with what they had aganist a much larger fleet with more modern ships and stood up aganist the odds... Perth and Houston both literally sank with guns firing... Japanese torps

managed to sink 4 ships...they sheepishly but correctly gave the credit to Houston and Perth

who so hard they confused them.

[MikesTrainHouse]

I think the USS HOUSTON is the best ship of WW2

[Forgottnemmy]

I think USS ARIZONA was the best, too bad it had to be sunk by the damn japs at pearl harbor.

It survived many great battles and its being honoured like it was supposed to be.

R.I.P ARIZONA.

[SeanDoocey]

Continued: I was told this story in 1990 by an old australian who said his brother was one of the lucky ones. I only remember the name was the name of an Australian city or river. At the time I thought he was referring to a torpedo tube , presumably meaninmg a submarine, and the story came to my mind when the Kursk sank. Made several efforts since to find out if it's true. maybe it was something that happened on the Perth? any ideas pls to sean.doocey at emeraldfire.ie

[Axelversteeg]

if you know the name of the sailor or any onboard, you could do a search

[SeanDoocey]

I believe the surname was White. Any particular database I should search?

[Axelversteeg]

i'd do a casualty search of the Royal Australian Navy under 'White', would be super handy if you could find out his first name

e.g i knew that a sailor died in jutland, but i had no idea about the ship he was in, so i typed in " Firstname Secondname Casualty list Jutland" and he came up, turned out he was in the Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary

[Axelversteeg]

Arthur Robert Glen White - died on HMAS Perth

Robert George White - died on HMAS Sydney

Hans James Leo White - died on HMAS Sydney (can't be them, there were no survivors on Sydney to tell the story)

Keith Lester White - died on HMAS HDML 1326

[Axelversteeg]

Australian Military Statistics have casualty lists

[SeanDoocey]

Thanks for doing that.

I am thinking if no-one has heard of the incident (and I did post queries on a few ex-sailors's sites a coouple of years back) it probably never happened,or the version i got was incorrect. Thanks again

[Axelversteeg]

it may well could have happened, not everything that happens is recorded

just because it isn't recorded doesn't mean it didn't happen

[SeanDoocey]

Do any experts on Aussie naval history out there know anything of an incident where four sailors were trapped in a sinking vessel and drew lots so that one could stay behind and operate the hatch (or torpedo tube?)and allow the other three escape.

[Axelversteeg]

HMAS Perth is my favourite ship of the RAN

it was one of the few ships to survive the Battle of the Java Sea, and fought alongside the Americans, British and the Dutch to the last shell

HMAS Perth did many dramatic missions in the mediterranian including facing the Italian Battleship Vittorio Veneto and luring several Italian cruisers to HMS Warspite ( who blew them out of the water )

[HUNDLEYGUY95]

no offense but those cruisers wandered across the brit BBs warspite, valiant and barham with 1 destroyer going to the rescue of the stricken CA pola

[Chompchompyerded]

The United States has no better ally in the Pacific than Australia, and only one perhaps it's equil (the United Kingdom) in all the world. This battle, more than any other, represents that relationship as our two nations' ships stood together fighting to the very last in the face of a common enemy. I hope that my countrymen will value this alliance, and that they will never again drag Australians into another war based upon a lie as we did in Iraq. You are more important and valuable than that.

[richo56]

Me thinks the boys would have thrown rocks at the emeny if they had any after running out shells. I recall the story. Shows the spirit of brave men. Job well dome boys, rest in peace.

[superhive]

"The soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war."

Gen. D. Macarthor

[2005kanda]

Yes it is zecheeie.All our six Collins class subs are named after famous R.A.N.personnel.

[zecheezie]

Is this the same Waller as the collin's class HMAS WALLER?

[cdfe3388]

After the Perth ran out of 6" warshots, her gun crews continued to fire practice rounds at the Japanese until they were forced to abandon ship. The Houston's secondary battery began firing phosphorus star shells when they ran out of HE ammo. Rarely in naval history has anybody fought so hard in the face of such impossible odds. Yet today the Houston is largely forgotten. I hope the Aussies haven't similarly forgotten the Perth.

[tiffytaffymusiclover]

I totally agree. I read the "Ship of Ghost" and these heros battled so fircely, that when the Houston was going under and only her mast was above water survivors saw the 50 cal machine guns still blazing away at the japanese ships, now those were the true "BADASSES OF AMERICA"

[gruglet]

as a former digger I salute those who gave their all.

God bless you one and all

Save a whale, harpoon a Japanese

[ps2hacker]

This is one of my favorite stories. Not to forget the Dutch cruiser "DeRuyter" (hope I spelled it right), these brave ships (and a dozen or so old, 4-stack destroyers) were all the allies could muster after the destruction of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor (my hometown). A great book on this battle: "The Ghost That Died At Sunda Strait".

[starbster]

I LOVE TITANIC

[Bullettube]

Good effort, these brave sailors should not be forgotten! You should also mention that the Japanese fired so many torpedoes that they hit one of their own ships.

[bbFUK]

My uncle was a survivor of the Perth. Those old boys loved that ship and her skipper like nothing else and though they are marching away now they are an inspiration of courage,humility and human values in spite of what happened as POW's

[THEGREATITANICCHICK]

yea i saw that after i posted that...lol. but i still like it. i love the song

[THEGREATITANICCHICK]

i like it. you know alot about ships. as long as i have studied them i have never even heard of these two

[tcr2006]

As I had mentioned in the paragraphs to the right, I actually owe Snakes3425 a deal of thanks, as I had not heard of these until I saw his video. After doing the HMAS Sydney, I decided to do one on these two, mostly for the HMAS Perth, as to tie into the HMAS Sydney.

[tcr2006]

Sorry for the rather long and drawn out beginning. I thought it would be better explained.

[TK42100]

No need to be sorry. You did a good job.

[Sipatbana]

Its fine TCR many Australians today have neither heard of HMAS Sydney or HMAS Perth or even the HMAS Canberra from World War 2 all were Cruisers all were lost. Or our gallant US Allies from the likes of USS Houstan. One phrase TCR. Lest we Forget. Thanks for helping us to remember