Ghosts of Sunda Strait: USS Houston and HMAS Perth

My first attempt at tributing two wrecks at the same time.
March 1st 1942: Trapped by an overwhelming Japanese Naval Force, the Northampton Class Heavy Cruiser USS Houston and the Austrailian Light Cruiser HMAS Perth put up a last ditch effort to stave off defeat at the Sunda Straits. Dispite heroic resistance, both ships succumbed to their wounds around midnight, taking most of their crews with them.
Regardless: a vaialnt last stand wasn't enough to save Perth and Houston's survivors from the horror of the Japanese Prison Camps. By the time the war end only 218 of Perth's 686 man crew and 291 of Houston's 1,061 man crew were left alive, the rest succumbed to torture, disease and starvation in Japanese POW and Slave Labor Camps.

Song: Sleeping Sun
Artist: Nightwish
Subject: USS Houston and HMAS Perth

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• US
• Navy
• Australia
• HMAS
• Perth
• USS
• Houston
• World
• War
• Two
• Sunda
• Strait
• Nightwish
• Sleeping
• Sun
• Japanese
• Japan
• Indianapolis

[buttonscraig13]

hmas perth did'nt sink here she survived the war and was decommissioned in 1987 in the navel harbour in Albany Western Australia

[snakes3425]

@buttonscraig13

Different HMAS Perth

[MGoose66]

No one is blaming anyone. The Dutch were in charge, the Yanks and Ozzies were there to help. We were all on the same side. Things were not easy and no-one was to know that these two ships were to run into the fleet they did. Some would argue they were lucky to get that far. They did there bit though, and we remember them proudly. I shook the hand of a survivor recently from the Perth (and consequently, Changi). He's 90. I'm not ashamed to say I cried. Proud of them all.

[warhammerlotr]

My grandfather was on that ship and was captured by the Japanese. He is still alive and tells me the events that happened. His name is Roy Roberts.

[admiraldma]

@buttonscraig13 Think you might find it was a later HMAS Perth named after this one. How would a 1930's vintage cruiser last in service till 1987??

[navyclock]

The USS Houston expended all her munitions during the 1:45 minute night action. She did not take her first hit until an hour into the battle.

She fought viciously for another 45 minutes in close quarters and never stopped fighting.

When she was going down the US Marines stayed in their 5 inch turrets. All they had left to fire was star shells.

The marines kept firing the star shells at the Japanese Ships who were raking the deck with a battery of weapons and machine guns to shoot the USS H

[RougeSniper762]

the Houston and Perth did so much with so little. their crews were true heros

[FRAGIORGIO1]

@Sammyoak Yes, the heavy cruiser Exeter was together with the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles against the Graf Spee.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

@18seki Let us not suppress the opinion of this commenter, who has every right to comment freely, since his opinion shows no lack of respect.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

@carsieplg Neptune, Leander, Ajax and Achilles of River Plate fame, and Orion were a similar class to the Perth, but the Aussies had two funnels and the Neptune class had one trunked funnel. Fine-looking ships all. Tribute to their crews.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

@carsieplg The main difference between the Perth and the Penelope was that Perth had eight 6" guns and Penelope had only six. The sister ships of the Perth were Hobart and Sydney, all fine ships, but lightly armored.

[FRAGIORGIO1]

@marcofrattini1 E molto buono, ma ci sono cose non esatte. "Perth" viene rapprasentato per un incrociatore degli stati uniti della classe "Atlanta" (#1). Un cacciatorpediniere britannico viene rapprasentata per uno degli US tipo "Fletcher". Comprai il giuoco per un nipote mio.