PERTH
and HOUSTON
returned
to Tanjong Priok at 2.30pm on Saturday 28th February, 1942.
There they received orders to escape through Sunda Strait
, which runs between Java and Sumatra, and make for Tjilitap
on the south coast of Java. ( PERTH'S
sister
ship HOBART
had already entered the Strait at 6.10am that
morning and by 9am was out into the Indian Ocean.)
Both ships were short of fuel and ammunition and only a
small amount of fuel was available in the port.
Plans to leave at 6pm were thwarted by an air attack and
it was 9pm before both ships cleared the protective mine-field
off Tanjong Priok.
The
sea was calm and there was a clear sky and full moon as
both ships raced for the entrance to Sunda Strait.
Allied intelligence had reported the Strait clear of enemy
vessels and the nearest Japanese were reported to be 50
miles northwest and moving away. Unfortunately
both reports were incorrect and our ships sped on, not knowing
that the Japanese invasion fleet was already at Java and
lay directly across their escape route.
A number of Japanese transports were already waiting in
the western side of Banten Bay to disembark part of the
eastern invasion force.
The 12th DIV. Destroyers MURAKUMO
and SHIRAKUMO
were stationed in Sunda Strait covering the western part
of the invasion force near Merak.
The 5th DIV.Destroyer ASAKAZE
was north of St Nicholas Point and the HARUKAZE
and HATAKAZE
were in Banten Bay with the eastern force transports.
Two of the 11th DIV Destroyers, HATSUYUKI
and SHIRAYUKI
were north of Sunda Strait with the Light Cruiser NATORI.
SHIKINAMI was
well to the north with the Heavy Cruisers MIKUMA
and MOGAMI, and FUBUKI was on her own just
west of Babi Island. She would be the first to sight the
allied cruisers.
At
10.30pm FUBUKI sighted PERTH and HOUSTON.
She circled around the north side of Babi Island and quietly
shadowed them for the next half hour. At 11.06 PERTH
lookouts sighted HARUKAZE about 5 miles
ahead. When challenged she made an unrecognized reply
and then sped off northward, making smoke to cover the Jap
transports. PERTH immediately turned to
starboard and opened fire. A few minutes later PERTH
sighted FUBUKI and, illuminating her, opened
fire. FUBUKI fired her torpedoes at PERTH and
HOUSTON but both ships turned to starboard in a tight
circle and avoided being hit. They then resumed their course
for the light marking St Nicholas Point.
At
11pm the NATORI, HATSUYUKI,and SHIRAYUKI arrived
and were joined by ASAKAZE, HARUKAZE, and HATAKAZE.
They commenced torpedo and gunfire attacks on the allied
cruisers and they sent an urgent call to the 8" cruisers
MOGAMI and MIKUMA to assist. PERTH
exchanged fire with HATAKAZE and scored hits on HARUKAZE
and SHIRAYUKI. The fire from the allied cruisers
was so intense that the Japanese were forced to break
off under a smokescreen.
At
11.20pm MOGAMI and MIKUMA both launched 6
torpedoes each at our ships. Another attempt was made
by the Jap destroyers to mount a torpedo attack but they
were driven off by the sheer ferocity of the gunfire from
PERTH and HOUSTON. At 11.50pm PERTH
was hit by a shell from HARUKAZE which did little
damage. Our cruisers were still exchanging fire
with the enemy cruisers and at 11.25pm HOUSTON
scored hits on MIKUMA causing her to lose electrical
power. This was soon restored.
PERTH had only suffered some minor hits but both she
and HOUSTON were running very low on ammunition. PERTH
was low on 6" and the 4"AA were firing star shells
and practice rounds to make it look like they had plenty
of ammunition left. On HOUSTON, the forward
turrets were getting low and 8" shells were being passed
by hand from the disabled rear turret to the forward turrets.
There were so many targets that our ships were unable to
fire on them all and some Jap destroyers were able to get
in close and rake our cruisers' decks with machine gun fire
while others lit up the allied cruisers with searchlights.
At 11.55pm PERTH started to turn to make a run for
Sunda Strait. At the same time SHIRAYUKI,
MURAKUMO, HARUKAZE and HATAKAZE all fired torpedoes
toward her. PERTH was hit by four torpedoes
over the next 15 minutes, 3 on the port side and one on
the starboard. She also received numerous shell hits. At
0025 on 1st March 1942, she finally sank a few miles ENE
of St Nicholas Point not far from the entrance to Sunda
Strait. HOUSTON now received all the
attention and sank at 0045, not far from PERTH.
In all, the Japanese had fired over 90 torpedoes at our
ships.
 |
|
USS HOUSTON
Darwin, Australia
Feb. 1942
|
Japanese losses were four transports, SAKURA MARU,
HORAI MARU,
RYUJO MARU, TATSUNO MARU and the minesweeper W2 .
All these ships were believed to have been sunk by
the torpedoes fired by MIKUMA that missed the two allied
cruisers.
Both
Capt.H.M.L.Waller of HMAS PERTH and Capt.A.H.Rooks
of USS HOUSTON were killed in action.
PERTH lies in about 30 metres of water at position
05.51.42S 106.07.52E about 3 miles ENE of St.Nicholas
Point on the NW tip of Java. Of her crew of 682 men,
only 229 returned to Australia at the end of the war.
HOUSTON
lies about a mile NW of Padjang Island at position 05.54.S
106.08.5E
|
MAPS
OF THE BATTLE OF SUNDA STRAIT
|
For photos of Japanese Warships
go to
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