Meyerkord (DE 1058) - Naval Cruise Book

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Two of the ships which remained, Houston and HMAS Perth. in a last ditch attempt to stop the invasion of java, entered Banten Bay, at the eastern entrance ot Sunda Straits to attack the japanese shipping there. In their attempt they succeeded in sinking one japanese transport and forced the beaching of three others. As they made their escape from the Bay they found a japanese destroyer squadron blocking the Sunda Strait to their left and two heavy cruisers to their right. They chose to make a run through the Straits, hoping to elude the japanese and escape to Australia. The japanese opened fire from both sides, however, and after 31 minutes Perth took a torpeoo in ner forward engine room and went down. G A A All fire was then concentrated on Houston . Five minutes later she took salvo in her atter engine room which burst steam lines and scalded to death the entire engine room force. A torpedo hit forced the gun mounts to local control. Shortly thereafter Houston sank three destroyers and a minesweeper. A shell hit the remaining S-inch turret as powder bags were being loaded, necessitating flooding of the magazines. With Houston out of serviceable S-inch ammunition, the japanese swarmed in for the kill. One hour and seven minutes after the start of the battle, the order was given to abandon ship. Twelve minutes later at 0045 on March l, l942, Houston sank. Those few crewmembers of Houston and Perth who survived the battle were picked up by the japanese. Barely 200 ofa combined crew of i600 surt ived the war. 8 N . Upon the final passage through Sunda Strait on April 24, l97l, Megverkord participated with ASW Lsroup Three in a memorial ceremony for those brave men of Houston and Perth who gave their lives there. The ships of the squadron formed a cross while the crews, dressed in whites, manned the rail, The memorial service was conducted aboard USS Ticonderoga as a wreath was dropped by helicopter into the waters of the Strait.

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April 24, 1971 The Houston Perth Memorial Servicio in Sunda Strait ln january, 1942 the japanese had moved southward from the Philippine Islands on a sweep through lndomfslz Opposing them was a combined command of American, British, Dutch, and Australian fABDAj forces headed by FIC Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell. Under Wavell, the U.S. Admiral Thomas C. Hart commanded the combined Naval Forcesia Dutch Lieutenant General the ground forces, and a British air Chief Marshal the air forces. Hart's forces were based onthe north coast of java with Port Darwin, Australia T200 miles away, as the nearest supply and support base. I , The japanese, in the mean time, had two powerful attack groups, the Eastern under Vice Admiral Takahashi and the yi Western under Vice Admiral Ozawa, composed of cruisers, destroyers, and transports The aircraft carriers of Admiral rl ,Z Nagumo's Pearl Harbor Striking Force provided mobile air support. They moved relentlessly in a giant pincer through the C South China Sea towards java. Capture of java would ensure their control of the entire Indonesian Archipelago. d The ABDA Forces attempted to offer resistance to the japanese advances but were steadily and irreversibly weakene and pushed backward in each encounter. By February, 1942 only the combined ABDA Navy remained, headed DY Rea' Admiral Karel Doorman of the Netherlands who, for political reasons, had assumed Admiral Hart's position. This f0fCe consisted ol' the heavy cruisers USS Houston and HMS Exeter, light cruisers HMAS Perth HMN5 De Ruyter and IUVU plus - - - , ' ' four American, three Dutch, and three British destroyers. Doorman had resolved to prevent the japanese Invasion Ofl3Va and l I' t so movet tis ships to counter the japanese Eastern Force. He had, however, no time to issue any battle Plan- Hls problems were compounded by the fact that he had no common allied signal plan and, therefore was forced to translate all of his tactical signals from Dutch to English. Though outnumbered upon contacting the japanese in the java Sea, the extreme ranges between the ships made the battl 1 t d fff l f' 1 . le t s an 0 or tie irst several hours. Eventually, after the range had been closed, luck went against him. Doorman S intentions confused his allies and with no easy means of sending clear signals, the force fell into disarray. The japanese then took the initiative damaging the Allied force severely Doorman parried and countered th d irabl before he . D, an , - M e japanesena rn Y welll down Wllll l1'Sfl21SSl1ID, De Ruyter. When the Battle of the java Sea was over, half Doorman's fleet had been IOS!- J 60 t--- -in s ' as

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