Fort McHenry (LSD 43) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 1 1 ■ Fort M NATK „ E Sfl H HISTCRiC SHftlK ' H ■ r ' . B -- j= — . ;.. 1 4 iff V 1 L L j H H I a i l s 31

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ENGINEERir G OFFICERS and CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS LT James J. Bird LT Frank W. LT Simon L. Long Engineering Officer Hacklander Main Propulsion Main Propulsion Assistant Assistant LT Larr G. Sharp LTJG Christopher J. LTJG Walter J. Damage Control Goode Stivers Assistant Electrical Officer Auxiliaries Officer ENC(SW) Harold L. Armstrong EMC Elias R. Buenauente ENC(SW) David A. Gregory I ITC Jerry D Johnsor ENC(SW) Wilham C. McCartney ICC(SW) Paul N. Steffen Jr. ENC(SW) Jeffrey L. Williams 30

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SUNDA STRAITS HMAS PERTH USS HOUSTON On the morning of August 12.1 988 the USS FORT McHENRY paused from her dai y routine to remember the Australian and American lues lost on the light cruiser HMAS PERTH and heavv cruiser USS HOUSTON m the Sunda Straits 46 ye ars earlier Less than three months after the attack no Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were well on their may to establishng their dominance in the pacific, having already overrun Indochina. Singapore, and most of the Phillippines An outnumbered international force of ships from the navies of Britain. Australia. Holland and the United States failed to stop the enemy at the Battle of Java Sea and the scattered remnants sought desperately ro escape certain anni- hilation. The HOUSTON and PERTH were a part of that force and with the Japanese approaching from the north and the west, the best escape route ivas through the Sunda Straits. Cruising at night and at high speed, the two crews hoped the Japanese were not yet m the straits and that the path to Australia was open It was not to be. In the waning minutes of February 28. 1 942 the HOUSTON and PERTH were spotted by Japanese patrol vessels near the entrance to the straits and the enemy was alerted to their presence. The two ships were unlucky enough to have sailed into the midst of a Japanese Amphibious operation and within minutes found themselves with enemy shipping in all directions. For men caught up in the tension of constant combat for three months, this was their last fight on their brave ships. In the darkness, a wild melee ensured as the trapped cruisers returned fire and sought to take as many of the enemy with them as they could. the PERTH succumbed first to the torpedoes and shell fire taking her Captain and much of her crew with her For an hour, the HOUSTON fought on alone, handicapped by having her firepower cut by a third due to a damaged turret from an earlier battle As the magazines of her forward turret diminished, her crew shifted heavy bags of powder and eight-inch shells by hand across the length of her hull from the aft magazine. Her five-inch guns fired until there was no longer a deck to stand upon One by one her stations were destroyed by she s. her hull pierced by torpedoes Uncontrollable fire raged topside, providing a beacon for enemy gunners The HOUSTON slowly settled, takir g murderous fire from destroyers closing in Remember Captain Rooks, a quiet and private man who in less than four months of his Captaincy had earned the undying respect of his crew, cut down by shrapnel on his Navi- gation Bridge Remember Chaplain Rentz. who passed his lifepreserver to a shipmate and gave up his space on a liferaft for the burned, only to disappear in the dark waters of the Straits Remember the Gunner ' s Mates who stayed at their guns until the water swept them away Remember the engmeroom gangs who perished in a world of fire, flood waters and darkness Remember also the survivors who lived to be captured by the Japanese, only to be shipped off to prison camps and forced labor in the jungles of Thailand suffering disease, malnutrition, gross overwork and wanton murder at the hands of their captors Remember those who died a lonely death ' in forgotten jungle camps, or experienced the dread of facing another day Remember those who lived, only to be marred for life by their experience and for their families who waited for three and one half years before learning of their fate They were not merely rusting hulks ive honored, but the last home of many brave men who perished in the Straits or in other jungle hells elsewhere May God grant their spirits eternal peace Karl J Zingheim. LTJG. USN 32