Another thread mentioned the USS Houston, which triggered some recollection that it was involved in the following event but I haven’t been able to track down any reference to either the event or the involvement of the Houston or any other American or Australian ship.
At some stage in the Mediterranean a disabled American ship was in harbour. Malta? Gibraltar? Notice was given of a large impending air raid. All ships left the harbour, save for an Australian ship which, apparently contrary to orders to all ships to leave, stayed with the American ship to aid its air defence. Both ships fought the attackers and survived the raid. The American captain and crew were thereafter most favourably disposed towards Australians, and at some later stage were involved in another important action with them. Which I thought from the other thread might have been the HMAS Perth and USS Houston in their last action in the NEI.
Can’t find any info on above action. I would have thought it would have been listed by the RAN, if not the USN.
Did many USN ships serve in the Med? I know there were a few coast guards (?!) and merchant men, but how many actual war ships? It may narrow down the search.
The closest I can get is the SS Ohio, a US tanker, that was one of on ly 5 (out of 14) merchant men to get to the Island of Malta. A Carrier, Cruiser and several destroyers were also destroyed in the convoy.
Ohio was torpedoed, bombed and even had a dive bomber crash in to her, but they still got her to port. Strapped to two destroyers and towed by minesweepers IIRC.
She broke her back as the last of the aviation fuel on board was sucked out. her job done.
The convoy was the Op Pedastal mission, and was basically a suicidal attempt to get supplies to Malta, left all but besiged.
I think there were RAN ships in the convoy. And they wouldnt have left the tanker, she was the most important ship in the fleet. Carrying vital aero fuel for the defence of Matla.
It’s really annoying me that I can’t pin this down.
I’ve been trying to work it out for a few days.
One of the possibilities, which won’t help here, is that the story might have come to me from the buyer of a book I sold on eBay a few years ago about the sinking of HMAS Perth, in which action the USS Houston was closely involved before it too went down.
I’ve trawled through the RAN sites and the Australian official history and various other things, but I can’t get a line on it.
I think that the events you described involving HMAS Perth and USS Houston might have been a combination of Battles of Makassar Strait, Java Sea and Sunda Strait - all fought in the NEI.
As the war crisis deepened, Admiral Hart deposed his fleet in readiness. On the night of the Pearl Harbor attack, Houston got underway from Panay Island with fleet units bound for Darwin, Australia, where she arrived on 28 December 1941 by way of Balikpapan and Surabaya. After patrol duty she joined the ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) naval force at Surabaya.
Air raids were frequent in the area, and Houston’s gunners splashed four planes in the battle of Makassar Strait on 4 February 1942 as Admiral Karel Doorman of the Royal Netherlands Navy, took his force to engage a Japanese invasion convoy reported to be at Balikpapan. Houston took one hit, disabling her No. 3 turret, and the cruiser Marblehead was so damaged that she had to be sent out of the battle area. Doorman was forced to abandon his advance.
Returning to Australia, Houston departed 15 February with a small convoy to reinforce the garrison on Timor. Before the day was out, the group was forced to beat off numerous air attacks, and next morning the Japanese attacked in full force. During this defensive action, Houston distinguished herself by driving off nearly the entire raid without damage to her transports.
Battle of the Java Sea
Receiving word that the major Japanese invasion force was approaching Java protected by a formidable surface unit, Admiral Doorman resolutely determined to meet and seek to destroy the main convoy. Sailing on 26 February 1942 with Houston, HMAS Perth, HMNS De Ruyter, HMS Exeter, HMNS Java and 10 destroyers, he met the Japanese support force under Admiral Takeo Takagi consisting of 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers.
In the Battle of the Java Sea which followed, Doorman’s forces fought valiantly, but were doomed by lack of air cover and communication difficulties. The ships met for the first time in the late afternoon, and as Japanese destroyers laid smoke the cruisers of both fleets opened fire. After one ineffective torpedo attack the Japanese light cruisers and destroyers launched a second at 17:00, this attack sinking Kortenaer. Exeter and the destroyer HMS Electra were hit by gunfire, Electra sustaining several hits and sinking shortly after; and at 17:30 Admiral Doorman turned south toward the Java coast, not wishing to be diverted from his main purpose, the destruction of the convoy itself.
With dogged fighting spirit he dodged another torpedo attack and followed the coastline, during which time Jupiter was sunk, either by mine or internal explosion. Then Encounter was detached to pick up survivors from Kortenaer, and the American destroyers, their torpedoes expended, were ordered back to Surabaya. Now with no destroyer protection, Doorman’s four remaining ships turned north again in a last gallant attempt to stop the invasion of Java.
At 23:00 the same night, the cruisers again encountered the Japanese surface group. On parallel courses the opposing units opened fire, and the Japanese launched a devastating torpedo attack 30 minutes later. De Ruyter and Java, caught in a spread of 12 torpedoes, exploded and sank, carrying their captains and Admiral Doorman down with them.
Battle of Sunda Strait
Before losing contact with Perth and Houston, Doorman had ordered them to retire. This was accomplished, but the next day the two ships steamed into Banten Bay, hoping to damage the Japanese invasion forces there. The cruisers were almost torpedoed as they approached the bay, but evaded the nine torpedoes launched by destroyer Fubuki.
The cruisers then sank one transport and forced three others to beach. A destroyer squadron blocked Sunda Strait, their means of retreat, and on the other hand large cruisers Mogami and Mikuma stood dangerously near. The resulting battle was foreordained, but Houston and Perth could not withdraw. Perth came under fire at 23:36 and in an hour had been sunk from gunfire and torpedo hits. Houston then fought alone until soon after midnight, when she took a torpedo and began to lose headway.
During this time Houston’s gunners scored hits on three different destroyers and sank a minesweeper, but suffered three more torpedo explosions in quick succession. Captain Albert Rooks was killed by a bursting shell at 00:30 and as the ship came to a stop Japanese destroyers moved in, machine gunning the decks. A few minutes later the Houston rolled over and sank, her ensign still flying. Of the original crew of 1,061, 368 survived.
USS Houston CA-30
The Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast
It was the final events of these ships which you describe, which was mentioned briefly in another thread, that made me think that the Houston had been the ship I was thinking of in the Med.
I had a vague idea that it might have been Perth that was the good ship that stuck with Houston in the Med, although for some reason I think that it was another Australian ship that was involved with whatever American ship it assisted in the Med.
I’d have to check but I don’t think it could have been the Houston which was assigned to the Pacific fleet and never made it to the Mediterranean during WWII. Today, of course, it lies at the bottom of the Sunda Strait after participating in that brave but hopeless action in the NEI. The Dutch had no heavy cruisers, so the Houston in terms of capital ships was basically it. I think by this time the Prince of Wales, that fabulously handsome battelship had already met its end. Incidentally, before the war, the Houston was Franklin Roosevelt’s favorite navy ship and he took a number of cruises on it.
That Sunda Strait action must have been even more anxiety producing for the Australians than the Americans because it stripped more of the few remaining Australian warships from the already thin screen guarding Australia. Hell of an uncomfortable time.
