I’ve had some time on my hands with the end of the fantasy football season, the coming end of the NFL season, the dwindling chatter regarding MLB’s “hot stove league”, and the lull in the NHL season.
It’s too early to get into the NFL draft, pitchers and catchers haven’t reported yet (and won’t for a couple more weeks), and the Olympic break causes a big yawn with regards to following NHL trade-deadline rumors, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately.
I finished a brief little handbook called Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual by Michael Poulon. It’s a brief little handbook on some eating habits you should follow. I saw the author on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and it stuck in my head. This time of year, trying to stick to some New Year’s Resolutions about losing weight or exercising more, it’s an interesting
little read and pretty inexpensive.
But the book I’m really here to pimp is is called Ship of Ghosts by James Hornfischer. Amazon has the hardcover for $18 bucks, but I was at Borders this past weekend and they had it in the clearance section for $3.99. I had to get it.
It’s pretty thick, but for that price, in hardcover, I couldn’t help it.
Naval battles have long fascinated me. Especially World War II Pacific Ocean stuff. I don't know if it's the little boy in me being drawn to planes and boats and soldiers, or some deeper intellect in me that admires the strategy of men working together in the engine rooms and ammo magazines like a well oiled machine, the way people think of a group of men clicking in perfect unison like the Indianapolis Colts offense.
In 7th Grade I found a book in the Wilbur Trimpe Library, some title like “The Complete Encyclopedia of World War II in the Pacific” and breezed through it in a few weeks. I searched Amazon, but I can’t find the exact book; maybe it’s had another edition issued with a different cover.
The Pacific Ocean is so vast, and yet, there are certain islands or island chains that have such clear strategic value, that it’s like a game of capture the flag – each side knows what the other wants to accomplish, but on such a grand scale, with large fleets of massive ships. And often times, it came down to blind luck. A scout plane just cruising around gets a break in the clouds and spots the enemy fleet. One fleet passing another fleet in the night, and one side spots a silhouette of another ship from five miles away. A submarine pops up to periscope depth and stumbles onto an enemy convoy in the middle of the ocean. Ships launching 12” shells at each other from 12 miles away, or more. It all seems so ridiculously futile, trolling around the ocean and bumping into the enemy, but yet, the fate of the world ended up hinging on it.
Anyways, I loved that book I read in junior high. In high school I had a couple of books about the German battle ship Bismarck, and it’s brief but colorful life on the sea, and then how it was found by underwater explorers. When I spotted this book for such a pittance, I had to take the plunge.
And it has been well worth it.
I’d never heard of the Houston, her efforts or the battles she was party to. I have the documentary “Victory at Sea”, but, as the author points out, even that comprehensive look back at naval battles has forgotten the Houston and the struggles of Allied Forces after Pearl Harbor and before we got back on our feet.
The USS Houston was put to sea in 1930. It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s favorite vessel before the war, he made several trips with it and took the opportunity to fish from one of America’s mightiest heavy cruisers at the time. As the world plunged deeper into war in the late 30’s, the Houston was stationed in the South Pacific and was the flagship of “The Asiatic Fleet.” Plenty of people were leery of the Japanese as they started taking over in the South Pacific and the Houston was a part of escorts and relief efforts to help Allied Forces pull out of occupied areas. Relief was to come from the US fleet in Pearl Harbor, but when the Japanese smashed them the morning of December 7th, the outlook turned extremely bleak.
Houston was more or less on her own. The Americans, British, Dutch (who controlled the West Indies), and Australians combined forces in the area (ABDA), putting together a fleet of mostly light cruisers and destroyers, but the heavyweight of the group was the Houston, with a displacement of 9200 tons, measuring 600 feet long and 66 feet wide, powered by 107,000 horsepower reaching a top speed of 38 miles per hour (33 knots), and packing 9-8 inch guns, 4-5 inch guns, and 8-.50 inch machine guns. Still a mighty handful, but no match for a battleship or a carrier full of bombers or torpedo planes. Never mind individual vessels, it wasn’t even a match for a group the size the Japanese were slowly moving in on them.
But the Japanese still viewed it as a threat, and on more than one occasion claimed the victory of sinking her through their propaganda. Hence, when the Houston kept reappearing to fight them, she became known as the “Ghost of the Java Coast.”
Houston was a part of a joint force that went to attack the Japanese in the Battle of Bali Sea on February 4th, 1942. But the Houston took a bomb that knocked out one of her rear turrets, forcing the abandonment of the mission. Another US crusier, USS Marblehead was forced out of the battle, a loss that many sailors felt greatly altered the history of the Houston.
A few weeks later, serving as an escort for some reinforcements, the Houston came under heavy fire from Japanese planes, and later ran into the full Japanese convoy in the area. Houston set herself apart by fighting back the Japanese almost entirely by herself, and not allowing damage to the transport ships. After backing the Japanese off she got standing ovations from the crews on the ships in the transport as she slipped by to regain her place in the group.
A few weeks after that encounter, February 26, 1942, Houston was part of a squad consisting of 5 cruisers and 10 destroyers that engaged a Japanese attack force comprised of 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers in the Battle of the Java Sea. The Allied Forces were handcuffed by having minimal air support (a recurring problem as they had to hasten their retreat through the South Pacific) and communication problems (American, British, Dutch and Australians used different lingo and signals, and there were some trysts over the chain of command at times). The Japanese were considered the masters of torpedo use, while the Allies were considered stronger using their guns.
During an engagement lasting about four hours, the Allies lost three destroyers and two cruisers. A third cruiser was damaged badly, one of the destroyers was diverted to picking up survivors from the sunken ships and the remaining six destroyers, out of torpedoes and lacking the firepower to hang in the fight were forced to back out of the battle early. At the end, just the Houston and the light British cruiser HMS Perth, were left and forced to retreat to the nearest safe harbor.
Now light on ammunition, and struggling to get fuel from the Dutch port (who was rationing it for Dutch ships only), the exhausted crew spent the day in Batavia. Intelligence was that the Sunda Strait was the last safe way out for the Allied ships. They hoped to slip out under the cover of night.
Setting sail late on February 28, 1942, still low on ammo, fuel and exhausted, the Perth and Houston steamed into Banten Bay heading for the Sunda Strait. The Battle of Sunda Strait was on without the Allies realizing it - a destroyer had spotted them and slipped in behind them, following them from an estimated distance of five miles.
Eventually, the Perth and Houston were confronted by the entire Japanese landing force, an estimated forty ships in all, with adequate protection afforded by Jap heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikamu and numerous light cruisers and destroyers. Totally surrounded, the Perth and Houston began zig-zagging and circling in evasive maneuvers and opening fire on any Japanese ships that charged in. They caused plenty of damage, but only five Japanese ships were sunk, and all apparently the result of friendly fire as Japanese torpedoes aimed at Perth and Houston were dodged and struck other Japanese vessels beyond them.
Unable to escape, the Perth and Houston fought on until they were out of heavy ammunition and began using phosphorus shells intended to illuminate enemy ships from a distance to flood enemy decks with fire from close distance. Perth took three torpedoes in addition to countless damage from guns and sank just after midnight. The Houston was able to fight a little longer, taking one torpedo which slowed her down by knocking out the rear engine room that operated her inboard screws. In quick order she took three more torpedoes minutes later, finally drifting to a stop. Japanese destroyers moved in and machine gunned the decks. A few minutes later Houston rolled over and sank still flying her flag and with at least one determined marine still manning the .50 caliber machine guns on top of the conning tower fighting to the bitter end.
Only 368 men of the original 1061 member crew survived the sinking. Skilled captain Albert Rooks, perished from shrapnel to the head and torso while trying to abandon ship.
Due to literally being out on her own, Houston’s fate was unknown for nearly nine months. Her survivors were turned into slaves by the Japanese and put to work on the Burma-Thailand death railway, where most of the crew that survived her sinking, perished in POW camps. The full story of the Houston was unknown until after the war, when her survivors were freed.
I’m up to the Battle of the Sunda Strait in the book, about 150 pages in. It’s been a fascinating read thus far, trying to imagine life on this ship that’s cut off from Allies, facing an impossible situation, with depleted ammo and fuel and no way out. I’d probably buy it at the price listed on Amazon. Getting it for four bucks has felt like a steal. It’s an engaging account of heroism, duty and honor in a hopelessly impossible situation.
little read and pretty inexpensive.
