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The United States Navy Memorial

Navy Memorial Honoring the Men & Women of the Sea Services

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Houston

Ship Designation: 
CA-30
Date Lost: 
Sunday, March 1, 1942
Battle at Sunda Strait
Houston in company with HMAS Perth and HMS Exeter depart Priok and at 2300 in the vicinity of Sunda Strait encounter a Japanese landing force taking them under fire and causing wide spread damage to 4 loaded Japanese transports. Japanese battle force comprised of two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and 10 destroyers close in on the Houston force. ... One of 8 torpedoes launched from the Japanese forces strikes Houston. At 0015 Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma finds Houston with its 8” guns ripping into the after engine room killing the entire engine room crew. ... Turret 2 hit by enemy gunfire which starts fire in magazine; fire progresses to small arms magazine and to Turret magazine. At 0033 with the ship sinking, the order to abandon ship is given. While abandoning ship Japanese continue to shell and send torpedoes into her hull. At 0045 Houston sinks. ... Of the crew less than half make it into the water in Sunda Strait. Many of Houston’s survivors were captured and interred in Japanese prisons until the conclusion of WWII

Lost At Sea Log

Number of sailors in this log: 632

Name Service Branchsort descending
FC 3c Birdine Dykes USN
Sea 1c George Shillings USN
MM 1c Andrew Smith USN
Sea 1c Herman Read USN
FC 3c Chester Sass USN
Mus 1c Sidney Myers USN
GM 2c John Racine USN
RM 3c Thomas Pecena USN
EM 3c Harvey Villwock USN
Matt 2c Packsen Tsiang USN
RM 2c John Stark USN
Sea 2c Leonard Zimmerman USN
BM 1c Arthur Wellbourn USN
Sea 1c Phillip Wilson USN
Sea 2c John Anderson USN
Sea 2c Albert Bacher USN
QM 2c Phillip Bettinger USN
Sea 2c Byrl Bowman USN
TC 1c Victor Bunnell USN
Cox George Carney USN

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Prepared by CAPT R.O. Strange USN (Ret.)