March 1, 1942
Arlington National Cemetery, Section 12 Memorial to the crew of the U.S.S. Houston-CA-30 & H.M.A.S. Perth |
Over this week there will be a series of memorial events in Indonesia and Houston, Texas commemorating valiant battle of the Sundra Strait and the sinking of the USS-Houston CA-30. On Saturday, March 7th at 2:00pm in Sam Houston Park there will be a remembrance service at the USS-Houston Memorial.
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Of the crew of 1,061, only 368 survived including 24 of the 74-man USMC detachment aboard. The crew became prisoners of the Japanese for the remainder of the war. Most of the remaining officers were sent to Japan to be slave laborers. The rest ended up toiling on Thai-Burma Death Railway. Seventy-nine men died of torture, disease and starvation while prisoners.
The wreck of the USS Houston lies in the Sunda Strait and has over the years been damaged by scavengers and treasure hunters. The US and Indonesian Navies are developing plans to project this hallowed war grave. Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors by James D. Hornfischer (2006) is considered a definitive history of the ship.
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