Loss
Perth and Houston sailed at 19:00 (Evertsen was delayed), with the Australian warship leading. The Allies believed that Sunda Strait was free of enemy vessels, but a large Japanese force had assembled at Bantam Bay. At 23:06, the two cruisers were off St. Nicholas Point when lookouts on Perth sighted an unidentified ship; when it was realised that she was a Japanese destroyer, the Australian ship engaged. However, as this happened, multiple Japanese warships appeared and surrounded the two Allied ships.
At midnight, with ammunition running low, Captain Hector Waller ordered his ship to try to force a way through. Just as Perth settled on a new heading, four Japanese torpedoes hit the cruiser in the space of a few minutes. The first hit on the starboard side and damaged the forward engine room, the second caused a hull breach near the bridge, the third impacted in the starboard aft area, and the fourth struck on the port side.
Waller gave the order to abandon ship after the second torpedo impact.
After some further close-range fire from the destroyers, Perth heeled to port and sank at 00:25 on 1 March 1942, with 353 killed: 342 RAN (including Waller), 5 Royal Navy, 3 Royal Australian Air Force, and 3 civilian canteen workers. Houston was torpedoed and sank about 20 minutes later.
Of the 328 survivors, four died after reaching shore, while the rest were captured as prisoners of war. 106 died during their internment: 105 naval and 1 RAAF, including 38 killed by Allied attacks on Japanese 'hell ships'. The remaining 218 were repatriated after the war.
The cruiser's wartime service was later recognised with the battle honours "Atlantic 1939", "Malta Convoys 1941", "Matapan 1941", "Greece 1941", "Crete 1941", "Mediterranean 1941", "Pacific 1941–42", and "Sunda Strait 1942".
Read more about this topic: HMAS Perth (D29)
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