The Anyer area on the west coast of Java is a great getaway just a few hours from the crash and bash of Jakarta. It has all that tropical seashore serenity guaranteed to iron out those stress fractured faces – long sandy beaches, calm blue water, tall curving coconut trees, cool sea breezes and red/orange sunsets. For some it’s enough just to lie around and soak it all up. For the more active there are island hopping cruises on sleek comfortable clippers; quiet safe places for swimming and snorkeling; there’s spear fishing and diving over technicolor corals; surfing trips down south; and the hunt and grunt of big game fishing. It’s a little bit of what paradise may have been like – well, relative to being grid-locked on Sudirman, half an hour late for that make or break meeting.
But there have been occasions where that serenity has been shattered. The sometimes-fierce flowing current can be severe on individuals caught on a broken down boat in the middle of Sunda Strait – there have been those who have found themselves swept out into the Indian Ocean. At the other end of the scale, almost everyone has heard of Kratkatau, which exploded in devastating fashion in 1883, decimating everything and turning this tropical paradise into a hellish nightmare of mega-epic proportions.
Not many, however, have heard of the short but brutally intense naval battle between Japanese and Allied forces that took place just north of Merak in the early days of World War II. Two once proud warships still beneath the current. It’s part of the history of the area and its story includes places familiar to those weekend tourists who visit here – Sanghiang Island, Carita, Labuhan, etc. Jakarta24 revisits that historical event and attempts to connect the Now with the Then.
GHOSTS OF SUNDA STRAIT
At about 19:00 on the 28th February 1942, two weary warships picked their way through the protective mines of a still smoldering Tanjung Priok and headed west into the Java Sea. They were short on oil and fuel, ammunition was low and the men that manned them had not slept for 72 hours. Their orders were to escape the Japanese dragnet by cutting through the Sunda Strait to the friendlier waters of the Indian Ocean and then on to Exmouth on the Western Australian coast. The two ships were the American heavy cruiser, USS Houston and the Australian light cruiser, HMAS Perth and they were now virtually the last ships of any size left in the Allies’ Asian theatre. But not long after midnight these ill-fated vessels would no longer exist and all those on board would either be dead – interred forever at the bottom of the Sunda Strait – or scattered along the shores and islands of west Java.
The Battle of Java Sea
Their story begins twenty-four hours earlier. The Houston and Perth were part of ABDA (a hastily arranged collection of American, British, Dutch and Australian warships) charged with the responsibility of thwarting the Japanese invasion of Java. On the afternoon of 27th February, this fledgling fleet, led by the courageous but inexperienced Dutchman Rear Admiral Doorman, met and engaged the covering warships of Japan’s Eastern Invasion Force 50 miles north of Surabaya. The ensuing conflict would last over several hours and divide into a number of distinct battles.
While numerically the two opposing fleets were virtually on a par – the Japanese had 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers to ABDA’s 5 cruisers and 9 destroyers, things went quickly wrong for the Allied force. In the initial long-distanced firefight, the experienced British cruiser Exeter took an 8-inch shell in the boiler causing it to suddenly lose power and turn out of the line of battle. In the resulting confusion the Dutch destroyer Kortenaer was torpedoed and sunk by the heavy cruiser Haguro.
Next the HMS Electra was sunk by gunfire in a destroyer attack on the Japanese and later in the evening, while the ABDA fleet sailed parallel to the north shore of Java in an attempt to block any landing, HMS Jupiter was lost when it hit a mine. Doorman’s misfortune continued when the four American destroyers, torpedoes spent and very low on fuel were forced to return to Surabaya and the British destroyer Encounter soon followed after picking up the survivors from the first Dutch ship sunk. A second Dutch destroyer had earlier been given the task of escorting the crippled Exeter back to Surabaya.
Doorman has now lost over two-thirds of his fleet and has no destroyer cover for his 4 remaining cruisers – his flagship De Ruyter, the Dutch light cruiser Java and the Houston and the Perth. In a last gallant but desperate move, Doorman turns north in an attempt to get around the enemy warships and attack the 41 strong transport convoy but the Allies are unable to outmaneuver their still-intact opponents who now unleash a withering torpedo attack. Up until this point of the long battle, the Japanese had launched well over 100 torpedoes with only one success – the Allies luck and/or the Japanese inaccuracy would not last. The Java was the first to be hit. The torpedo struck her aft magazine, which exploded in a tremendous blast. Within eight minutes, the stern had broken off and the ship reared up "like a church steeple" and she slid backwards into the sea. Of the more than 530 crew, only 19 survived.
Doorman’s De Ruyter was hit almost simultaneously in the same devastating attack. She was struck on the starboard side rupturing an oil tank, the resultant fire setting off the 40-mm ammunition, which ripped through the ship killing and wounding many. Despite being completely crippled, De Ruyter took another 3 hours to sink, giving all but the wounded time to escape the ship. The brave Doorman, however, refused to leave and went down with his dying ship.
Once Doorman realized his ship and the battle was lost, he ordered the Houston and Perth not to stop to pick up survivors but to proceed immediately to Batavia. And so the Houston and Perth retreated from the battle and headed for the port of Tanjung Priok and their own heroic destiny.
The Battle of Sunda Strait
Leaving Tanjung Priok behind, the Perth and the Houston took the most direct route to the Sunda Strait. Although both ships were short on fuel and ammunition was dangerously low, Allied intelligence had informed them that their passage to and through the Strait was free of enemy ships. This information could not have been more wrong. As the two Allies increased speed to turn into the Sunda Strait, they suddenly found themselves in the middle of one of the biggest Japanese armadas of World War II – the Western Invasion Force of 51 transports with a large and powerful covering fleet. With calm seas and a full moon conditions were ideal for a classic sea battle – but what would follow was anything but classical – it would quickly develop into one of the fiercest, close quarter naval clashes of the modern era.
The action began around 23:15 when Perth sighted and opened fire on the Japanese destroyer Fubuki. At the same time, Houston spotted the dark shapes of two, possibly more, enemy ships. The Japanese destroyers, shocked to suddenly find two enemy cruisers so close to their landing force, sprung into action by laying down smoke to protect the transports while the Fubuki fired off 9 torpedoes, the first of more than 85 that would be let loose in the short but intense battle that was to follow. It is not sure exactly when the two Allied captains became aware that they had stumbled across the enemy’s amphibious landing force at its most vulnerable moment or whether they even had time to savour the thought of the plump, exposed transports anchored along the shore line of Banten Bay. Certainly in those early moments of the battle, as the Japanese destroyers gamely tried to defend their position against the superior cruisers, the advantage lay with the American/Australian pair. But this situation would be very short-lived.
Japanese reinforcements, at least 2 cruisers and several destroyers, were closing in from the east and soon the small bay was awash with enemy warships. The action, all well within a range of 5,000 metres and closing, intensified as the now outnumbered duo, guns blazing on both sides, turned in tight circles to avoid the tirade of torpedoes. The embattled pair desperately tried to break out of this lethal trap by pushing west towards Sumatra when things went from bad to worse. The powerful heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma now joined the fray and began shelling the Perth and Houston with their big 8-inchers forcing them back into the huddle. By now the congested Banten Bay was nightmarish turmoil of twisting metal monsters guns snarling; the clear moonlit darkness crackled with exploding fireballs, sizzling tracers and ghoulish sweeping searchlights; and the hot sea churned with erupting water columns and fizzing torpedo wakes.
It was almost miraculous that the Perth and Houston survived so long against the close concentration of firepower and the below-water barrage of torpedoes that were launched against them. They had both taken hits from the Japanese guns but despite the damage, almost an hour into the battle, they still had full power. But they were also both very low on ammunition – the Perth, out of 6-inch shells, was now firing practice shells in order not to let the enemy know her perilous situation. As their firepower decreased, the Japanese pulled the knot tighter and the battle was becoming more like a broadsiding 18th Century sea battle.
Just after midnight, Perth’s captain increased speed and attempted to crash his way south past the cruiser and 2 destroyers that were blocking the escape to the Sunda Strait and possible freedom. He didn’t get very far. The first torpedo of the battle to find its target slammed into the Perth's starboard side near the forward boiler room. The ship heaved sluggishly and it was immediately clear she had been critically wounded. The captain was still waiting on a damage report when the issue was put beyond doubt – a second ‘fish’ ripped into the starboard side just below him and the Perth had 10 minutes to live. The captain kept the Perth moving in order to give his men time to abandon ship but after taking 2, possibly more torps, the Perth nosed into the sea and sank.
The crew of the Houston watched in dismay as their stricken sister-in-arms floundered and the Japanese cruisers closed in for the kill. But there was little time for prayers. With the southern escape route cut off, Houston now reversed her course, heading eastward. The captain must have known his hopelessly outnumbered ship was now doomed and had decided to sell her life as dearly as possible by attacking the anchored transports. The Mogami and Mikuma also swept east and, finding themselves on a parallel course with the lone Houston, unleashed an unmerciful barrage knocking out her main guns and causing the ship to list and slow down. She was now being swarmed on all sides. It was the Japanese destroyer Shikinami that finally delivered the coup de grace. Moving to within 800 metres – point blank range in naval terms – she fired a torpedo that ripped into Houston’s portside tearing a hole in the very bottom of the ship. Abandon ship was ordered and soon after the Houston heeled to starboard and with her bow dipping to the sea bottom, she sank silently to her watery grave.
And so ended the Battle of Sunda Strait. It wasn’t until nine months later that the Allies learned the fate of their two ships and even then, the details were very sketchy. What actually happened will probably be never fully known – the events are a reconstruction taken from the survivors that emerged from the prison-of-war camps at the end of the war, Japanese war records and eyewitnesses and studies of the wrecks.
What is known is that, of a combined total of x men from the Perth and Houston, x, including both captains, were lost. Those that survived ended up in prison-of-war camps for the remainder of the war. On the Japanese side, it is certain that four transports and a minesweeper were sunk. It is widely believed that the transports were sunk by torpedoes from Fubuki or Mogami that missed their intended targets – certainly friendly fire, because of the congestion of the battle, was an added danger for the Japanese ships. Other reports put the Japanese losses much higher but this has yet to be proven.
The Battle of Sunda Strait signaled the end of the Allied naval presence in Asian and within in 9 days of the battle, the Dutch East Indies was surrendered to the Japanese.
Ray Parkin’s Wartime Trilogy
Ray Parkin was a chief petty officer aboard the Perth. He steered her in her final battle and was one of the last to abandon ship. He spent more than 12 hours in the Sunda Strait before being washed up, plastered in thick oil, on Sanghyang Island. Others spent even longer in the water before struggling ashore at places like Carita and Labuhan.
Out of the Smoke, the first part of Parkin’s Wartime Trilogy, tells the story of a small band of men’s heroic attempt to sail a small boat from Sanghyang to Cilacap and then on to freedom. They made it to Cilacap but no further and spent the rest of the war in prison-of-war camps. Parkin also graphically recalls the battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait.
The two other novels in this trilogy are Into the Smother about Parkin’s time on the Burma Railway and The Sword and The Blossom recalls his crowded ship journey to Japan where he worked out the war in a coal mine.
Wartime Trilogy can be ordered through Amazon. It is expensive at US$54 but it is a collection of three previous separate novels. The trilogy makes very good reading especially for those interested in first hand experiences of the war.
Other books of interest are The Bells of Sunda by David Burchell about the search for the two wrecks; Ghost That Died At Sunda Strait by W. G. Winslow recounts the last days of the USS Houston; Proud Echo by Ronald Mckie is about the survivors of the Perth. There is also an excellent Dutch movie documentary entitled The Battle of the Java Sea, which won Best Documentary at the1996 Dutch Film Festival. Information available on the web.
DIVING THE GHOSTS
The two once proud warships, the USS Houston and the HMAS Perth, now lie silent on the Sunda Strait seabed. They fought the good fight against a superior force and went down with honour. But even now, despite 62 years at the mercy of the underwater elements, these two haunting hulks still have the power and the majesty to inspire those lucky enough to see them.
People have come from all over the world to dive these two famous World War II wrecks. To find out more Jakarta24 spoke to Peta from Kristal Klear Dive, a company that organizes many trips to the wrecks.
“It’s not an easy dive. We don’t do trips during the monsoon as the seas are windy and choppy, visibility is very low and the currents can be horrendous. The diving season is between March and September and the participants must be Dive Masters and be in good physical condition.”
However, she went on to say, many dives can be carried out in excellent conditions – no currents and high visibility – and can be truly exhilarating as the following divers to the HMAS Perth testified to Kristal Klear:
The dive was outstanding…the wreck is slowly deteriorating but the feeling you get looking down those long barreled big guns is still quite a rush.
Mike Miron
The visibility was reasonably good which assists in seeing all the torpedo damage done to this great warship…in one of the gun turrets you could still see a complete set of headphones sitting there and you wonder what the person who wore them many years ago was like. A truly memorable experience.
Wayne
Diving the Perth gave me a unique feeling of awe and admiration for the heroic actions of her crew and those of her sister-in-battle, the USS Houston – both during and after the battle of the Java Sea…the main guns are still in place with the aft ones pointing skywards in a symbol of belated defiance. Much of the ship remains intact and very recognizable.
Many fish have also colonized this strange reef…we saw a monster scorpionfish, big pufferfish, a moray eel dwarfed by one the massive propeller shaft bearings that it inhabited.
Richard Boutcher
The wrecks of World War II, including the Perth And Houston, will deteriorate much more over the next 10 or so years, so now is the time to catch a glimpse of these ghosts and the history that was made just off the west coast of Java in 1942.
HOW TO GET THERE
There are probably many ways to get to the wrecks and any of the many interesting destinations along the Sunda Strait but it’s important that you choose an experienced skipper with local knowledge who keeps a well-maintained boat and has a good network of support.
Jakarta24 found three such people/establishments:
Kristal Klear Dive is a dive shop in the Kristal Hotel. They employ experienced divers and have a long history of organizing visits to the wrecks and Sunda Straits. They do the wrecks once a month from March to September, usually over a long weekend. These trips run from Friday evening until Sunday and include two dives to the wreck and two dives to the coral reefs around Sanghiyang Island. Sangihyang, which has probably changed little since the Perth/Houston survivors were stranded there in 1942, also offers a cave-like formation swim through, a long sandy beach on the bay and there are the remains of a WWII Japanese lookout on the island. This all costs about Rp1,850,000 per person (subject to change).
Kristal Klear also gives diving instructions at the hotel and can arrange or advise on diving spots around the archipelago. Contact the dive shop on or go to their website www.kristalkleardive.com
Cameron MacLean is the certified and experienced skipper of a 62ft clipper based in the Anyer area. Cameron takes divers to the Houston/Perth wrecks but he also specializes in sleep-in leisure cruises to all points along the Strait and beyond. For snorkeling, fishing, BBQs on idyllic sandy beaches or just splashing around in the sun – contact Cameron
Shane Rawles of PT Jawa Barat Charters is the skipper of a Bertram 28ft sportfishing boat and is also experienced in the Sunda Strait waters. Go to his website on www.jawabaratcharters.com.
Enjoy your dive into history!
