USS Houston (CL/CA-30), was a of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to bear the name "Houston".

She was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on 7 September 1929, sponsored by Elizabeth Holcombe (daughter of Oscar Holcombe, ex-mayor of Houston, Texas). Elizabeth was chaperoned by Mary Ellen Bute and Charlotte Williams (great grand-daughter of Sam Houston). Houston was commissioned on 17 June 1930.

The ship was originally classified as a light cruiser (hull number CL-30). Houston was redesignated a heavy cruiser (CA-30) on 1 July 1931, as the provisions of the 1930 London Naval Treaty classified ships with 8-inch (20.3 cm) main battery guns as heavy cruisers.

Inter-war period

After conducting a shakedown cruise in the Atlantic, Houston returned to the United States in October 1930. She then visited her namesake city from 25 October until 31 October, hosting over 40,000 visitors to the ship. On 28 October a parade held for the ship & crew in downtown Houston saw over 100,000 persons in attendance. Houston joined the fleet at Hampton Roads. Steaming to New York, the cruiser departed on 10 January 1931 for the Pacific, and after transiting the Panama Canal and the Hawaiian Islands, arrived at Manila on 22 February. Houston became flagship of the Asiatic Fleet upon arrival, and for the next year participated in training operations in the Far East.

Houston became flagship of the U.S. Fleet on 19 September, when Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch brought his flag aboard, and maintained that status until 28 December, when she returned to the Scouting Force. Continuing the routine of training exercises, she got underway for Fleet Problem XX, on 4 January 1939 from San Francisco, sailed to Norfolk and Key West, and there embarked the President and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William D. Leahy, for the duration of the exercise. She arrived in Houston on 7 April for a brief visit before returning to Seattle, where she arrived on 30 May.

World War II

As the war crisis deepened, Admiral Hart deployed his fleet in readiness. Houston was to operate as part of Task Force Five (TF5) under RADM William A. Glassford, Jr. At 0900 hrs on 1 December 1941 Houston departed Cavite Navy Yard's Machina Wharf for the degaussing range in Manila Bay. This consumed about four hours, then the ship steamed out of the Bay through the mine channel and headed south for the Philippine port of Iloilo on the island of Panay. She reached her anchorage off Iloilo at 1257 hrs on the 2nd of December. There she remained, receiving fuel oil and aviation gasoline from barges while flying SOC air patrols over the next few days. At 0345 hrs on 8 December she got the message that hostilities had been initiated by Japan. At 1612 hrs that afternoon RADM Glassford and staff arrived from Manila via PBY. An hour later Houston got underway, steaming south for the Dutch East indies. Over the following days she escorted Asiatic Fleet auxiliaries Holland, Otus and Isabel to Balikpapan, Borneo, which was reached at 1927 hrs on 14 December. Houston departed the next morning at 0611 hrs escorting another US convoy south. She left the convoy after two days to proceed at high speed to Surabaja, Java, with the destroyer USS Parrott (DD-218). They reached Java on 17 December at ~1800 hrs.

Battle of Makassar Strait

Air raids were frequent in the area, and Houstons gunners shot down four Japanese planes in the Battle of Bali Sea (also known as the Battle of Makassar Strait) on 4 February 1942, as Rear-Admiral Karel Doorman of the Royal Netherlands Navy took the ABDA Striking Force to engage Japanese ships reported to be massing at Balikpapan. Houston carried defective 5"/25cal ammunition which failed her during these air attacks. After dodging bombs and shooting down at least one attacker, Houston took one 250kg bomb hit aft. This disabled the number three turret, killing four dozen men and wounding about 20 others. The old light cruiser was so damaged that she had to be sent out of the combat zone. RADM Doorman abandoned his advance and returned to Java.

Timor Convoy

thumb|left|Said to be Houston, this photo may actually show USS Pensacola escorting the so-called Pensacola Convoy to Australia in December 1941. The cruiser's profile is swaybacked and shows four turrets, and the transport to the right appears to be USS Republic, which was not part of the Timor Relief convoy.

Houston stayed at Tjilatjap until 10 February, during which time she also took on some 500 rounds of 5"/25cal ammunition left behind by USS Boise (CL-47) after that cruiser had to leave the East Indies due to a grounding accident in Sape Strait in late January. This 5" ammunition, which was not marked by the defects that had plagued Houstons gunners on 4 February, would prove invaluable within a matter of days. CA-30 then left Tjilatjap for Darwin to escort a convoy carrying troops to reinforce forces already defending Timor. Escorting , , , and Tulagi, Houston with the destroyer and sloops and departed Darwin before two in the morning of 15 February for Koepang. By eleven in the morning, the convoy was being shadowed by a Japanese flying boat that dropped some bombs without causing damage before departing. The next morning another shadowing aircraft had taken position, and before noon the convoy was attacked by bombers and flying boats in two waves. During the first attack, Mauna Loa suffered slight damage and two casualties, one killed and one wounded. Houstons fire showed no effects. During the second attack, Houston distinguished herself with a barrage which made her "like a sheet of flame" shooting down 7 of the 44 planes of the second wave. The convoy continued toward Timor for a few hours, with Houston launching a scout plane seeking the enemy position. ABDA suspected the presence of Japanese carriers, an imminent invasion of Timor, and a support fleet lying in wait and thus ordered the convoy back to Darwin, which it reached before noon on 18 February.

Houston and Peary departed later that day to rejoin combat forces at Tjilatjap. Shortly after departure, Peary broke off to help RAN units chase a suspected submarine, and expended so much fuel in doing so that the destroyer returned to Darwin for replenishment instead of continuing with Houston. Houston thus escaped the Japanese attack on Darwin on 19 February, in which Peary, Meigs and Mauna Loa were among the ships sunk and Portmar was forced to beach. Returning to the East Indies, Houston lingered briefly off NW Australia awaiting the arrival of one of her SOC scout planes which had been sent to the coast. That plane did not rejoin CA-30, and the cruiser then proceeded to Java via the route below the Lesser Sunda islands. She narrowly missed being detected by the Japanese forces invading and seizing Timor on 19-20 February. Some of the IJN covering forces at sea included elements of 5th Cruiser Division (Sentai 5) under RADM Takagi Takeo, specifically the heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro, both of which Houston would meet a week or so later in the Java Sea.

Battle of the Java Sea

Receiving word that the major Japanese invasion force was approaching Java protected by a formidable surface unit, Admiral Doorman decided to meet and seek to destroy the main convoy. Sailing on 26 February 1942 with the cruisers Houston, , , , and ten destroyers, he met the Japanese support force under Admiral Takeo Takagi consisting of four cruisers and 13 destroyers in the late afternoon of 27 February 1942.

Aftermath

thumb|right|upright|[[George S. Rentz, Chaplain of Houston 1940–1942.]]

Houstons fate was not fully known outside of Japan for almost nine months. Americans learned the full story of her last fight when the survivors were liberated from prison camps at the end of the war. There could be no doubt whatsoever which wreck they were diving as the ships bell had been 'unofficially' raised from Houstons wreck in 1973 (as was Perths in the late 1960s, and a book written about the 'expedition' by the salvor, David Burchell), and after passing through several hands over the years, now sits atop a plinth in a park in the city of Houston, Texas, USA (while Perth's bell is displayed at the Perth Town Hall in Western Australia). Another survey of Houston occurred in October 2015, with United States Navy and Indonesian Navy divers embarked aboard for a nine-day survey of Houston and Perth (which had also been subject to unauthorized salvaging). Divers documented the condition of the two shipwrecks, with this data presented to a conference in Jakarta on preserving and preventing the illegal salvage of wartime shipwrecks in the Java Sea.

Awards

  • 106px Presidential Unit Citation
  • American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
  • Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with two battle stars
  • 106px World War II Victory Medal

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • Kehn, Jr., Donald M. In the Highest Degree Tragic: the Sacrifice of the US Asiatic Fleet in the East Indies during World War II. (2017) Potomac Books.
  • USS Houston homepage
  • A Collection of Biographies and Photographs of those of Served aboard the USS Houston CA30 USS Houston Next Generation
  • Navy photographs of Houston (CA-30)
  • The USS Houston Bluebonnet Newsletter Collection (1933–1941)
  • Field Report: 2014 USS Houston (CA-30) DIVEX, 10 November 2014.