Friday, August 17, 2007
The Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast
I haven't posted in quite awhile, but I thought this account was worth spreading. Being a Navy guy, I thought you would be interested.
Matt
Book: Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS HOUSTON, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors.
Author: James D. Hornfischer
Format: Audiobook (Unabridged 14 Discs)
General: Just finished up listening to the last disc today. Wanted to put down some of my thoughts regarding the sinking of the cruiser USS HOUSTON at the Battle of Sunda Strait off the coast of Java near St Nicolas Point & Banten Bay in early 1942. This was just the beginning of the ordeal for the survivors of the battle as they would become POWs for the next 3.5 years.
The following are some interesting points I learned that I had not heard before. I didn't serve in the military so, you'll have to excuse my 'layman' descriptions.
=> The HOUSTON was President Franklin Roosevelts' flagship and enjoyed many cruises on it in the years prior to the outbreak of war.
=> FDR boarded the ship one time by "hand-walking" up the gangway using the rails to swing his immobile legs to the amazement of crew and crowds.
=> While on board, FDR's favorite pastime was taking the ships launch to go on fishing excursions. He preferred to take along enlisted men as his fishing buddies in lieu of the ships officers. Upon returning from one of these fishing trips, he told the lone sailor who was driving the boat to take her back out solo and enjoy some fishing since sailor was too busy earlier with his duties. Upon hearing this, the sailor rigged a rod and proceeded away from the Houston. The recently arrived officer in charge started yelling at the sailor to return or face being AWOL. FDR told the officer he had ordered the sailor to go fishing and the red-faced officer had to defer to his Commander In Chief.
=> Due to political pressure of the Dutch, the ABDA (allied force tasked with defense of the Dutch East Indies) leadership was transferred from US to Dutch command.
=> During the Battle of the Java Sea, the deck guns located near the catapult launched seaplanes started firing before the planes were launched. The concussive blasts ripped the canvas from the airframes and left the stunned pilots sitting in the skeletal frames. The pilots simply climbed down and the catapults were fired launching the useless airframes overboard.
=> Many of the Japanese shells that managed to hit the HOUSTON failed to explode (due to duds or incorrect calibration for the HOUSTON decking and armor plating).
=> The ABDA fleet simply did not have any air cover during the Java Sea Battle. Japanese planes flew overhead and constantly dropped flares to mark the fleets position and course.
=> During the Battle of Sunda Strait, the PERTH and HOUSTON ran out of munitions for the big guns. They started firing their phosphorus star shells at close range to set fire to enemy ships. The smaller caliber weapons proved more effective in this close quarter battle than the big guns. 50 caliber machine guns were firing to take out enemy searchlights and personnel.
=> Upon abandoning ship, the sailors took their shoes off and lined them up along the rail before jumping in the sea. Many later regretted this action upon reaching the coral shoals, beaches and rough inland terrain.
=> The Japanese actually paid the POW's in Batavia (now Jakarta) for the work they did. Albeit the money paid was next to nothing, however this was the first that I had ever heard that Japanese did this.
=> Upon the surrender of allied forces on Java, the Texas Guard Artillery unit (later to become known as the lost battalion) came into POW camp full of supplies and gear which was distributed among already imprisoned PERTH and HOUSTON men. Among this group was a liaison officer that had hundreds of thousands of dollars which was smuggled into the camp. He was given this money to purchase ships and materials to effect an evacuation of US personnel from the theater of operations.
=> Enroute from Java to Burma to start work as slave labor on the Burma-Thai Railway, the Japanese prison ships came under attack from a flight of Liberators. Unknown to the airmen that they were attacking POW transports, they made bombing runs. The only anti-aircraft guns the Jap ships had were a couple field artillery guns tied down to wooden platforms on the ships deck. The Japanese crew were obviously inexperienced with the guns since during the first bomb run, the Japanese fired into their ships bridge destroying a portion of it, reloaded and swiveled the gun again. This time upon firing the shell hit a cable directly in front of the barrel and destroyed both gun and crew. The other gun was put out of action due to the fact that it was fired without the breach being fully closed and the back blast set fire to the gun crew. Eventually, one of the POW's used a signal mirror to inform the Liberators that they were POW's. The air crews acknowledge them with a return signal and broke off the attack.
=> During the jungle campaign to build the railway, the POW camps didn't have a fenced perimeter.
=> Toward the wars end, the OSS (wartime predecessor to the CIA) set up camps in Thailand to foment an uprising against the Japanese. One of these camps actually rescued a couple guys from the HOUSTON.
=> The University of Houston has a collection of records and mementos of the HOUSTON along with a 6 ft long model of the ship. The ships bell was recovered by Indonesian divers and now is located as a memorial in downtown Houston. I'll have to make a trip to these places soon.......
Matt
Book: Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS HOUSTON, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors.
Author: James D. Hornfischer
Format: Audiobook (Unabridged 14 Discs)
General: Just finished up listening to the last disc today. Wanted to put down some of my thoughts regarding the sinking of the cruiser USS HOUSTON at the Battle of Sunda Strait off the coast of Java near St Nicolas Point & Banten Bay in early 1942. This was just the beginning of the ordeal for the survivors of the battle as they would become POWs for the next 3.5 years.
The following are some interesting points I learned that I had not heard before. I didn't serve in the military so, you'll have to excuse my 'layman' descriptions.
=> The HOUSTON was President Franklin Roosevelts' flagship and enjoyed many cruises on it in the years prior to the outbreak of war.
=> FDR boarded the ship one time by "hand-walking" up the gangway using the rails to swing his immobile legs to the amazement of crew and crowds.
=> While on board, FDR's favorite pastime was taking the ships launch to go on fishing excursions. He preferred to take along enlisted men as his fishing buddies in lieu of the ships officers. Upon returning from one of these fishing trips, he told the lone sailor who was driving the boat to take her back out solo and enjoy some fishing since sailor was too busy earlier with his duties. Upon hearing this, the sailor rigged a rod and proceeded away from the Houston. The recently arrived officer in charge started yelling at the sailor to return or face being AWOL. FDR told the officer he had ordered the sailor to go fishing and the red-faced officer had to defer to his Commander In Chief.
=> Due to political pressure of the Dutch, the ABDA (allied force tasked with defense of the Dutch East Indies) leadership was transferred from US to Dutch command.
=> During the Battle of the Java Sea, the deck guns located near the catapult launched seaplanes started firing before the planes were launched. The concussive blasts ripped the canvas from the airframes and left the stunned pilots sitting in the skeletal frames. The pilots simply climbed down and the catapults were fired launching the useless airframes overboard.
=> Many of the Japanese shells that managed to hit the HOUSTON failed to explode (due to duds or incorrect calibration for the HOUSTON decking and armor plating).
=> The ABDA fleet simply did not have any air cover during the Java Sea Battle. Japanese planes flew overhead and constantly dropped flares to mark the fleets position and course.
=> During the Battle of Sunda Strait, the PERTH and HOUSTON ran out of munitions for the big guns. They started firing their phosphorus star shells at close range to set fire to enemy ships. The smaller caliber weapons proved more effective in this close quarter battle than the big guns. 50 caliber machine guns were firing to take out enemy searchlights and personnel.
=> Upon abandoning ship, the sailors took their shoes off and lined them up along the rail before jumping in the sea. Many later regretted this action upon reaching the coral shoals, beaches and rough inland terrain.
=> The Japanese actually paid the POW's in Batavia (now Jakarta) for the work they did. Albeit the money paid was next to nothing, however this was the first that I had ever heard that Japanese did this.
=> Upon the surrender of allied forces on Java, the Texas Guard Artillery unit (later to become known as the lost battalion) came into POW camp full of supplies and gear which was distributed among already imprisoned PERTH and HOUSTON men. Among this group was a liaison officer that had hundreds of thousands of dollars which was smuggled into the camp. He was given this money to purchase ships and materials to effect an evacuation of US personnel from the theater of operations.
=> Enroute from Java to Burma to start work as slave labor on the Burma-Thai Railway, the Japanese prison ships came under attack from a flight of Liberators. Unknown to the airmen that they were attacking POW transports, they made bombing runs. The only anti-aircraft guns the Jap ships had were a couple field artillery guns tied down to wooden platforms on the ships deck. The Japanese crew were obviously inexperienced with the guns since during the first bomb run, the Japanese fired into their ships bridge destroying a portion of it, reloaded and swiveled the gun again. This time upon firing the shell hit a cable directly in front of the barrel and destroyed both gun and crew. The other gun was put out of action due to the fact that it was fired without the breach being fully closed and the back blast set fire to the gun crew. Eventually, one of the POW's used a signal mirror to inform the Liberators that they were POW's. The air crews acknowledge them with a return signal and broke off the attack.
=> During the jungle campaign to build the railway, the POW camps didn't have a fenced perimeter.
=> Toward the wars end, the OSS (wartime predecessor to the CIA) set up camps in Thailand to foment an uprising against the Japanese. One of these camps actually rescued a couple guys from the HOUSTON.
=> The University of Houston has a collection of records and mementos of the HOUSTON along with a 6 ft long model of the ship. The ships bell was recovered by Indonesian divers and now is located as a memorial in downtown Houston. I'll have to make a trip to these places soon.......
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Lattice of Coincidence, Part 5,210
I'm reading 002houston, which gets its name from 77002, the zip code in downtown Houston. I'm looking at the beautiful people living in the beautiful homes in the right neighborhoods in an environmentally correct manner.
I put on Tom Waits, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. Yahoo Music decides to skip me to Fannin Street. I'm not one to argue with that kind of karma. It's song of the day:
I put on Tom Waits, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. Yahoo Music decides to skip me to Fannin Street. I'm not one to argue with that kind of karma. It's song of the day:
There's a crooked street in Houston town,
It's a well born path I've traveled down
Now there's ruin in my name, I wish I never got off the train,
I wished I'd listened to the words you said.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
You can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Once I held you in my arms, I was sure
But I took that silent stare through the guilded door
The desire to have much more, all the glitter and the roar,
I know this is where the sidewalk ends.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
You can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street
When I was young I thought only of getting out
I said goodbye to my street, goodbye to my house
Give a man gin, give a man cards, give an inch he takes a yard,
And I rue the day that I stepped off this train.
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
Don't go down to Fannin Street
You'll be lost and never found
You can never turn around
Don't go down to Fannin Street.
