The wreck of the USS Houston has sat underwater in Indonesia for 84 years since a battle with Japanese forces killed more than 1,200 sailors from the United States and Australia in World War II.
The shipwreck off the island of Java has become an underwater cemetery for the sailors who died in the Battle of Sunda Strait, where they attempted to stop the Japanese from pushing further south toward the East Indies. The sunken U.S. ship had close ties to Houston, where it was christened by the 13-year-old daughter of former Houston Mayor Oscar Holcombe as it launched from the Houston Ship Channel in 1929, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
U.S. officials said the wreckage has been prone to plundering and fishing, but as part of a new partnership announced last week, the Indonesian government has committed to help preserving the historic site. Indonesia will lead a two-year project that will “monitor the site, deter unauthorized salvaging and help prevent destructive fishing,” according to the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Indonesia.
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“Protecting the USS Houston is a shared responsibility,” U.S. Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Joy Sakurai said in a news release. “Through this project, Indonesian communities, government partners, and U.S. experts will work side by side to safeguard the final resting place of hundreds of American service members and an important site in WWII history.”
Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and local nonprofit the Fisheries and the Organization of Sustainable Exotica Village will lead the project, according to the embassy. U.S. officials said they would support training, reporting, information centers and public awareness campaigns tied to the preservation work.
The USS Houston made three visits to the Bayou City after its 1929 launch, and former President Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed on the ship four times. The heavy cruiser had been the flagship vessel of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet when World War II began, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
It sank alongside the Australian HMAS Perth cruiser, and the death toll comprised 650 American sailors and Marines, according to the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Indonesia.
WWII USS Houston survivor Howard Brooks points at his name as his wife Silvia looks on during a memorial service for the 70th anniversary of the warship’s final 1942 battle off the coast of Java, at Sam Houston Park, Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Houston. (Michael Paulsen/Houston Chronicle)
Of those on board the USS Houston, 368 survived and were captured by the Japanese. Dozens died in captivity.
Houston later launched a volunteer enlistment initiative to replace the dead soldiers and raised $85 million to replace the ship and build a light aircraft carrier called the San Jacinto. The aircraft carrier was later involved in a mission in which then-airman George H.W. Bush flew a photo reconnaissance mission over the Palau islands in the western Pacific ocean, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
This post features previous reporting by J.R.Gonzales.
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This article originally published at The USS Houston shipwreck killed hundreds in WWII. Indonesia will now help preserve the vessel..