AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM 53 RESEARCH SPRING 2017 01 Death by a thousand cuts THE SAD FATE OF HMAS PERTH (1) [Perth] has been hammered and the once impressive six inch A1 and A2 turrets are gone, the bow is flat and ... the wreck is more hazardous than before – even for general swimming around, with lots of live ordnance, wire and overhanging metal. 1 HMAS Perth (I) was one of three Leander class light cruisers commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1939. It saw active service off South America and in the Mediterranean, before returning to Sydney for a major refit. Following the capture of Singapore on 15 February 1942, Perth was ordered to join the American, British, Dutch and Australian (ABDA) military forces at Batavia (present-day Jakarta) on the northern coast of Java. ABDA was formed in an attempt to block an anticipated Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). On 27 February 1942 the ABDA Fleet, commanded by Dutch Real-Admiral Karel Doorman, intercepted a Japanese invasion fleet consisting of two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, 14 destroyers and 10 transports. The Allied force comprised Perth; HM Ships Exeter , Jupiter , Electra and Encounter of the British Royal Navy; the Dutch vessels HNLMS De Ruyter , HNLMS Java, HNLMS Kortenaer and HNMLS Witte de With; and American warships USS Houston, USS Alden, USS John D Edwards, USS John D Ford and USS Paul Jones. Although both fleets were evenly matched in terms of firepower, the ABDA force was hampered by language differences, communication problems and a lack of air suppport. In addition, only six of Houston’s 8-inch guns were operable because its aft turret had been damaged during a Japanese air raid. The engagement, now known as the Battle of the Java Sea, proved a disaster for the ABDA force. Within seven hours, De Ruyter , Java, Kortenaer and Jupiter were sunk and Exeter was badly damaged and attempting to make for Sri Lanka, accompanied by Encounter . Perth and Houston were the only two large Allied ships to survive the battle and they retreated to Tanjong Priok. Both vessels took on limited supplies of fuel and ammunition then attempted to evade the Japanese fleet and escape to the southern Javanese coast via Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java. At around 2300 on 28 February 1942, Perth and Houston encountered a second Japanese invasion fleet off St Nicholas Point on the northwest tip of Java. Perth and Houston attempted to evade their antagonists but began to take substantial hits from the Japanese, who were aided by longer-range spotlights and aerial reconnaissance. A torpedo damaged Perth’s forward boiler and engine rooms, destroyed the forward damage control position and disabled the ship’s forward gyrocompasses, which were vital to the guidance of its main armament. After three more torpedo strikes, the cruiser heeled over to port and sank around 0025 on 1 March 1942 with the loss of 353 crew. Houston briefly fought on alone, but it too was struck by a series of torpedoes and sank two miles (3.7 kilometres) south of Perth’s loss location. In 1967, Perth’s wreck site was discovered by Australian diver David Godwin Burchell about three nautical miles (4.8 kilometres) north-east of St Nicholas Point. In his book The Bells of Sunda Strait, Burchell reported that Perth lay almost intact – except for shell and torpedo damage – on its port side on a relatively flat sandy bottom in about 35 metres of water. The starboard side of the vessel – which is uppermost and closer to the surface – was in approximately 21 metres of water. Working with members of the Indonesian Navy, and with the permission of both the Australian and Indonesian Governments, Burchell recovered a number of items from Perth. These were later presented to the Australian War Memorial, the Royal Australian Navy and branches of the Returned Services League. The shipwreck of HMAS Perth (I) lies in waters between Java and Sumatra, a victim of the Battle of Sunda Strait in 1942. A joint survey project between the museum and Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional (Indonesia) has recorded the devastation caused by extensive illegal salvage. By Kieran Hosty, Dr James Hunter and Shinatria Adhityatama. 01 Shinatria Adhityatama inspects a modern chain block located adjacent to the remains of Perth’s forward 4-inch shell magazine, May 2017. Image Kieran Hosty, ANMM/Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional