Ship of Ghosts (72 page)

“
One was bad enough
…”: McKie,
Proud Echo
, 5.
The cat
“
took off down that pier into Java
…”: Reese, UNT interview, 20; cf. Lieutenant Hamlin’s article
(p. 26), which states the
Houston
had no cat. “
Like a cat, the
Houston
had expended eight of its nine lives
…”: Winslow,
Proceedings
, quoted in McKie,
Proud Echo
, 138.
Red Lead in “irons”
: Hamlin, 26.
The animal seemed to know something
: Bee,
All Men Back
, 19.
Houston
departing Batavia
: USS
Houston
, Zentsuji Report, 2. “
Many times before I had found solace in its beauty
…”: Winslow, “The ‘Galloping Ghost,’” 155. “
He felt that this moment at sundown was a dividing line
…”: McKie, 12.

Houston
approaching Bantam Bay:
USS
Houston
, action report, 1; Charles D. Smith, narrative, 9; Winslow,
The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 133; Bee,
All Men Back
, 20.
Background on Krakatoa
: Winchester,
Krakatoa
, 276–77. “
Ever since the night of the 23rd
…”: Hamlin, “The
Houston
’s Last Battles,” 26.
Piper
“
pacing the flag deck
…”: McKie,
Proud Echo
, 17. “
They could hide a battleship out there
…”: Charles,
Last Man Out
, 22. “
I looked in the same direction as the guns
…”: Bee, 20. “
I found myself in my shoes before I was fully awake
”: Winslow, 135. “
Our first salvos appeared to strike home
…”: Bee, 20. “
We were desperately short of those eight-inch bricks
”: Winslow, “The ‘Galloping Ghost,’” 161. “
I figured we were in for trouble that night
”: Stewart UNT interview, 16. “
Enemy forces engaged
”: USS
Houston
, action report, 15.

First minutes of Battle of Sunda Strait:
Brooks, interview with the author, 26–27; “Batavia Battle,”
Senshi Sosho
; Van Oosten,
Battle of the Java Sea
, maps at 56–57; Hara,
Japanese Destroyer Captain
, 86; Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations
, Vol. 3, 366. “
Two mysterious ships entering the bay
”: Hara, 86; “Batavia Battle,”
Senshi Sosho
, 483–487. “
There are four to starboard
…”: Payne,
HMAS Perth
, 74. “
You could see the ships just all over
…”
and
“
We were firing at any target that [we] saw
…”: Gee, UNT interview, 33–34. “
Momentarily, I caught a glimpse of tracers
…”
and
“
How reassuring it was to hear
…”: Winslow, “The ‘Galloping Ghost,’” 161. “
The largest landing yet attempted in the Southwest Pacific
”: Morison, 365.
Dutch reconnaissance report
: Winslow, 131–132. “
The fight evolved into a melee
…”: USS
Houston
, action report, 4.
Japanese attacks on
Houston
and
Perth
: “Batavia Battle,”
Senshi Sosho
; Tully, “Naval Alamo,”
www.asiaticfleet.com/javaseaAug02.html
. “
The tactics were to expose the beam of one light
…”: Parkin,
Out of the Smoke
, 251. “
It sounded like somebody throwing pebbles at the ship
”: Schwarz, interview with the author.
“
The whole ship was alive with orders
…”: Parkin, 253. “
This kind of fighting demands the purest form of courage
…”: sailor quoted in Spector,
At War at Sea
, 81. “
That is just what it sounded like
…”: Brain, UNT interview, 37.
Damage to
Harukaze
: Allyn D. Nevitt, “IJN
Harukaze
: Tabular Record of Movement,” 1998
www.combinedfleet.com
; also Rough Translation 1.
Houston
’s hits on
Mikuma
: “Report of Capt. Shakao Sakiyama of
Mikuma
,”
Senshi Sosho
. “
We could see the whole outline of these Japanese destroyers
…”: Howard Brooks, interview with the author. “
Oh Lord, sometimes you felt like you could reach out
…”: John Bartz, interview with the author. “
The tin cans got so close to us
…”: John Wisecup, UNT interview, 18–19.
USS
Houston
engine room operations
: Robert B. Fulton to the author, Oct. 26, 2004. “
We were making full power
…”: Ibid.
First damage to the
Houston
:
Houston
’s Sunda Strait action report (p. 6) states that it was “presumably” a torpedo to the port side; cf. George Detre, UNT interview, 30, who says it hit the starboard side; Charles D. Smith says it was “a salvo of shells.” A diagram sketched by divers who visited the wreck and catalogued its wounds (collection of Don Kehn) shows no damage consistent with a catastrophic torpedo hit on the port side. While there is a relatively small gash at the waterline on the port side directly below the number-two stack, the extent of the damage seems too limited to have been a torpedo hit and more in line with an armor-piercing shell. What damage may be in evidence on the ship’s starboard side lies buried in the silt of the Java Sea. “
When the ship was underway my job was
…”
and other quotes by Lieutenant Fulton
: Fulton to the author, Oct. 26, 2004, and Jan. 2, 2005.
Damage to boilers
: George Detre, UNT interview, 30–31.

“
I wanted desperately to know
…”: Winslow,
The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 136.
Regarding the Navy’s view of the utility of torpedoes on cruisers
: in the view of the commander of the Scouting Force in 1933, Adm. Harris Laning, “war games…since we have had light and heavy cruisers indicate that the offensive value of their torpedoes is practically nil,” Friedman,
U.S. Cruisers
, 132.
Perth
’s torpedo salvoes
: the ship’s torpedo gunner reported hits on an aircraft carrier or tender, as well as two destroyers, though the claim seems optimistic. Parkin,
Out of the Smoke
, 253. “
For God’s sake shoot that bloody light out
!”: McKie,
Proud Echo
, 43.
Torpedo hit on
Perth
: this fish was reportedly from a spread of six fired by the destroyer
Harakaze
at 11:56, per Payne,
HMAS Perth
, 75. “
Some vital pulse had stopped
”: Parkin, 254. “
What do we use after these
?”: Ibid., 255. “
Christ, that’s torn it
” and “
Prepare
to abandon ship, sir
?”: McKie, 43; Parkin, at 254, recalled the conversation a bit differently. “
I don’t want the Old Girl to take anyone with her
”: Parkin, 257. “
Across the sea and under the sky came a great roar. From under X turret
…”: Ibid., 260–261. “
Light, almost gay, in that mad moment
…”: McKie, 52–53.
Harper “was suddenly appalled
…”: Parkin, 262. Parkin noted that “after the fourth torpedo, the starboard list came off her and she heeled slightly to port”; but W. A. Bee, in
All Men Back
, wrote that the
Perth
was “listing heavily to port,” 21; McKie quoted Lyons that it was “over on her port side sliding down by the bows,”
Proud Echo
, 46. “
Pieces could be seen flying off as salvoes exploded
…”: Parkin, 261.
Lt. Frank Gillan’s escape from
Perth
: McKie, 55–58. “
Her four propellers came clear of the sea
…”: Parkin, 263. The
Perth
suffered 356 KIA, per Bee,
All Men Back,
130. “
I’m the last man out of that ship alive
…”: McKie, 58.

“
When Captain Rooks realized she was finished
…”: Winslow,
The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 137. “
We couldn’t see
…” James Gee, UNT interview, 34.
Houston
’s gunfire against transports
: USS
Houston
, action report, 6; see also
Imamura, quoted in Anthony Reid,
The Japanese Experience in Indonesia
, 33–34; Morison,
History of United States Naval Operations
, Vol. 3, 366. “
Let the
Houston
have the credit
”: Toland,
Rising Sun
, Vol. 1, 353 fn.
Abandonment of
Houston
’s Central Station
:
Houston
, action report, 6; Clarence Schilperoort, interview with the author. “
You didn’t know where the hell you were
…”: David C. Flynn, interview with the author. “
I thought I was looking at a moving picture
”: Schilperoort, interview with the author.

Damage to
Houston
generally
: USS
Houston
, Sunda Strait action report, 12.
Destruction of Turret Two
: USS
Houston
, action report; Charles D. Smith, “USS
Houston
(CA-30) and Experiences in Jap Prison Camp,” 10; H. S. Hamlin, “Statement,” 6. “
Everything lit up
…”
and
“
I’m telling you what I did
…”: James Huffman, interview with the author, 5.
Casualties in Turret Two
: Smith, 11. “
We knew the turret was on fire
…”: William J. Stewart, UNT interview, 19. “
It was just like coming out of a blow torch
…”: Ibid., 20–21.
In the
Mikuma
, sailors boisterously celebrated
…:
Senshi Sosho
, Report of Capt. Sakiyama. “
It’s coming from all sides
…”: Paul E. Papish, UNT interview, 42.
Flooding of Turret One
: Hamlin, “Statement,” 6–7.
Houston
engaged by torpedo boats
: Winslow,
The Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 140; Smith, “USS
Houston
,” 11. “
The ship seemed to be thrown sideways
…”: William J. Weissinger to Robert J. Cressman, Sept. 1977.
Roar of Japanese ships’ firerooms
: Donald Brain, UNT interview, 38–39. “
It was point-blank
…”: Frank King, UNT interview, 26. “
It was invigorating to be in a battle like that
…”: Melfred L. Forsman, UNT interview, 32. “
I thought I was going to get it
…”: Ibid. “
You could hear them cooking
”: Winslow, 146. “
My God, those magnesium flares just light a place up
”: Papish, 41.

Movements of
Houston
: USS
Houston
, “Zentsuji Report,” 3, and Battle of Sunda Strait action report, 7. “
Because of the overwhelming volume of fire
…”: Sunda Strait Action Report, 8. “
In a strong, resolute voice
…”: Winslow,
The
Ghost That Died at Sunda Strait
, 140; per the
Houston
’s action report, the first abandon ship order went over the PA, and the second was blown by the bugler. Since Winslow personally recalls standing next to Captain Rooks when Rooks ordered the bugler to sound abandon ship, and since it seems Rooks was deceased when the second abandon ship order was passed, he must have used the bugler on the first abandon ship order too. “
He never missed one beat on that bugle
…”: Lloyd Willey, UNT interview, 35. “
If widely dispersed over the Far East
…”: Rooks, “Estimate of the Situation.”
Wounding of Captain Rooks
: Charles D. Smith, “USS
Houston
(CA-30) and Experiences in Jap Prison Camp,” 12; see also Winslow, 141. “
He died within a minute
”: Charles D. Smith, “Casualty Affidavit No. 5”; see also Smith, “USS
Houston
,” 12. “
Rocking slowly back and forth, he held Captain Rooks
…”: Winslow, “The ‘Galloping Ghost,’” 162. “
We were really roaring along
”: Robert B. Fulton, interview with Joe Kollmyer. The
Houston
’s Sunda Strait action report, at p. 8, notes that the inert inboard screws were making
about 210 rpm; the standard ratio for rpm to speed was 10 to 1.
Well, that’s more like it
: Melfred L. Forsman, UNT interview, 34.
Captain Rooks’s reported intention to ground the
Houston
: Quentin C. Madson, diary, 26; Weissinger to Robert J. Cressman, Sept. 8, 1977, p. 9; see also Weissinger, interview with Samuel Milner, 7; Seldon Reese, UNT interview, 25.
The report was disputed by
: Otto C. Schwarz, letter to the author, March 11, 2005, and Robert B. Fulton II, letter to the author, Jan. 2, 2005. “
We were really getting the devil knocked out of us
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 35. “
No one in the magazine ever said
…”: James Gee, UNT interview, 35. “
I have never seen eight men face the absolute end so calmly
”: Marvin Robinson, quoted in Winslow, 158. “
Y’all come on out, and hurry
!”: Gee, Ibid. “
I told the boys, ‘We’ve had it
…”: Robinson, UNT interview, 20. “
We were going to go up
…”: Gee, 37. “
It looked like high noon on the boat deck
…”: Weissinger to Cressman, Sept. 8, 1977. “
When I got there it was just like the Fourth of July
…”
and
“
All of a sudden this guy jumped on top of me
…”: Otto C. Schwarz, interview with the author. “
Better go, Charlie. It’s all over. Finished
”
and other quotes between Charles and Standish:
Charles,
Last Man Out
, 34.
Is this the way it is?
: Charles, UNT interview, 32–33. “
I nearly fell through a hole
…”: Hamlin, “Statement,” 8. “
There were dead fish floating all around
…”: Seldon D. Reese, UNT interview, 27. “
I thought of her as she was when I joined her
…”: Hamlin, “The
Houston
’s Last Battles,” 27. “
She was full of holes all through the side
…”: Hamlin, “Narrative,” 8. “
She righted herself like a dog shaking water off its back
…”: Wisecup to Randall Sutherland, undated ca. February 1989, p. 4. “
Perhaps I only imagined it
…”: Winslow,
Proceedings
, 163.
Standish
, “
living up to Marine Corps legend
…”: John Wisecup to Randall Sutherland, undated, ca. Feb. 1989, 4. “
Not a word was uttered by anyone
…”: Wisecup to Sutherland, Feb. 10, 1989, 3. “
The Nation’s safest insurance
…”: Bernrieder, address, 7.