HMAS Perth (D29)

For other ships of this name, see HMAS Perth.

For other ships of the previous name, see HMS Amphion.

HMAS Perth in 1940
History
United Kingdom / Australia
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Dockyard
Laid down	26 June 1933
Launched	27 July 1934
Acquired	1939 (Australia)
Commissioned	15 June 1936 (HMS Amphion) 29 June 1939 (HMAS Perth)
Motto	"Floreat" (Let it flourish)
Fate	Sunk in action with Japanese destroyers and cruisers, Sunda Strait 1 March 1942
General characteristics
Class and type	Leander class light cruiser
Displacement	6,830 tons (standard)
Length	555 ft (169 m) (waterline)
Beam	56 ft 8 in (17.27 m)
Draught	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion	Parsons geared turbines Four shafts, 72,000 shp
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h)
Range	7,400 miles at 13knots 1,920 miles at 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h)
Complement	646 (35 officers, 611 ratings) 681 at time of loss (includes 6 RAAF, 4 civilian)
Armament	8 × 6 in MkXIII (4 × 2) 8 × 4 in MkXVI (4 × 2) 12 x .5 in Machine guns (3 × 4) 10 x .303 in machine guns (10 × 1) 8 × 21 in Torpedo tubes (2 × 4)
Aircraft carried	one seaplane; Seagull V A2-4 & A2-17, Supermarine Walrus L2234, L2298, & L2319. (Seagull V A2-4 survives at RAF Museum, Hendon)

The first HMAS Perth was a Modified Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. Perth, the first ship to be named after the city of Perth, was the first of its class to be modified for Australia. The Modified Leander class is sometimes known as the "Perth class" or the "Amphion class", after the ship's original name, HMS Amphion.

Perth was originally laid down by HM Dockyard at Portsmouth on 26 June 1933, launched on 26 July 1934 by the Marchioness of Titchfield, completed in July 1936, and commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 June 1936 as HMS Amphion. The ship was purchased by the Australian government and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Perth at Portsmouth on 29 June 1939. She was crewed by personnel from HMAS Adelaide, which had been placed into reserve a month previous.

Operational History

Perth served in the Mediterranean where she participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan and was involved in the evacuation of Greece in April 1941.

File:AWM ART24483 HMAS Perth.jpg

The painting HMAS Perth fights to the last, 28th February, 1942, by official war artist Murray Griffin. It was painted circa 1942-43 at Changi Prison, Singapore, where Perth survivors and Griffin were held as POWs.

On 26 February 1942, Perth arrived at Surabaya from Tanjong Priok, under the command of Captain Hector Waller, along with the Royal Navy cruiser Exeter, the Netherlands light cruiser Java, and the destroyers HMS Electra, Jupiter, and Encounter. Dauntless, Danae, and Hobart remained at Tanjong Priok. On 27 February, Perth joined a group of ABDA cruisers and destroyers, commanded by Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman onboard the cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter, that left Surabaya to intercept a Japanese convoy approaching from the Makassar Strait. The ensuing action was the Battle of the Java Sea.

Perth and USS Houston were two of only three cruisers to survive the Battle of the Java Sea, and they both attempted to move through the Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap. Perth was torpedoed by Japanese destroyers during the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942, and sank with the loss of 350 of her crew and three civilians. While 324 of Perth's crew survived the sinking and were taken prisoner by the Japanese, 106 died in captivity before the end of the war.

See also

Captain Albert H. Rooks, commanding officer of Houston, circa 1940–1941. Main article: Battle of Sunda Strait Before losing contact with Perth and Houston, Doorman had ordered them to retire. This was accomplished, but the next day the two ships steamed into Banten Bay, hoping to damage the Japanese invasion forces there. The cruisers were almost torpedoed as they approached the bay, but evaded the nine torpedoes launched by destroyer Fubuki. The cruisers then sank one transport and forced three others to beach. A destroyer squadron blocked Sunda Strait, their means of retreat, and on the other hand large cruisers Mogami and Mikuma stood dangerously near. The resulting battle was foreordained, but Houston and Perth could not withdraw. Perth came under fire at 23:36 and in an hour had been sunk from gunfire and torpedo hits with the loss of 350 of her crew and three civilians. While 324 of Perth's crew survived the sinking and were taken prisoner by the Japanese, 106 died in captivity before the end of the war. Houston then fought alone until soon after midnight, when she took a torpedo and began to lose headway.

References

• Royal Australian Navy, "HMAS PERTH (I)"
• "HMAS PERTH 1939-1942"