The Battle to Save the Houston Author:John Grider Miller On October 14, 1944, a Japanese torpedo plane scored a direct hit on the U.S. light cruiser Houston. Sea water burst through her ruptured hull, jets of superheated steam shot through compartments, popped rivets whizzed through the air like bullets, and many men died horrible deaths. But at the dawn of the next day, the Houston was still afloat, ... more »and her crew was determined to bring her back alive. A day later, the ship took a second torpedo hit and was engulfed in an inferno.
While the Japanese claimed victory in what was actually a major defeat at the hands of Bull Halsey's Pacific Task Force 38 off Formosa and Okinawa, the survivors of the Houston were fighting a battle of their own. A sitting duck for enemy air strikes, sub attacks and typhoons, her spaces filled with the stench of death, the Houston began a 14,000-mile, five-month journey to safe harbor. The Battle to Save the Houston chronicles that remarkable voyage, and the American ingenuity and courage that won a true victory at sea.« less