Perth's last fight in Sunda Strait

Perth and USS Houston were among the ships able to break off from the defeat in the Java Sea and reach port for fuel. They were then ordered through Sunda Strait toward Java's south coast. Instead, they encountered the Japanese force assigned to invade western Java, with destroyers attacking from several directions. Perth's four main turrets could not answer every threat, and by midnight her ammunition was nearly exhausted. Captain Hector Waller attempted to force a passage south, but four torpedo hits sank the cruiser shortly after midnight. Only 218 of the 686 people aboard were eventually repatriated, while the rest died in the action, soon afterward, or as prisoners of war.