Editing Battle of the Java Sea (section)

===Battle of Sunda Strait===
{{Main|Battle of Sunda Strait}}

''Perth'' and ''Houston'' were at Tanjung Priok on 28 February when they received orders to sail through [[Sunda Strait]] to [[Cilacap|Tjilatjap]]. Materiel was running short in Java, and neither was able to rearm or fully refuel. Departing at 19:00 on 28 February for the Sunda Strait, by chance they encountered the main Japanese invasion fleet for West Java in [[Bantam Bay]] and were engaged by the groups escorting destroyers. The initial torpedo spreads fired from the ''[[Japanese destroyer Fubuki (1927)|Fubuki]], [[Japanese destroyer Shirayuki (1928)|Shirayuki]], [[Japanese destroyer Hatsuyuki (1928)|Hatsuyuki]],'' and ''[[Japanese destroyer Asakaze (1922)|Asakaze]]'' all missed, and in turn ''Perth'' hit ''Shirayuki'' with a 6-inch (152 mm) shell to her bridge. However, the arrival of the convoy's other escorts, the heavy cruisers ''[[Japanese cruiser Mogami (1934)|Mogami]]'' and ''[[Japanese cruiser Mikuma|Mikuma]]'', the light cruiser ''[[Japanese cruiser Natori|Natori]]'', and the destroyers ''[[Japanese destroyer Murakumo (1928)|Murakumo]], [[Japanese destroyer Shirakumo (1927)|Shirakumo]]'', and ''[[Japanese destroyer Shikinami (1929)|Shikinami]]'' quickly changed the tide of battle.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=Order of battle - Battle of the Sunda Strait |url=http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Sunda_Strait.php}}</ref><ref name=":12">O'Hara (2009) p 50-55</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=IJN Amatsukaze: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/amatsu_texp.htm}}</ref>

''Mogami'' and ''Mikuma'' blasted ''Houston'', crippling her with 30 shell hits and two torpedo hits, through in turn ''Mikuma'' was hit by 8-inch (203 mm) shells that temporally disabled electrical power. Simultaneously, ''Perth'' became the focus of the escorting destroyers and dueled the ''[[Japanese destroyer Harukaze (1922)|Harukaze]]'' which she damaged with three dud 6-inch (152 mm) shell hits, but not before ''Harukaze'' hit ''Perth'' with a torpedo that destroyed her forward engine room, followed two minutes later by another torpedo from the ''Murakumo'' that flooded her bow, then two more torpedoes from ''Shirakumo'' which finished her off; the crew quickly abandoned ship and left ''Perth'' to sink over 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the crippled ''Houston'' was pounced by the ''Shikinami'', which hit the cruiser with a final torpedo that resulted in the abandon ship order being issued, leaving ''Houston'' to disappear beneath the waves.<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=主要兵器 |first=大日本帝国軍 |date=2018-02-03 |title=敷波【綾波型駆逐艦 二番艦】Shikinami【Ayanami-class destroyer】 |url=https://japanese-warship.com/destroyer/shikinami/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=大日本帝国軍 主要兵器 |language=ja}}</ref>

During the action, a spread of torpedoes from ''Mogami'' that missed the allied cruisers accidentally hit and sank a Japanese minesweeper and four troop transport; more damage to Japanese forces that any of the allied ships managed to inflict. Three of the transports were later raised and repaired.<ref name=":11" />

The Dutch destroyer [[HNLMS Evertsen (1926)|HNLMS ''Evertsen'']] had been scheduled to depart Tanjung Priok with the cruisers, but was delayed, and she followed them about two hours later.  Her crew sighted the gunfire of the main action, and her captain managed to evade the Japanese main force.  However, ''Evertsen'' was then engaged by the ''Murakumo'' and ''Shirakumo'', still thirsty for blood after helping to sink ''Perth'', in the Strait. On fire and in a sinking condition after at least seven 5-inch (127 mm) shell hits, ''Evertsen'' grounded herself on a reef near [[Sebuku (Sumatra)|Sebuku Island]].  The surviving crew abandoned ship just as the aft [[Magazine (artillery)#Naval magazines|magazine]] exploded and the destroyer fully sank.<ref name=":11" />
[[File:MyokoandAshigara.jpg|thumb|''[[Japanese cruiser Myōkō|Myōkō]]'' and ''[[Japanese cruiser Ashigara|Ashigara]]'' firing on the crippled ''Exeter'', 1 March 1942]]