1/700 USS Houston CA-30 (Corsair Armada)

USS Houston had a reputation in the Navy as a special ship right from the start. A fortunate succession of charismatic Captains and XOs, along with a well motivated crew gave her the reputation of a “lucky ship”, always a winner in exercises. Four times she was selected to carry President Franklin Roosevelt on his long diplomatic cruises.

The Diorama “Before the Storm” shows Houston as she enters Manila Bay on 19 November, 1940 for her second tour as flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. It is probably merciful that the crew could not forsee their future during the pomp and circumstance of Admiral Hart’s  inspection. On the night of the Pearl Harbor attack she sailed from Manila for Australia to join the ABDA command (American, British, Dutch, and Australia) to protect common interests in what is now Indonesia. On Feb. 2, 1942, the task force under the command of Netherlands Admiral Karel Doorman met Japanese forces in the Battle of Makassar Strait. Houston took a bomb hit on her number 3 8in. turret wrecking it and killing those inside. Despite this severe damage, she engaged in convoy  operations with constant harassment by bombing attacks until Feb.27, when the allied fleet with four cruisers met a Japanese force including four much newer and heavier cruisers in the Battle of the Java Sea. In the largest surface engagement since the Battle of Jutland, the ABDA force was badly defeated with the loss of the two Netherlands cruisers, three destroyers, and the death of Admiral Doorman.

The next night, Houston and HMAS Perth attempted passage of the Sunda Strait. In the dark, they ran into a large unreported Japanese invasion force.  After a short fight both Houston and Perth were sunk. From a crew of 1061 , only 368 men survived to become POWs who endured years of abuse in captivity. You may recall that in the movie “Bridge on the River Kwai”, the character played by William Holden was a Houston survivor.

Models
The USS Houston model is a Corsair Armada resin kit. I found the kit to be very well cast with no serious problems. Detailing included: braided wire anchor chain as in David Griffith’s book. Foc’sl hatch opened, brass 8in. gun barrels substituted, flag bags with paper flags scratch, 3in. guns scratch ( 1.1in. were substituted a few weeks later at Cavite, possibly at the time of repainting to the “Cavite Blue” scheme), foremast detailed -searchlights on tripod legs are Paperlab,  50cal and yardarms, etc. are sprue,  catapults and cranes are GMM etch, SOC’s detailed  from kit parts and painted in unique Asiatic Fleet markings, hangar interior detailed-kit includes an open hangar, a feature I would like to see in other kits, esp. 1/350,  5in. 25’s scratch, detailed boats-26ft whaleboat from Paperlab, mainmast detailed-50cal. and yardarms from sprue, opened hatch on the fantail, rigging is sprue, all ladders, rails etc. are GMM,  photoetched crew are Tom’s Modelworks filled out with “Green Stuff”.

The diorama depicts Houston steaming into Manila bay through usual traffic. She is totally “shipshape”, ready to stand an admiral’s inspection. The anchored steamer is French flagged “SS Cecile” out of Saigon. She is scratchbuilt from a mix of photos of tramp steamers of French construction as I could not find a good plan of a real ship. The native vessel is from photos of Southeast Asian subjects as I could not find suitable period photos of Manila Bay. The base is Liquitex Gel Medium with the surface paintd with Testors Modelmaster  enamels. Wakes are Liquitex Acrylic tube paint.
 
 

Gallery updated 2014

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