Perth Service record

Perth joined the Royal Navy in July 1936, and served her entire inter-war period
in the North and South Atlantic. Three years after her commissioning, in July 1
939, she was sold to the Royal Australian Navy, becoming HMAS Perth. Her first w
artime station became the West Indies, and she operated in the Caribbean until M
arch 1940, when she began convoy escort duties in the Indian Ocean. Redeployed t
o the Mediterranean in late 1940, Perth operated in support of the Malta convoys
, where she received minor damage.
Early 1941 saw Perth engaged in operations in the Aegean Sea, where she escorted
convoys bringing reinforcements to Greece. Perth also participated in the Battl
e of Cape Matapan in March. Beginning in April 1941, Perth continued to support
convoys to and from Greece, this time as part of the evacuations. Remaining as p
art of the naval presence in the Aegean and central Mediterranean, Perth suffere
d significant damage from an air attack while engaged in support of Allied force
s during the Battle of Crete. She received temporary repairs, then began operati
ons in support of Allied troops in Vichy Syria before being replaced by HMAS Hob
art in July 1941, sailing for Australia and an extensive refit.
Perth put to sea again in late November 1941, just in time for the Japanese entr
y into the war. Assigned to the ABDA command, Perth joined the combined Allied n
aval forces in attempting to disrupt Japanese landings in the Dutch East Indies.
Perth was present for the Battle of the Java Sea in late February of 1942, and
along with USS Houston, managed to survive that defeat. HMAS Perth and USS Houst
on were attempting to make port at Tjilatjap, Sumatra, and from there escape to
Australia when, on 28 February, they sailed into a Japanese landing force, the p
resence of which Allied intelligence was unaware.
In the resulting Battle of the Sunda Strait, USS Houston and HMAS Perth, both lo
w on ammunition, attempted to fight their way through the strait while simultane
ously firing on the escorts of the invasion force. The action was confused with
both Houston and Perth being sunk, though not before indirectly causing the loss
of several transports to Japanese friendly fire in what may well have been the
largest sustained torpedo attack of the war.