"We Will Stand By You"

The heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) went down in the Sunda Strait, between the islands of Java and Sumatra, in the early morning hours of March 1, 1942, after a desperate fight with Japanese surface ships.  Her fate was not immediately known in the United States and she was listed as "Overdue, presumed lost."

The city of Houston, Texas honored the lost cruiser by raising enough money to build two new ships, a light cruiser and a light aircraft carrier.  On October 12, 1942 the Cleveland class cruiser Vicksburg, then under construction, had her name changed to Houston.  That same month another ship was laid down, the light cruiser Newark (CL-100), but by this point in the war it was clear that the U.S. Navy would need more aircraft carriers, and as quickly as possible.  Newark was designated for conversion as a light carrier and given the name Reprisal (CVL-30), however, to honor the city of Houston the ship's name was changed again to San Jacinto after the battle of that name which was fought during the Texas Revolution.  Future U.S. President George H. W. Bush would serve as a pilot aboard San Jacinto during World War II.

The light cruiser Houston was launched on June 19, 1943 and commissioned on December 20 of that same year.  Houston arrived in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, via the Panama Canal, in May 1944 and subsequently participated in the campaigns to capture Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Mariana Islands and Peleliu in the Palau Islands.  In October she sailed with the carriers of Task Force 38 in support of air operations against the island of Formosa (Taiwan), in preparation for General MacArthur's return to the Philippines later that month.

The first day of the operation, October 12, saw heavy fighting in the air, and the Japanese suffered devastating losses in airplanes shot down and destroyed on the ground.  That night the Japanese retaliated with air strikes against the American fleet.  Houston shot down four enemy planes, but the heavy cruiser USS Canberra (CA-70) was hit by an aerial torpedo.  Houston took over Canberra's station in the screen and two days later there was another air attack.  This time Houston shot down three planes, but the fourth was able to drop its torpedo, which then hit the light cruiser.

The battle began to save Houston, which joined Canberra in what Third Fleet commander Admiral William F. Halsey called "Cripple Division 1."  Houston was first taken under tow by the heavy cruiser USS Boston (CA-69), and was later relieved by the fleet tug USS Pawnee (ATF-74).  The crew of the light cruiser knew that a heroic fight would be required to save their ship.

Late on the afternoon of October 16, Houston and Canberra were again attacked by Japanese airplanes.  Houston was hit by another torpedo, this time on her stern; the hit flooded her scout plane hanger.

As a relatively small ship, one torpedo hit was often enough to sink a light cruiser, now Houston had taken a second hit which should have been fatal.  Captain William W. Behrens knew that an even greater effort would be required to save his ship and he wondered if it should even be tried.  Even if he could get his ship back to a shipyard in the United States, the ship might not be salvageable.  Any repair effort might take months and the time and money might be better spent on a new ship.

The crew was tired after the fight to save Houston from the first torpedo.  Did they have anything left with which to continue the fight?  The crew also wondered if the ships screening them in these hostile waters would not now leave them.  Was Houston a lost cause?  Doubt and fatigue led to depression.

As captain and crew considered the fate of their ship, they received a message flashed from Pawnee:

WE WILL STAND BY YOU.

It was a simple message, yet it filled the crew of Houston with strength and courage.  It gave them enough hope to continue their heroic fight to save their ship.

Captain Behrens continued to wonder if the effort to save the light cruiser was worth it.  Despite his doubts, however, the crew was able to keep Houston afloat and she arrived in the Pacific Fleet's new forward base at Ulithi, in the Western Caroline Islands, on October 27, seven days after MacArthur's landing on the island of Leyte, in the central Philippines.  After temporary repairs Houston sailed on to Manus in the Admiralty Islands, where she underwent more repairs in a floating dry dock after arriving on December 20.

After a stopover in Hawaii, Houston continued on to the New York Navy Yard, arriving on March 24, 1945.  After extensive work, the light cruiser sailed out of New York Harbor on October 11, 1945, more than a month after the war had ended.  Captain Behrens would continue to doubt whether the efforts to save Houston were worthwhile.  After two years of productive peacetime service, Houston was decommissioned in December 1947.

The message sent by the fleet tug Pawnee has long been remembered by Houston's crew and by the U.S. Navy.

WE WILL STAND BY YOU.

At the Waters of Mormon, Alma the elder spoke to those who had come to be baptized, saying, "As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yeah, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:8-9).

It is often the little things we do that can give comfort to those that stand in need of comfort.  Sometimes it can be as simple as letting them know that they are not alone and that

WE WILL STAND BY YOU.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Houston_%28CL-81%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...San_Jacinto_%28CVL-30%29

Hyams, J. (1991). Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War.  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing.

Miller, J. G. (1985). The Battle to Save the Houston, October 1944 to March 1945.  Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.