Rare photos show USS Houston visiting city

Visitors on board the USS Houston during one of its visits to its namesake city in the 1930s. Visitors on board the USS Houston during one of its visits to its namesake city in the 1930s. Photo: Sandra Stockwell Cox Photo: Sandra Stockwell Cox Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Rare photos show USS Houston visiting city 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Out of the past comes these rare photos of the USS Houston during one of its visits to the Bayou City in the 1930s.

These first two photos, graciously provided to Bayou City History by Sandra Stockwell Cox, were found in a box of pictures from her deceased aunt.

The heavy cruiser visited Houston three times, in October 1930, September 1934 and April 1939. Here, we see the Houston docked at the Turning Basin in the Port of Houston. Which visit we're see here is undetermined. (If you definitely know, drop me a line and I'll add it here.)

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Thousands would turn out for the ship's weeklong visit to its namesake city after its shakedown cruise in 1930.

Four years later, the thing visitors had to see was President Franklin Roosevelt's quarters when he traveled on the ship during its travels to Hawaii and Portland, Oregon. In all, Roosevelt would hitch a ride on the ship he regarded as his favorite four times.

By February 1942, the Houston found itself off the coast of Java and Australia, aiming to keep Japanese forces from advancing further south from the Philippines toward the oil-rich Dutch East Indies. In the late-night hours of Feb. 28, the Houston and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth were traversing the waters of the Sunda Strait when the ships found themselves surrounded by Japanese forces preparing to invade Java. Despite the valiant fight both ships put up, the Houston and the Perth were sunk in early morning hours of March 1.

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Of the roughly 1,100 aboard the Houston that night, 368 would survive, only to be captured by the Japanese. Dozens would die in captivity over the course of the war. The story of what happened to the Houston and its crew would not be fully known until the war's end.

The city of Houston would mobilize months after its sinking in a volunteer enlistment effort to replace those killed in action. A fundraising effort would generate $85 million to cover the costs to replace the Houston with a new ship and to construct a light aircraft carrier, the San Jacinto.

J.R. Gonzales, a third-generation Houstonian, covers local history with an eye toward the people and events that have mostly been forgotten to time. Follow him through Bayou City History on Facebook and Twitter. He can be reached at 713-362-6163 or john.gonzales@chron.com.