MM2 WILLIAM A CONNER

Unit USS HOUSTON (CA-30);

UNITED STATES NAVY

Historical Country of Loss Java

Loss Area Current West Java

Current Country of Loss Indonesia

Home of Record LA

On February 28, 1942, the day after the Battle of the Java Sea, the HMAS Perth of the Australian Navy and the USS Houston (CA-30), both damaged during the Battle of the Java Sea, steamed into Banten Bay where they encountered a large force of Japanese vessels conducting an amphibious landing. A squadron of enemy destroyers blocked Sunda Strait, the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra which was the only path of retreat for the two Allied ships. The Allied cruisers sunk one Japanese vessel and forced three others to run aground before the Perth, which had been hit repeatedly with gunfire and torpedoes, sank itself. The Houston, also heavily damaged by gunfire and torpedoes, managed to damage three enemy destroyers and sink a minesweeper before finally sinking. More than six hundred crew members from the Houston were lost when the cruiser went down. Those who survived the sinking were immediately captured by the Japanese.

Machinist's Mate Second Class William A. Conner, who joined the U.S. Navy in Louisiana, was serving aboard the Houston when it sank. He was lost with the ship, and his remains were not recovered following the incident. Today, Machinist's Mate Second Class Conner is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000001nzPXhEAM

William A Conner