In hope for better days

March 3rd 1942 - USS Perch is scuttled.
On the evening of 1 March, the submarine USS Perch (SS-176) surfaced 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Surabaja, Java, and started in for an attack on the enemy convoy that was landing troops.
Two Japanese destroyers attacked and drove her down with a string of depth charges which caused her to bottom at 135 feet (41 metres). Several more depth charge attacks caused extensive damage, putting the starboard motors out of commission and causing extensive flooding throughout the boat.
After repairs, the sub surfaced at 0200 hours on 2 March only to be again driven down by the enemy destroyers. The loss of oil, and air from damaged ballast tanks, convinced the enemy that the sub was breaking up and they went on to look for other kills, allowing USS Perch to surface.
With the submarine's decks awash and only one engine in commission, the crew made all possible repairs. During the early morning of 3 March, a test dive was made with almost fatal results.
Expert handling and good luck enabled her to surface from that dive; only to be attacked by two enemy cruisers and three destroyers. When the enemy shells commenced to straddle, the commanding officer ordered all hands on deck, and with all possible hull openings open, USS Perch was scuttled.
The entire crew of 54 men and five officers were captured by a Japanese destroyer; all but six men, who died of malnutrition in Japanese POW camps, survived the war.
On 23 November 2006, Thanksgiving Day, the wreck of Perch was unexpectedly located by an international team of divers aboard MV Empress while searching for the cruiser HMS Exeter northwest of Bawean Island in the Java Sea.
The expedition had hoped to locate and photograph the wreck of Exeter, sunk in the same area on 1 March 1942.
The wreck of Perch was illegally salvaged sometime between 2006 and 2016 and no longer exists. Unlike the Dutch and British ships near her which were also illegally scavenged, Perch was not a war grave as it had been abandoned by the crew during battle without fatalities.

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