Looking from the Australian Bathurst Class Corvette, HMAS Warrnambool (J202), towards the ...

Looking from the Australian Bathurst Class Corvette, HMAS Warrnambool (J202), towards the American Northampton class heavy cruiser, USS Houston (CA30) (right), with the Destroyer USS Peary (DD226) along side. USS Houston departed Darwin on 15 February 1942 with a small convoy to reinforce the garrison on Timor and was not present when Japanese aircraft raided Darwin four days later. USS Houston along with HMAS Perth were later sunk in a night action on 28 February - 1 March 1942, in what became known as the Battle of Sunda Strait. Of the 1,061 original crew, 368 survived from Houston. Houston's fate remained a mystery to the world for almost nine months, and the full story of her last fight was not fully told until after the war when her survivors were liberated from prisoner of war camps. The shipping (background) is unidentified. One of a series of photographs relating to the service of 5345 Norman Gaff. Born on 19 November 1899 in Queenscliff, Victoria, Norman Gaff enlisted on 11 August 1915 and served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during the First and Second World Wars. Seven days before the first Japanese air raid on Darwin, Gaff was posted to HMAS Melville, the (former) RAN shore base located there. He survived this event and subsequent raids on Darwin and was discharged on 2 January 1946.