Combat #7 (1963), title page by Glanzman

"Action in the Sunda Strait" by Paul S. Newman. Cover date January-March 1963. Letterer unknown. 15x22 twice-up.

This tragic battle made for gripping reading as a kid, rocking me to the core. It's still among my favorite comics.

Synopsis: As part of an incredible series of victories in 1941 and 1942, the Japanese smash a combined American-British-Dutch-Australian fleet at the Battle of the Java Sea. The only allied surviving ships, U.S.S. Houston and H.M.A.S. Perth, attempt to fight their way southward toward Australia. Both are sunk at the Battle of Sunda Strait, the night of February 28-29, 1942. (GCD)

Story ends with: "Yes, it was too late for everything! That's exactly what war is! It's a clock that makes all of it too late! It's too late for the living and it's too late for the dead. It's a nowhere clock and it only tells one kind of time! The Perth, as you can see, went down. So did the Houston. By the following morning there wasn't a trace of them. There's not much else to say. I and the remaining 267 survivors of Sunda Strait spent the rest of the war in a Japanese prison camp."

Historical note: Number of Allied survivors was actually higher. Japanese vessels picked up 368 from the Houston and 307 from the Perth that were prisoners of war until Japan's surrender. How many died? 696 from the Houston and 375 from Perth, including captains of both vessels, Rooks and Waller. (Wikipedia)

While Perth and Houston sank several Japanese transports during the battle, the Japanese damaged several of their own transports, which isn't surprising since they launched 85 torpedoes. Trying to catch up with the ships, Dutch destroyer Evertsen came under fire in a separate engagement and was driven ashore and destroyed by her crew. (US Naval Institute)

"Houston's fate was not known by the world for almost nine months, and the full story of her courageous fight was not fully told until after the war was over and her survivors were liberated from Japanese prison camps. The Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded to Houston’s commanding officer, Captain Albert H. Rooks, for extraordinary heroism." (Naval History and Heritage Command)