USS Houston Survivors Association.

On September 7, 1927, the U.S. Navy announced that in response to a local campaign, a new heavy cruiser would be named for the city of Houston. The ship's keel was laid on May 1, 1928 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. On September 7, 1929, the USS Houston (CA-30) was launched, and on June 17, 1930, she was commissioned. In 1931, the Houston became flagship of the Asiatic Fleet. The Houston left the Asiatic in 1933 to join the Scouting Force, based in Long Beach, California. During the 1930s, avid fisherman President Franklin D. Roosevelt made four leisure cruises on the Houston. The Houston joined the Hawaiian Detachment in Pearl Harbor in November 1939, and returned to the Asiatic in March 1941.

On November 27, 1941, the USS Houston was undergoing some repairs at Cavite Naval Yard in the Philippine Islands when her captain, Albert H. Rooks, received a Navy Department warning about an impending Japanese attack on the Asiatic Fleet. The Houston was ordered to the central Philippines. On December 8, the crew learned of the outbreak of hostilities with Japan. In January 1942 the Houston became part of a multi-national American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) force. On February 4th, a group of ABDA ships attempted to intercept a Japanese force in the Makassar Straits, but were attacked by Japanese bombers. One of the bombs destroyed the Houston's rear 8-inch gun turret, killing 48 men and injuring 20 others.

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