Www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-13/outrage-as-warship-grave-stripped
Story is about Perth being stripped by salvage barges. Looks like most of the superstructure and the gunhouses are gone.
I wasn’t aware the wreck of the Perth had been found, that’s interesting.
I have a little house by the sea which overlooks the Sunda Strait where the battle took place. If one can even dignify it with the term “battle” the poor Houston and Perth walked into a turkey shoot and never even landed a glove on the Japanese. One Japanese transport was sunk but by a Japanese destroyer in error. A few days after the battle the destroyer captain sought out the transport captain to apologise for sinking his ship. The transport captain waved away the apology saying “We’ll let the Houston have the honor of sinking my ship shall we?”