Sailor Jerry's Logbook: Battle of the Java Sea Mystery Cache
Sailor Jerry's Logbook: Battle of the Java Sea
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
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USS Houston (SSN-713)
I was stationed aboard the USS Solomons (CVE-67) which was home ported in San Diego. We were to become part of a multi-national fleet of ships called the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA). Orders were to patrol the waters in and around the Java Sea in search of ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ABDA included the ships listed below.
the Numitor = 3
the Oneyana = 6
the Indiana = 5
the Dawson = 4
the Eisner = 9
the Salisbury Sound = 8
the Canberra = 7
the Munsee = 4
the Mifflin = 1
the Woodrow Wilson = 1
the Vance = 6
the Stagbush = 3
the Aldebaran = 2
the Hocking = 8
the Kankakee = 0
the Timmerman = 0
the San Carlos = 9
the Keresaspa = 7
the James O'Hara = 2
and my ship, the Solomons = 5
Match the name to the picture of the ship. Replace the letter below the picture
with the number next to the name to get the final coordinates.
Solve for N34 3A.BCD W112 2W.XYZ
Are you a shell shocked swabby or a Master Gunner?
I would save the final coordinates to all of the Sailor Jerry's Logbook caches.
They will be needed to solve Sailor Jerry's Logbook: Final Voyage.
I hope you enjoyed this puzzle cache. The Japanese amphibious forces gathered to strike at Java on February 27, 1942. The Japanese convoy was escorted by two heavy and two light cruisers and 14 destroyers. The joint American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA) consisted of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and nine destroyers. On February 28 the HMAS Perth and the USS Houston (pictured above) received orders to sail through Sunda Strait to Tjilatjap. By chance they encountered the main Japanese invasion fleet and were engaged by at least three cruisers and several destroyers. In a ferocious night battle that ended after midnight on the first of March, both the Perth and Houston were sunk. A Japanese minesweeper and a troop transport were sunk by friendly fire, while three other transports were damaged and had to be beached. Towards morning, another two American and one Dutch destroyer were sunk as they attempted to escape to Australia. The main ABDA naval force had been almost totally destroyed. 10 ships and approximately 2,173 sailors had been lost.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[“Sweepers, sweepers (cachers) man your brooms (gpsr's). Make a clean sweep down fore and aft. Sweep down all decks, ladders and passageways (search for a bison tube).
Classified Information. Loose lips sink ships.]