Indonesia, US Launch Effort to Protect USS Houston Wreck
A joint initiative backed by a $227,000 US grant will run community surveillance of the World War Two warship off Java until mid-2028.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Aquariums
Indonesia and the United States have launched a joint initiative to protect the USS Houston, which sank during World War Two at a depth of 38 metres in the Sunda Strait off Java. The programme focuses on community-based surveillance to prevent illegal removal of material from the wreck.
Why it matters
More than 650 US sailors and Marines died on the Houston, and unauthorised salvage and fishing threaten underwater heritage across South-east Asian waters. The effort aims to preserve a wreck that formal dives in 2014 and 2015 found had been illegally stripped of hull-plates and rivets.
The programme is supported by a $227,000 grant from the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation and will run until mid-2028. Recreational diving on the Houston was officially banned by the US Navy in 1973, but illegal salvage continued, as later dives confirmed.
The players
Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP)
Indonesia's government ministry responsible for marine resources and fisheries, which will coordinate the wreck protection programme.
US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation
A US government grant programme that funds cultural heritage projects abroad and is supporting this initiative with $227,000.
The details
The programme covers training, reporting mechanisms, public education, exhibitions and digital campaigns, coordinated by Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) with local authorities, academics and residents. Three community surveillance groups will be set up on the islands of Panjang, Karangantu and Bojonegara.
Timeline
28 February to 1 March, 1942: USS Houston sinks during the Battle of Sunda Strait alongside HMAS Perth.
1973: US Navy prohibits recreational diving on the Houston.
2014/15: Formal US and Indonesian navy dives document illegal salvage of hull-plates and rivets.
Early November 2026: A US-Indonesian naval dive is planned, including an underwater assessment and placement of a commemorative plaque.
Mid-2028: The community-based protection programme is scheduled to end.
Legacy Sites
The USS Houston sank in the 1942 Battle of Sunda Strait, when Japanese forces invaded the Dutch East Indies and destroyed the Allied fleet that had sought to defend it. The current effort turns that wartime site into a protected heritage wreck, decades after the US Navy first banned recreational diving there in 1973.
Divers and boaters in the Sunda Strait area will be affected by the new surveillance and enforcement presence around the wreck. Visitors seeking to dive the site should expect that recreational access remains restricted, as it has been since 1973.
The takeaway
Protecting underwater war graves depends on local communities as much as on national governments, since surveillance at the site is being built around residents on nearby islands. Readers interested in marine heritage can apply the same principle by supporting local reporting of salvage or damage to protected sites.
What happens next
A US-Indonesian naval dive planned for early November 2026 will include an underwater assessment of the wreck and placement of a commemorative plaque near it.
Further reading
For more on underwater environments and marine care, see our Aquariums section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Divernet.
