I FINALLY got it!!! (or "New additon to the library.")

Fight It Out, by Captain Oliver L. Gordon, RN.

This book has been out of print since the 1960's. It is now impossible to find.

Which I find rather sad. The book was written by the captain of the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter during the Java Sea Campaign in World War II. The Exeter's role in the campaign was both heroic and tragic, a victim of rotten luck inasmuch as during her two engagements against Nihon Kaigun surface forces (in the Battle of the Java Sea and her subsequent escape attempt with the destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope) she was hit by exactly one shell each time -- but each managed to disable her engines. The second time, since she was under the guns of four Japanese cruisers (Myoko, Ashigara, Nachi and Haguro) and a brace of destroyers, proved fatal, as she could not longer avoid subsequent shells or, more importantly, incoming torpedoes.

British cruiser HMS Exeter sinking in the Java Sea March 1, 1942, after being chased down by the Japanese cruisers Myoko and Ashigara.

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