| Japanese cruiser Haguro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Career |  |
| Name: | Haguro |
| Namesake: | Mount Haguro |
| Ordered: | 1924 |
| Builder: | Mitsubishi shipyard, Nagasaki |
| Laid down: | March 16, 1925 |
| Launched: | March 24, 1928 |
| Commissioned: | April 25, 1929 |
| Struck: | June 20, 1945 |
| Fate: | Sunk in the Strait of Malacca by gunfire and torpedoes, May 16, 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Myōkō-class cruiser |
| Displacement: | 13,300 long tons (13,500 t) |
| Length: | 201.7 m (661 ft 9 in) |
| Beam: | 20.73 m (68 ft 0 in) |
| Draft: | 6.32 m (20 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: |
4-shaft geared turbines 12 boilers 130,000 shp |
| Speed: | 36 knots (41 mph; 67 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 773 |
| Armament: |
As completed: • 10 × 200 mm (7.9 in) guns (5×2) • 6 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (to 1934) • 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine guns • 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4×3) After first reconstruction: • 10 × 203 mm (8.0 in) guns (5×2) • 8 × 127 mm (5.0 in) guns (4×2; from 1935) • 8 × 13 mm (0.51 in) machine guns (2×4) • 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine guns • 8 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (2×4)[1] |
| Armor: |
• Main belt: 100 mm (3.9 in) • Main deck: 37 mm (1.5 in) • Turrets: 25 mm (0.98 in) • Barbettes: 75 mm (3.0 in) |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 |
| Service record | |
|---|---|
| Operations: |
Battle of the Java Sea (1942) Second Battle of the Java Sea (1942) Battle of the Coral Sea (1942) Battle of the Eastern Solomons (1942) Operation Ke (1943) Battle of Empress Augusta Bay ((1943) Battle of the Philippine Sea ((1944) Battle of Leyte Gulf (1944) |
Haguro (羽黒) was the last of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. The other ships of her class were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and Ashigara (足柄).
The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 201 m (661 ft) long, and were capable of 36 kt (67 km/h). They carried two aircraft and their main armament was ten 203 mm (8 in) guns in five twin turrets. At the time they were built, this was the heaviest armament of any cruiser class in the world.
Service history[]
Haguro was laid down at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki on March 16, 1925, launched and named on March 24, 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on April 25, 1929. Her service in World War II started in the Dutch East Indies, where she engaged the enemy off Makassar on February 8, 1942. She played a key role in the battle of the Java Sea on February 27, 1942, and was involved in the sinking of HMS Exeter and the Dutch flag ship Hr Ms De Ruyter, and of Encounter in another action off south Borneo on March 1, 1942.
On May 7, 1942 she participated in the battle of the Coral Sea, moving on to the Solomon Islands where she took part in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, 1942, the evacuation from Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943, and took light damage in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay on November 2, 1943. On June 19, 1944 she survived the battle of the Philippine Sea, and on October 23–25, 1944 she took light damage in the battle of Leyte Gulf.
Fate[]
In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British "Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze just after midnight on May 16, 1945, and began the attack. During the battle, the Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX Torpedoes. The Haguro soon began to slow down and took a 30-degrees list to port.
At 2:32 AM the Haguro began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait, 55 miles (89 km) off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors, but nine hundred men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her.[2] Rear Admiral Sugiura was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously on May 16. The Haguro was the last major Japanese warship to be sunk during the war.[3] Haguro was stricken from the navy list on June 20, 1945. The wreck was discovered in 2003, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles.
Haguro under attack at Rabaul on November 2, 1943, showing damage received in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay that morning.
USAAF gun camera footage of the Haguro under attack at Rabaul
Notes[]
References[]
Books[]
- Winton, John (1979). Sink the Haguro!. Seeley, Service & Co.. ISBN 0-330-28139-9.
- Cox, Robert Jon (2010). The Battle Off Samar: Taffy III at Leyte Gulf (5th Edition). Agogeebic Press, LLC. ISBN 0-9822390-4-1.
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
- Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
External reference links[]
- Kosour, Ladislav (1999-2007). "Haguro". Warships of World War II. http://warships.web4u.cz/shipsplus.php?language=E&stat=JAP&typ=CA&trida=Myoko&id=20458. Retrieved 2007-02-22.[dead link]
- Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)". http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaigun.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-14.
External links[]
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