Japanese destroyer Ayanami
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 Ayanami |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | January 20, 1928 |
| Launched: | October 5, 1929 |
| Commissioned: | April 30, 1930 |
| Status: | Sunk at Guadalcanal on November 15, 1942 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,050 tons |
| Length: | 378 ft 3 in (115.3 m) |
| Beam: | 34 ft (10.4 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × Kampon type boilers, 2 × Parsons geared turbines, 2 × shafts at 50,000 shp (37 MW) |
| Speed: | 38 knots (70 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nm at 14 knots (9,200 km at 26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 197 |
| Armament: | 6 × 5 inch (127 mm) / 50 caliber guns (3 × 2-gun turrets), up to 22 × 25 mm AA guns, up to 10 × 13 mm AA guns, 9 × 610 mm torpedo tubes, 36 × depth charges |
The Ayanami (綾波) was a Type II Fubuki class destroyer in the Imperial Japanese Navy that saw service during World War II. She was initially launched on October 5th 1929, and commissioned April 30, 1930 under the name Destroyer N°45. Later in 1935 she was chistened Ayanami. Ayanami was the namesake for the Type II model. As such, she was the first in her class to sport a modified Model 'B' 5" gun turret which could elevate to 75° as opposed to the original 40°. Sunk during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, her wreck remains off the southeast coast of Savo Island in Ironbottom Sound.
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[edit] World War II
During World War II, the Ayanami was capitained by Commander Sakuma Eiji and assigned to Destroyer Division 19, Squadron 3 of the first fleet.
- On December 19, 1941, the Ayanami assisted her sister ships the Uranami and the Yugiri in the sinking of the Dutch submarine O-20.
- On March 23, 1942, Ayanami provided close cover for the Invasion of the Andaman Islands.
- On June 4 and June 5, 1942, the Ayanami participated in the Battle of Midway by escorting Admiral Yamamoto's Main Body.
[edit] Guadalcanal
The Ayanami's final mission, on November 14 and November 15, 1942, was that of the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. There, she was attached to a scouting force under the command of Rear Admiral Hashimoto Sentaro in the light cruiser Sendai. When American Admiral Willis A. Lee's Task Force 64 was spotted near Savo Island, Hashimoto took his ships clockwise around the island, but sent Ayanami alone in the opposite direction sweeping for enemy vessels. When Lee's ships were located, the order to attack was given, and as such, Ayanami became one of three prongs in the initial attack (Along with Hashimoto's group, and another group led by Rear Admiral Kimura Susumu in the light cruiser Nagara).
The Ayanami was first sighted by the American destroyer Walke, but the light cruiser Nagara was located soon after and the four destroyers' attentions shifted to it. Fire from Ayanami, Nagara, and the Uranami would sink two of the four destroyers (the Preston and the Walke), mortally wound the Benham (which would be scuttled after the battle), and severely damage the Gwin, causing heavy American losses in the first phase of the battle. Ayanami would also cause minor damage to the Battleship South Dakota.
Battleship Washington then sighted Ayanami and shelled her. The destroyer sustained critical damage and 40 of her crew were killed. Thirty surviving crewmen including Commander Sakuma escaped in a boat to Guadalcanal, and the remainder evacuated to the Uranami.
Later in the night, while the Washington was returning after causing significant damage to the Japanese forces, the battleship scuttled the abandoned Ayanami which sank soon after 2 a.m. Her wreck remains at the bottom of Ironbottom Sound.
[edit] The Shipwreck
In late July 1992, famed marine archeologist Robert Ballard led an expedition to Ironbottom Sound and found among thirteen newly discovered shipwrecks, the remains of the Ayanami. The site was located southeast of Savo Island at at a depth of approximately 700 meters. The hull and keel of the ship appear to have been broken by a starboard torpedo blast just behind the bridge. As such, the ship came to rest in two pieces. The stern remains upright, and the bow has twisted and is lying on its starboard side.
[edit] The Ayanami in pop culture
- The character Rei Ayanami in the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion is named after this ship.
[edit] References
- Long Lancers: IJN Ayanami: Tabular Record of Movement
- Ayanami in Naval History of World Wars
- LemaireSoft's Ayanami N°45
- Located/Surveyed Shipwrecks of the Imperial Japanese Navy
| Fubuki-class destroyer |
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Type I (Fubuki) Type II (Ayanami) |
| List of ships of the Japanese Navy |
