Japanese cruiser Haguro

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Career

Ordered:	Autumn of 1924
Laid down:	16 March 1925
Launched:	24 March 1928
Commissioned:	25 April 1929
Fate:	Sunk in the Indian Ocean by gunfire & torpedoes on 16 May 1945
Struck:	20 June 1945
General Characteristics
Displacement:	13,300 tons
Length:	661 ft 9 in (201.70 m)
Beam:	68 ft (20.73 m)
Draught:	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Propulsion:	4-shaft geared turbines 12 boilers 130,000 shp
Speed:	36 knots (67 km/h)
Range:	8,000 nm @ 14 kt
Complement:	773
Armour:	Main belt 4", 1⅜" main deck, 1" turrets, 3" barbettes
Armament:	Ten 8-inch (203mm) guns; six 4.7-inch (120mm) (-1934) or eight 5-inch (127mm) (1935-)
Aircraft:	two

Haguro (羽黒) was the last of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after a mountain in Yamagata Prefecture. The other ships of her class were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and Ashigara (足柄).From 1941 to 1944, it was captained by Captain M. Terado.

The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 201 metres long, and were capable of 36 knots (67 km/h). They carried two aircraft and their main armament was ten 8-inch (203mm) guns in five twin turrets. At the time they were built, this was the heaviest armament of any cruiser class in the world.

Haguro was laid down at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki on 16 March 1925, launched and named on 24 March 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 25 April 1929. Her service in World War II started in the Dutch East Indies, where she engaged the enemy off Makassar on 8 February 1942, played a role in the sinking of HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter in the battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942, and was engaged in another action off south Borneo on 1 March 1942. On 7 May 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 24 August 1942, the evacuation from Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943, and took light damage in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay on 2 November 1943. On 19 June 1944 she survived the battle of the Philippine Sea, and on 23 October – on 25 October 1944 she took light damage in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

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 16 May 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 bow first in the Malacca Strait, 55 miles off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors. Nine hundred men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Shiguira, perished with her. Rear Admiral Shiguira was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously in May 16.

Haguro's name was stricken from the Naval List on 20 June 1945.

The wreck was discovered in 2003, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles.

Haguro under attack at Rabaul on 2 November 1943, showing damage received in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay that morning.

USAAF gun camera footage of the Haguro under attack at Rabaul

1 References

[edit] References

[edit] Books

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.