Japanese battleship Kirishima

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Kirishima off Amoy, China, on 21 October 1938.
Career Japanese Ensign
Ordered: 1911
Laid down: March 17, 1912
Launched: December 1, 1913
Commissioned: April 19, 1915
Fate: Sunk following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 15, 1942
Specifications
Displacement: 36,600 tons
Length: 222 m (728 feet 4 inches)
Beam: 31 m (101 feet 8 inches)
Draught: 9.7 m (31 feet 9 inches)
Propulsion: steam turbines, 4 shafts
Speed: 30 kt
Range: 10,000 nmi (20,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement: 1360
Armament: Eight 356 mm (14 in) guns (4×2),
16 155 mm (6.1 in) guns (8×2),
8 127 mm (5 in) DP (8×1),
up to 118 × 25 mm AA

Kirishima (霧島) was the Imperial Japanese Navy's fourth Kongō class battlecruiser.

She was laid down by Mitsubishi in Nagasaki on March 17, 1912, launched on December 1, 1913, and commissioned on April 19, 1915. From 1933 to 1934, she was reconstructed at Kure, Japan, emerging from her reconstruction as a "fast battleship", 4,000 tons heavier than her original incarnation.

Contents

[edit] Service

Her initial captain in World War II was Yamaguchi Jihei, formerly the commander of the heavy cruiser Takao, later promoted to Rear Admiral, and still later, Vice Admiral. She was assigned to Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi's Battle Division 3 with her sister ships Hiei, Kongō and Haruna.

On November 26, 1941 Kirishima sailed with the First Air Fleet Striking Force ("Kido Butai") as part of the Pearl Harbor raid. Together with most of the Striking Force, she returned to the naval base at Kure on December 24. From there, the fleet sailed for the naval base at Truk, then into the South Pacific to support the invasions of Rabaul and Kavieng.

The Kirishima, along with Hiei, escorted the Carrier Striking Force when it conducted a major air raid against Darwin, Australia on February 19, 1942. It also took part in the Battle of the Java Sea on March 1, in a series of raids against Allied warships in the Indian Ocean on April 5–9, and in the disastrous Battle of Midway on June 4-5.

As "Battle Division 11", Kirishima and Hiei participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24 and the Battle of Santa Cruz on October 26.

On November 15, 1942, Kirishima engaged American vessels in the Battle of Guadalcanal, and while inflicting some damage on USS South Dakota, failed to notice the USS Washington some 8,000 yards (7,000 m) off. The Washington rapidly fired seventy-five 16-inch shells at Kirishima. Nine hit their target, as did numerous 5-inch shells. Kirishima's top structure was engulfed in flame and the great ship kept turning in a circle, out of control. Her captain was forced to scuttle the ship. The crew was transferred to a destroyer, and the Kingston valves were opened, scuttling her. Kirishima sank northwest of Savo Island.[1]

In 1992, oceanographer Dr. Robert D. Ballard discovered the wreck of Kirishima in 4,000 feet of water, resting upside down with its bow blown off.

[edit] Commanding Officers

  • Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Rokuro Kamaya - 15 December 1914 - 19 April 1915
  • Capt. Rokuro Kamaya - 19 April 1915 - 13 December 1915
  • Capt. Takeshi Shima - 13 December 1915 - 1 December 1916
  • Capt. Junichi Matsumura - 1 December 1916 - 18 July 1917
  • Capt. Masaki Nakamura - 18 July 1917 - 1 December 1917
  • Capt. Kinzaburo Mimura - 1 December 1917 - 10 November 1918
  • Capt. Genjiro Katsuki - 10 November 1918 - 20 November 1919
  • Capt. Takashi Yoko - 20 November 1919 - 8 January 1920
  • Capt. Sukeichi Yasumura - 8 January 1920 - 1 December 1921
  • Capt. Heigo Teraoka - 1 December 1921 - 1 December 1922
  • Capt. Masataka Ando - 1 December 1922 - 6 November 1923
  • Capt. Teiji Sakamoto - 6 November 1923 - 1 December 1924
  • Capt. Hisanori Fujita - 1 December 1924 - 20 October 1925
  • Capt. Takayoshi Kato - 20 October 1925 - 1 December 1926
  • Capt. Naojiro Honjuku - 1 December 1926 - 1 December 1927
  • Capt. Kanekoto Iwamura - 1 December 1927 - 10 March 1928
  • Capt. Yoshikazu Furukawa - 10 March 1928 - 10 December 1928
  • Capt. Choji Inoue - 10 December 1928 - 8 February 1929
  • Capt. Minoru Hirota - 8 February 1929 - 1 November 1929
  • Capt. Takuo Fujisawa - 1 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
  • Capt. Shigeru Kikuno - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931
  • Capt. Sekizo Uno - 1 December 1931 - 1 December 1932
  • Capt. Haruo Kitaoka - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
  • Capt. Ibo Takahashi - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934
  • Capt. Kunji Tange - 15 November 1934 - 15 November 1935
  • Capt. Gunichi Mikawa - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
  • Capt. Kakusaburo Makita - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937
  • Capt. Masao Kanazawa - 1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938
  • Capt. Takeo Tada - 15 November 1938 - 15 November 1939
  • Capt. Kyuji Kubo - 15 November 1939 - 27 December 1939
  • Capt. Saichiro Tomonari - 27 December 1939 - 19 October 1940
  • Capt. Kazutaka Shiraishi - 19 October 1940 - 15 August 1941
  • Capt. Jihei Yamaguchi - 15 August 1941 - 20 April 1942
  • Capt. Sanji Iwabuchi - 20 April 1942 - 15 November 1942

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936–1945, Random House, 1970, p. 416.

[edit] External links

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Kongō-class battlecruiser

Kongō | Hiei | Kirishima | Haruna
List of ships of the Japanese Navy