Japanese cruiser Ashigara
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1923 |
| Laid down: | 1924 |
| Launched: | 1924 |
| Commissioned: | 1928 |
| Fate: | Sunk June 8, 1945 |
| Struck: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 13,300 tons |
| Length: | 203.76 m (668.5 ft) |
| Beam: | 19 m (62.33 ft 9 in) |
| Draft: | 5.03 m (16.5 ft 7 in) |
| Speed: | 35.5 kt |
| Complement: | 920–970 |
| Aircraft: | 1 |
| Armament: | 10 × 203 mm (8 in) guns (5×2), 6 × 120 mm (4.7 in) (-1934) or 8 × 127 mm (5 in) (1935-) guns; 2 × 13 mm machine guns 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes[1] |
Ashigara (足柄) was a Myōkō class heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The other ships of her class were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and Haguro (羽黒). Ashigara was named after a mountain on the border of Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures, also known as Mount Kintoki.
The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 204 metres long, and were capable of 36 knots. They carried one aircraft and their main armament were ten 8 inch guns. Ashigara was laid down at the Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe on April 11, 1924, launched on April 22, 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on August 20, 1929.
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[edit] Service
In World War II she took part in the invasion of the Philippines in December 1941. In the Battle of the Java Sea on March 1, 1942 she shared in the sinking of the cruiser HMS Exeter and the destroyer HMS Encounter.
From 1942 to 1944 she was assigned to guard duties and troop transportation and saw no action.
In the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944, Ashigara, with Captain Hayao Miura in command, was assigned to Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's force along with Nachi and eight destroyers. This force entered Surigao Strait on October 25 after Admiral Shoji Nishimura's First Raiding Force had been destroyed. Ashigara and Nachi fired their torpedoes and retreated (Nachi with damage from a collision with Mogami).
In December 1944 Ashigara took part in an attempted attack on the American landings on Mindoro in the Philippines. On December 26 she came under air attack and was damaged by a 227 kg (500 lb) bomb, but was able to shell the American beachhead on December 27.
On June 8, 1945, Ashigara left Batavia for Singapore with 1,600 troops on board, escorted by the destroyer Kamikaze. In the Bangka Strait the two ships came under attack from three Allied submarines, USS Blueback, HMS Trenchant and HMS Stygian. Kamikaze attacked Trenchant with gunfire, forcing her to submerge, and then with depth charges, but Commander Arthur Hezlet spotted Ashigara and fired eight torpedoes at her at about 12:15. Ashigara was hit five times at a range of 4,000 yards [2] and capsized at 12:37. Kamikaze rescued 400 troops and 853 crew, including Miura.
[edit] Commanding Officers
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Yaichi Ono - 1 October 1928 - 8 February 1929
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Choji Inoue - 8 February 1929 - 20 August 1929
Capt. Choji Inoue - 20 August 1929 - 30 November 1929
Capt. Rokuro Hani - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Tomisaburo Otagaki - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931
Capt. Taichi Miki - 1 December 1931 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Sugao Yokoyama - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Takeo Sakura - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Moriji Takeda - 1 December 1936 - 15 December 1937
Capt. Kuninori Marumo - 15 December 1937 - 3 June 1938
Capt. Marquis Tadashige Daigo - 3 June 1938 - 1 December 1938
Capt. Michiaki Kamata - 1 December 1938 - 15 October 1940
Capt. Tasuku Nakazawa - 15 October 1940 - 5 July 1941
Capt. Yoshiyuki Ichimiya - 5 July 1941 - 25 September 1942
Capt. Masami Ban - 25 September 1942 - 30 January 1944
Capt. / RADM Hayao Miura - 30 January 1944 - 8 June 1945 (Promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 May 1945.)
[edit] References
- ^ Lacroix, Japanese Cruisers, p. 808-809.
- ^ Submarine History: Submarine Service: Operations and Support: Royal Navy
- 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.
- Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.
- Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com
[edit] See also
Atago class destroyer DDG-178 Ashigara (commissioning 2008)
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