Japanese cruiser Atago
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 World War II United States Navy recognition drawings of Takao and Atago |
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| Career (Japan) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1927 fiscal year |
| Builder: | Yokosuka Navy Yard |
| Laid down: | April 28 1927 |
| Launched: | June 16 1930 |
| Commissioned: | March 30 1932 |
| Fate: | Torpedoed October 23 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,850 tons (standard), 14,616 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 668.5 ft (203.8 m) |
| Beam: | 59 ft (18 m) – 68 ft (21 m) |
| Draught: | 20 ft (6.1 m) – 20.7 ft (6.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4-shaft geared turbine, 12 Kampon boilers, 133,100 shp |
| Speed: | 35.5 knots (65.7 km/h) - 34.2 knots |
| Range: | 8,500 nautical miles (15,740 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 773 |
| Armament: | original layout: ten 8 inch (20.3 cm) 50 calibre guns (5x2) four 4.7 inch high angle guns(4x1) four 24 inch torpedo tubes (4x2) two 40 mm AA guns (2x1) sixty × 25 mm AA guns four 13.2 mm AA guns depth charges |
| Armour: | main belt: 1½" to 5" main deck: 1⅜" (max) upper deck: ½" to 1" bulkheads: 3" to 4" turrets: 1" |
| Aircraft carried: | 3 (1 Aichi E13A1 "Jake" & 2 F1M2 "Pete" seaplanes), 2 catapults |
Atago (Japanese: あたご Kanji: 愛宕) was one of four Takao-class heavy cruisers, designed to be an improvement over the previous Myōkō-class design. These ships were fast, powerful, and heavily armed with enough firepower to hold their own against any ships built. The Takao-class ships were approved under the 1927 fiscal year budget as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's strategy of the Decisive Battle, and forming the backbone of a multipurpose long range strike force. Atago was built by the Kure Naval shipyards near Hiroshima, and like her sister ships, was named after a mountain. Mount Atago is located outside of Kyoto.
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[edit] Operational History
At the start of the Pacific War, the Atago was the flagship of Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Kondo Nobutake's Cruiser Division 4, along with sister ships Maya,Chokai, and Takao, and assigned to support the invasion of Malaya and the Philippines.
From January through March of 1942, the Atago was based out of Palau, and was involved in operations to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies, participating in numerous combat operations, including the Battle of the Java Sea. After taking Vice Admiral Kondo on an inspection tour of Japan’s new possessions in the former Dutch East Indies, the Atago returned to Yokosuka in April 1942 where was assigned to the unsuccessful pursuit of Admiral William F. Halsey's Task Force 16.2 after the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.
After a retrofit in April 1942 to replace its single 4.7-inch (120 mm) dual purpose guns with new dual 5-inch (127 mm) DP guns, the Atago departed for the disastrous Battle of Midway, from which it returned unscathed.
[edit] Guadalcanal campaign
On August 7, 1942, the Atago was reassigned south to Truk, from which it made numerous sorties in the defense of Guadalcanal through December. The Atago also participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 24, 1942), Battle of Santa Cruz Islands (October 26–October 27, 1942) and in the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 15, 1942). On August 25, 1942, During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, aircraft from the U.S. aircraft carrier Wasp shot down two Aichi E13A floatplanes from Atago that were engaged in reconnaissance missions, killing all four aircrew members in the two aircraft.[1] During the latter battle, in a night gun duel with the USS South Dakota (BB-57) and the USS Washington (BB-56), the Atago and Takao hit the South Dakota with seventeen 8-inch hits, five 6-inch and one 5-inch hit. The Kirishima also hit the South Dakota with a single 14-inch round that exploded on her aft No. 3 turret's barbette.
The South Dakota was damaged, but not sunk. Early in the battle, the Atago and the Takao each launched eight Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes at the Washington but they all missed. Atago was damaged slightly as a result of the action, and returned to Kure for repairs on December 17, 1942.
In January 1943, the Atago returned to Truk to continue Japanese efforts to hold the Solomon Islands, and eventually to support the evacuation of Guadalcanal. It remained based out of Truk through July 1943, when it returned to Yokosuka for further refits and medications to add two triple-mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns.
[edit] Later battles
From August – November 1943, the Atago returned to Truk to continue its sorties supporting Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands. In response to the Allied landings on Bougainville on November 1, 1943, Atago and several other Japanese cruisers were sent to Rabaul to prepare to attack the Allied landing forces. On November 5, 1943, while refueling at Rabaul, the Atago task force was attacked by 97 planes from the USS Saratoga (CV-3) and the USS Princeton (CVL-23). Atago sustained three near-misses by 500-lb (227 kg) bombs that killed 22 crewmen, including her skipper Captain Nakaoka who was hit by a bomb splinter while on the bridge. On November 15, 1943, the Atago returned to Yokosuka for repairs, and installation of additional 25 mm AA guns and a Type 22 surface-search radar.
In January 1944, the Atago returned to Truk. On February 10, 1944, the cruiser force was attacked by the USS Permit (SS-178) in a night surface attack, but she missed with four torpedoes. The Atago was then reassigned to CruDiv 4 based in Palau under Vice Admiral Ozawa's First Mobile Fleet. The cruiser force was unsuccessfully attacked by the USS Dace (SS-247) on April 6, 1944.
On June 13, 1944, the Atago was in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, which resulted in disastrous losses for the Imperial Japanese Navy; however, the Atago again emerged unscathed. On June 22, 1944, the Atago retired with the remnants of the fleet via Okinawa to Kure, where in a final refit, four triple- and 22 single-mount 25 mm AA guns were installed bringing the total to 60 barrels. A Type 13 air-search radar was also fitted.
[edit] Sunk in the Battle of Palawan Passage
From July through October 1944, the Atago was flagship of Admiral Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force, the most powerful component of the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time with seven battleships, eleven heavy cruisers, two light cruisers, and nineteen destroyers based at Lingga Roads near Singapore. On October 22, 1944, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Atago sortied with CruDiv 4's Chōkai, Takao and the Maya. On the following day, October 23, 1944, in the Battle of the Palawan Passage, the Atago was hit by four torpedoes fired by the USS Darter (SS-227), and set afire. At 05:53, the Atago capsized in about 1,000 fathoms of water at .
Of Atago’s crewmen, 360 were killed, but 529 survivors including Vice Admiral Kurita, CoS Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Koyanagi Tomiji (former CO of Kongō) and the Atago’s skipper Rear Admiral Araki were rescued by the Kishinami; 171 other survivors were also rescued by the Asashimo. Atago’s sister ships fared no better: Maya was sunk by USS Dace; Takao was forced back to Brunei after being torpedoed by USS Darter (later scuttled after running onto a reef); and two days later Chōkai was lost off Samar.
[edit] Commanding Officers
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Kenichi Sada - 20 June 1930 - 30 March 1932
Capt. Kenichi Sada - 30 March 1932 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Ibo Takahashi - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Giichi Miyata - 15 November 1933 - 1 November 1934
Capt. Shigeru Sonoda - 1 November 1934 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Kozo Suzukida - 15 November 1935 - 15 April 1936
Capt. Seiichi Ito - 15 April 1936 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Aritomo Goto - 1 December 1936 - 12 July 1937
Capt. Takeo Okumoto - 12 July 1937 - 1 December 1937
Capt. Minbu Sakano - 1 December 1937 - 10 August 1938
Capt. Nakai Minowa - 10 August 1938 - 15 November 1938
Capt. Seigo Takatsuka - 15 November 1938 - 15 November 1939
Capt. Chimaki Kono - 15 November 1939 - 15 October 1940
Capt. Tomiji Koyanagi - 15 October 1940 - 11 August 1941
Capt. Baron Matsuji Ijuin - 11 August 1941 - 1 December 1942
Capt. / RADM* Nobuki Nakaoka - 1 December 1942 - 5 November 1943 (KIA)
NO CO ASSIGNED - 5 November 1943 - 15 November 1943
Capt. / RADM Tsutau Araki - 15 November 1943 - 23 October 1944 (Promoted to Rear Admiral on 15 October 1944.)
[edit] References
- ^ Lundstrom, John B. (2005 (New edition)). First Team And the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-472-8., p. 159.
[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.
[edit] External links
- Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.
[edit] See also
Atago class destroyer DDG-177 Atago (commissioned 2007)
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