Japanese cruiser Chōkai
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | March 26, 1928 |
| Laid down: | April 5, 1931 |
| Launched: | June 30, 1932 |
| Commissioned: | 1932 |
| Fate: | Scuttled after gunfire/bomb damage in Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944 |
| Struck: | December 20, 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 15,781 tons |
| Length: | 661 ft (203.76 m) |
| Beam: | 68 ft (18.999 m) |
| Draught: | 20 ft 9 in (6.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | 130,000 hp |
| Speed: | 35.5 knots (63 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) @ 14 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 773 |
| Armament: | ten 8-inch (203 mm) guns, four 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns, up to 66 25 mm AA guns, eight 24-inch torpedo tubes |
| Aircraft: | |
Chōkai (Japanese: ちょうかい Kanji: 鳥海) was a Takao-class heavy cruiser, armed with ten 8" guns, four 4.7" guns, eight torpedo tubes and assorted anti-aircraft guns. Chōkai was designed with the Imperial Japanese Navy strategy of the Decisive Battle in mind, and built in 1932 by Mitsubishi's shipyard in Nagasaki.
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[edit] Operational history
At the start of the Pacific War, Chōkai supported the invasion of Malaya and participated in the pursuit of the Royal Navy's Force Z. During January and February of 1942, the Chōkai was involved in operations to seize the oil-rich Dutch East Indies and the island of Borneo. Steaming near Cape St. Jacques, the Chōkai struck a reef, sustaining hull damage on February 22, 1943. On the 27th, she reached Singapore for repairs.
After repairs, Chōkai was once again tasked with a supporting role in an invasion, this time the landings at Iri, Sumatra and the invasion of the Andaman Islands and the seizure of Port Blair a few days later. Afterwards, Chōkai pulled into Mergui, Burma.
On April 1, 1942, Chōkai left Mergui to participate in Operation C, a raid on merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean. Chōkai torpedoed and sank the American freighter Bienville and later the British steamship Ganges on April 6. Her role in the operation successfully concluded, Chōkai returned to Yokosuka on April 22.
[edit] Guadalcanal campaign
By mid-July, Chōkai was the new flagship of Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi and his Eighth Fleet. It proceeded towards Rabaul. On August 7, Guadalcanal having been invaded by the Americans, Chōkai headed for Guadalcanal, Vice Admiral Mikawa aboard. In the battle of Savo Island Mikawa's squadron inflicted a devastating defeat on an Allied squadron, sinking four cruisers and damaging other ships. However, Chōkai sustained several hits from Quincy and Astoria, blowing off one of her turrets and killing 34 men. Chōkai returned to Rabaul for temporary repairs. For the rest of the Guadalcanal campaign, Chōkai would pull an assortment of duties, sustaining varied, but minor, damage.
Relieved as Eighth Fleet flagship shortly after the final evacuation of Guadalcanal, Chōkai headed back to Yokosuka on February 20, 1943. Tasked with various minor duties for the remainder of 1943 and first half of 1944, Chōkai was made flagship of Cruiser Division Four ("CruDiv 4") on August 3, 1944. She survived a harrowing submarine attack on October 23, becoming the only undamaged ship of CruDiv 4.
[edit] Sunk in the Battle off Samar
Chōkai was then transferred to Cruiser Division Five, where she survived another attack on October 24, this time by aircraft. On the morning of October 25, Chōkai, supporting many other cruisers and battleships, engaged an American force of escort carriers, destroyers and destroyer escorts in the Battle off Samar. Taken under 5-inch (127 mm) gunfire by the destroyers and destroyer escorts, the Chōkai was hit amidships, starboard side, most likely by the carrier USS Kalinin Bay. A secondary explosion caused by the armed torpedoes on her decks knocked out the engines and rudder. Chōkai dropped out of formation.
Within minutes, an American aircraft dropped a 500-lb (227 kg) bomb on her forward machinery room. Fires began to rage around the Chōkai and she went dead in the water. Later that day she was scuttled by torpedoes from the destroyer Fujinami.
[edit] Commanding Officers
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Taichi Miki - 5 April 1931 - 1 December 1931
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Boshiro Hosogaya - 1 December 1931 - 30 June 1932
Capt. Boshiro Hosogaya - 30 June 1932 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Umataro Tanimoto - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Shiro Koike - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934
Capt. Gunichi Mikawa - 15 November 1934 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Atsushi Kasuga - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Takeo Okumoto - 1 December 1936 - 12 July 1937
Capt. Aritomo Goto - 12 July 1937 - 15 November 1938
Capt. Zenshiro Hoshina - 15 November 1938 - 1 November 1939
Capt. Takero Koda - 1 November 1939 - 19 October 1940
Capt. Seishichi Watanabe - 19 October 1940 - 25 April 1942
Capt. Mikio Hayakawa - 25 April 1942 - 1 March 1943
Capt. Kosaku Aruga - 1 March 1943 - 6 June 1944
Capt. / RADM* Jo Tanaka - 6 June 1944 - 25 October 1944 (KIA; survived sinking of ship, but KIA when rescue DD Fujinami sunk by air attack.)
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 081595302X.
- 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 0870213113.
[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
- JDS Chōkai (DDG-176) (commissioned 1998)
[edit] Notes
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