Japanese cruiser Furutaka

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Career (Japan)
Heavy cruiser Furutaka in 1926
Ordered:	1923 Fiscal Year
Laid down:	5 December 1922
Launched:	25 February 1925
Commissioned:	31 March 1926^[1]
Struck:	20 December 1944
Fate:	sunk 12 October 1942 by USS Salt Lake City and USS Duncan at the Battle of Cape Esperance 02°28′S, 152°11′E
General characteristics
Class and type:	Furutaka class heavy cruiser
Displacement:	7,950 tons (standard); 9,150 tons (after modification)
Length:	176.8 meters
Beam:	15.8 meters
Draught:	5.6 meters
Propulsion:	4-shaft Parsons geared turbines 12 Kampon boilers 102,000 shp
Speed:	34.5 knots (64 km/h)
Range:	7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km) at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement:	616
Armament:	(initial) 6 × 200 mm/50-cal guns (6x1) 4 × 80 mm/4-cal guns, 6 × 610 mm torpedo tubes (4x2)
Armor:	76 mm (belt) 36 mm (deck)
Aircraft carried:	1 x floatplane, 1 catapult

IJN Furutaka (古鷹重巡洋艦, Furutaka jūjunyōkan^?) was the lead ship in the two-vessel Furutaka-class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after Mount Furutaka, located on Etajima, Hiroshima immediately behind the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy.

1 Background
2 Service career
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Background

Furutaka and her sister ship Kako were the first generation of high speed heavy cruisers in the Japanese navy, intended to counter the US Navy Omaha class and Royal Navy Hawkins class scout cruisers.

[edit] Service career

[edit] Early career

Furutaka was commissioned at Mitsubishi shipyards, Nagasaki on 31 March 1926.

It was reconstructed and modernized at Kure Navy Yard on 30 April 1939.

[edit] Early stages of the Pacific War

In late 1941, Furutaka was assigned to CruDiv 6 Rear Admiral Aritomo Goto in the First Fleet with the Aoba, Kako and Kinugasa. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was engaged in support for the invasion of Guam.

After the failed first invasion of Wake CruDiv 6 was assigned to the larger second invasion force, and after the fall of Wake, returned to its forward base in Truk, Caroline Islands.

From 18 January 1942, CruDiv 6 was assigned to support Japanese troop landings at Rabaul, New Britain and Kavieng, New Ireland and in patrols around the Marshall Islands in unsuccessful pursuit of the American fleet. In March and April 1942, CruDiv6 provided support to CruDiv 18 in covering the landings of Japanese troops in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea at Buka, Shortland, Kieta, Manus Island, Admiralty Islands and Tulagi from a forward base at Rabaul. While at Shortland on 6 May 1942, Furutaka was attacked by four USAAF Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, but was not damaged.

[edit] Battle of the Coral Sea

At the Battle of the Coral Sea, CruDiv 6 departed Shortland and effected a rendezvous at sea with light carrier Shoho. At 1100 on 7 May 1942, north of Tugali Island, Shoho was attacked and sunk by 93 SBD Dauntless dive-bombers and TBD Devastator torpedo-bombers from USS Yorktown and USS Lexington.

WW-2 recognition drawing of Furutaka

The following day, 8 May 1942 46 SBDs, 21 TBDs and 15 Grumman F4F Wildcats from Yorktown and Lexington damaged Shokaku severely above the waterline and force her retirement. Furutaka and Kinugasa, undamaged in the battle, escorted Shokaku back to Truk.

Furutaka returned to Kure on 5 June 1942 for repairs, and returned back to Truk on 7 July 1942. In a major reorganization of the Japanese navy on 14 July 1942, Furutaka was assigned to the newly created Eighth Fleet under Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi and was assigned to patrols around the Solomon Islands, New Britain and New Ireland.

[edit] Battle of Savo Island

In the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August 1942, CruDiv 6, Chokai, light cruisers Tenryu and Yubari and destroyer Yunagi engaged the Allied forces in a night gun and torpedo action. At about 2300, Chokai, Furutaka and Kako all launched their reconnaissance floatplanes. The circling floatplanes dropped flares illuminating the targets and all the Japanese ships opened fire. USS Astoria, USS Quincy, USS Vincennes and HMAS Canberra were sunk. USS Chicago was damaged as were the USS Ralph Talbot and USS Patterson. On the Japanese side, Chokai was hit three times, Kinugasa twice, Aoba once and Furutaka was not damaged and returned to Kavieng on 10 August 1942.

In late August, CruDiv 6 and the Chokai departed Shortland to provide distant cover for the Guadalcanal reinforcement convoys. That same day, a Consolidated PBY Catalina of VP23's "Black Cats" boldly, but unsuccessfully, attacked Furutaka in broad daylight. Furutaka shuttled between Kieta and Rabaul as needed to refuel and resupply through mid-September. Furutaka was unsuccessfully attacked on 12 September south of New Ireland by the USN submarine USS S-47, but was not damaged.

[edit] Battle of Cape Esperance

So alerted, the radar-equipped American cruisers USS San Francisco, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Helena and five destroyers steamed around the end of Guadalcanal to block the entrance to Savo Sound.

At 2235, Helena's radar spotted the Japanese fleet, and the Americans successfully crossed the Japanese "T". Both fleets opened fire, but Admiral Goto, thinking that he was under friendly-fire, ordered a 180-degree turn that exposed each of his ships to the American broadsides. Aoba was damaged heavily, and Admiral Goto was mortally wounded on her bridge. With Aoba crippled, Captain Araki of the Furutaka turned his ship out of the line of battle to engage Salt Lake City. USS Duncan launched two torpedoes toward Furutaka that either missed or failed to detonate. Duncan continued firing at Furutaka until she was put out of action by numerous shell hits. At 2354, Furutaka was hit by a torpedo that flooded her forward engine room. During the battle, about 90 shells hit Furutaka and some ignited her Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes, starting fires.

On 12 October 1942, at 0228, Furutaka sank stern first at 09°02′S, 159°33′E. Captain Araki and 514 survivors were rescued by Hatsuyuki, Murakumo and Shirayuki. Thirty-three crewmen were killed and 110 were later counted as missing. The Americans took 115 of Furutaka's crew as prisoners of war.

Furutaka was removed from Navy List on 10 November 1942.

Commanding Officers

Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Koichi Shiozawa - 15 May 1925 - 31 March 1926

Capt. Koichi Shiozawa - 31 March 1926 - 1 December 1926

Capt. Nobuyoshi Kikui - 1 December 1926 - 15 November 1927

Capt. Yutaka Arima - 15 November 1927 - 10 December 1928

Capt. Jiro Onishi - 10 December 1928 - 30 November 1929

Capt. Toshiro Taijiri - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930

Capt. Shinichiro Machida - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931

Capt. Katsuyoshi Inoue - 1 December 1931 - 1 December 1932

Capt. Chuzo Takayama - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933

Capt. Jiro Saito - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934

Capt. Kakuji Kakuta - 15 November 1934 - 15 November 1935

Capt. Junichi Mizuno - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936

Capt. Miki Otsuka - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937

Capt. Saichiro Tomonari - 1 December 1937 - 20 April 1938

Capt. Masao Okamura - 20 April 1938 - 15 December 1938

Capt. Ko Ito - 15 December 1938 - 15 November 1939

Capt. Kazutaka Shiraishi - 15 November 1939 - 19 October 1940

Capt. Ko Nakagawa - 19 October 1940 - 28 November 1941

Capt. Tsutau Araki - 28 November 1941 - 12 October 1942

[edit] References

[edit] Books

Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
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.
Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-68911-402-8.
Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
Whitley, M.J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-141-6.