Agano class
 The agano
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The Agano class ( Japanese 阿 賀 野 型 軽 巡洋艦 ) was a class of light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II . A total of four ships were completed between 1942 and 1944.
construction
The class is based on a requirement for versatile light cruisers: flagship for destroyer divisions (also equipped with reconnaissance aircraft), with a high speed similar to that of a destroyer, a strong anti - tank component , at the same time usable as an anti-aircraft cruiser and with its own anti- submarine capacity. The cruisers "Type B numbers 132-135" were finally planned for the fourth fleet expansion program in March 1939, with the design being carried out according to the final draft C-41 from October 1939.
Construction was delayed due to the overloading of the shipyards. The state shipyard in Sasebo finally built three of the four ships on the same slipway, so that the next ship could only be started after the previous one was launched. The Sakawa was not finished until the end of 1944 so late that it was no longer used in the war and had to be handed over to the Americans a good six months later without being used. Only the Noshiro was built at the Yokosuka State Shipyard.
The first two ships, Agano and Noshiro , had the larger 26-meter catapult (Type 2 Mod.1 No.11) and a larger flight deck in which the master transmitter for the heavy flak was integrated. The following two ships, Yahagi and Sakawa , received only the standard Kure No.2 Mod.5 catapult with a length of 19 meters and the modified flight deck was reduced in size and provided with positions for 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft cannons, while the master transmitter for the heavy flak were integrated into the (enlarged) headlight towers on the side of the chimneys. The searchlights later had to make way for further 25 mm guns, one was moved to a new frame in front of the chimney.
The names refer to rivers in Japan. The Yahagi was the second cruiser of the same name in the Japanese Navy, the other names were first used for large warships. The construction cost per ship was 16.4 million yen .
The hull construction was improved compared to the new heavy cruisers, with a new bow shape including bulbous bow and less deck waste at the stern. Due to good reserves, the ships were not overweight in contrast to most other Japanese cruisers and therefore had good stability values. When fully loaded, the stability angle was 104.8 degrees.
Armament
The armament of the ships was varied and included multi-purpose guns, torpedo tubes including reloading systems, aircraft and anti-submarine weapons. Compared to contemporary Allied ships, the Agano class appears to be underarmed. However, this only applies if you compare them with the standard ships, which are almost twice as large and complex, which were derived from designs for heavy cruisers (USA: Cleveland class , Great Britain: Town class ). An accurate picture emerges here only if one compares two Agano cruisers correctly in terms of weight with an Allied ship. The directly comparable constructions (USA: Atlanta / Oakland class , Great Britain: Dido / Black Prince class ), on the other hand, clearly lag behind the Agano , which has the same firepower (6 × 15.2 cm and 4 × 8 cm) 12 × 12.7 cm or 8-10 × 13.3 cm) has the heavier artillery and a significantly stronger torpedo weapon, is faster and also has aircraft on board.
The fact that the heavy artillery (15.2 cm or 6 inches) could also be used for air defense for the first time was groundbreaking. This was made possible by the barrel elevation of 55 degrees and a theoretical rate of ten rounds per minute. The Americans achieved such values for the first time with post-war ships ( Worcester class). In practice, however, the Japanese had problems realizing the theoretical sequence of fire, and despite good fire control systems, there was no radar line for the use of flak until the end of the war. The combined sea-air search and target radar type 21 was unsuitable for this and only the anti-sea target control was still possible due to the retrofitting with the radar type 22 quay 4S (two double antennas on both sides of the bridge). With regard to air defense, an additional special air search and warning radar (type 13) came on board in 1944, but it did not include a fire control. Captain Hara Tameichi , the last in command of the Yahagi , which was sunk by American carrier aircraft along with the battleship Yamato off Okinawa in April 1945 , denies that the Yahagi have been equipped with any form of radar against air threats that allegedly only led the Yamato , although one the aerial of the air search system type 13 can clearly be seen on the American aerial photographs of the attack at the rear of the foremast of the cruiser.
The armament comprised six 15.2 cm L / 50 Type 41 guns in three twin towers (two cantilevered in front, one aft), four air defense guns 8.0 cm L / 60 Type 98 (the 8.0 cm specification is the official specification although the actual bore was only 7.6 cm, which corresponds to 3 inches) in two twins on the sides amidships and eight 61.0 cm (24 inch) Type 92 Model 4 torpedo tubes in two quads amidships (can be fired on both sides) with Schnell - Reloading sets for both quadruplets diagonally offset between the turntables. The light anti-aircraft gun was originally planned with ten tubes, consisting of two triplets in caliber 25 mm on the bridge and two twins in caliber 13 mm aft of the main mast. The agano and noshiro were thus completed. The number of light anti-aircraft guns grew rapidly during the war, with the Agano to 16 tubes 25 mm (4 × 3, 2 × 2), with the Noshiro to 48 tubes (10 × 3, 18 × 1), with the Yahagi , already was completed with 30 tubes 25 mm, on 58 tubes (10 × 3, 28 × 1) and with the Sakawa even on 61 tubes (10 × 3, 31 × 1). Two depth charges with 18 depth charges were installed aft for defense against submarines. For this purpose, Type 93 hydrophones and sonar devices were also on board. Instead, a Type 3 Model 1 sonar was installed on the Sakawa . Two Aichi E13A aircraft as reconnaissance, observation and anti-submarine aircraft supplemented the equipment. For them there was a catapult and a small flight deck with a transport rail system over the torpedo tubes; Reserve swimmers were led to the side of the chimney. The salvage crane for the embarkation of the aircraft after the splashdown was the front of the main mast.
Armor
The vital parts of the Agano class were protected against fire from medium calibers (5 to 6 inches), such as those used on destroyers or light cruisers.
The side armor was 65.80 meters long and 3.64 meters high and was made of 60 mm thick CNC steel. Internal protective walls made of 55 mm thick CNC steel protected the ammunition chambers of the 15.2 cm turrets. The main deck and lower deck were each reinforced with 20 mm armor. The command tower was secured up to 40 mm thick, some bulkheads up to 25 mm. A longitudinal bulkhead ran through the engine area.
The total weight of the armor was 656 tons, around 8.3 percent of the displacement at 2/3 load.
Drive and general data
The Agano class was Kanpon triple-turbine sets by four identical with together 100,000 PSW driven, the m on four screws with a diameter of 3.30 and a rotational speed of 360 / min appeared. The steam for the turbines was generated by six Kanpon kettles which developed a pressure of 30 kg / cm² at 350 ° C. This resulted in a design speed of 35.0 kn . On the test drives, the Agano achieved 35.82 knots at 105,500 hp, the values for the Yahagi were similar. With reserves of 1420 tons of oil, 6000 nm at 18 kn were calculated as sea endurance. The Agano reached 6178 nm at 18.44 kn as a value based on the test drives. A (balanced) rudder in the ship's center line behind the propellers, area 17.34 m², was used for steering.
The dimensions were:
- Length perpendicular 162.00 m, waterline 172.00 m, over everything 174.50 m
- Wide waterline (and at the same time over everything) 15.20 m
- Side height 10.17 m
- Draft mean 5.63 m (design), 5.71 m (actual, value for Sakawa )
- Standard water displacement 6652 t, test drive (2/3 load) 7710 ts (design), 7895 ts (actual, value for Sakawa ), maximum 8534 ts ( Sakawa )
The crew was 51 officers and 649 men. During the war effort, the number of crews rose to 805 (55 officers, 750 men, Sakawa 1945) due to the reinforcement of the anti-aircraft armament and the retrofitting of radar .
Agano class ships
Agano
Main article: Agano (ship)
The Agano was laid down in Sasebo in June 1940 and launched in October 1941. In the Pacific War she took part in the naval battle of the Kaiserin Augusta Bay on November 2, 1943 . Shortly afterwards, she was attacked by American aircraft in Rabaul and damaged by a torpedo at the rear. After making emergency repairs, she made her way to Japan . On February 16, she was hit north of Truk by two torpedoes from the submarine Skate . The agano sank the following day.
Noshiro
Main article: Noshiro (ship, 1943)
The Noshiro was laid down in Yokosuka in September 1941 and launched in July 1942. She was only used in the Pacific War from August 1943 and was part of Vice Admiral Kurita's fleet in October 1944, during the battle for the Gulf of Leyte . It survived the approach undamaged, but was targeted by American carrier aircraft in the battle of Samar. She was hit by two torpedoes and sank on October 26, 1944.
Yahagi
Main article: Yahagi (ship, 1943)
The Yahagi was laid down in November 1941 and launched in October 1942. It entered service in December 1943 and took part in the Battle of Leyte in October 1944, which it survived undamaged. In April 1945 she was part of the Yamato escort during Operation Ten-gō and was sunk on April 7, 1945 by US carrier aircraft on the way to Okinawa by bombs and torpedoes.
Sakawa
Main article: Sakawa (ship, 1944)
The Sakawa was laid down in November 1942 and launched in April 1944. The ship was put into service in November 1944 and initially took part in training missions. After Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, it fell to the United States and was eventually towed to Bikini Atoll . During Operation Crossroads , it was badly damaged in the Able nuclear test and sank on July 2, 1946.
Evidence and references
Individual evidence
- ↑ On this, especially Linton Wells, in: Eric Lacroix, Linton Wells III: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. US Naval Institute and Chatham, Annapolis / London 1997, ISBN 1-86176-058-2 , pp. 550ff. See also the historical treatises of the 1/700 plastic model kits of the Agano (WL Series No.58) and the Yahagi (WL Series No.63) by Tamiya (Shizuoka 1973) and the 1/350 plastic model kit of the Yahagi 1945 by Hasegawa (Shizuoka 2009).
- ↑ Hara Tameichi, in: Japanese Destroyer Captain. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1967, ISBN 1-59114-354-3 , p. 269. It may, however, also be a misrepresentation, because on p. 276 he only complains about the - in fact - insufficient fire conductivity of the new radar against air attacks .
- ↑ Clear photo documents for this can be found, for example, in Eric Lacroix, Linton Wells III: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. US Naval Institute and Chatham, Annapolis / London 1997, ISBN 1-86176-058-2 , p. 601 (Photo 11.7) and in Maruzen Editor: The Imperial Japanese Navy Vol.9, Light Cruisers Part II: Sendai, Agano, Oyodo , Katori Classes. Maruzen, Toyko 1990, ISBN 4-7698-0459-8 , p. 93.
literature
- Eric Lacroix, Linton Wells III: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. US Naval Institute and Chatham, Annapolis / London 1997, ISBN 1-86176-058-2 , pp. 550-609.
- Maru Special Vol.5, Agano-Class. Tokyo 1975.
- Maruzen Editor: The Imperial Japanese Navy Vol.9, Light Cruisers Part II: Sendai, Agano, Oyodo, Katori Classes. Maruzen, Toyko 1990, ISBN 4-7698-0459-8 , pp. 75-123.
- NN: Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy Vol.15: Sendai, Agano, Oyodo, Katori. Kaijinsha, Tokyo 1997, ISBN 4-7698-0816-X , (edited new edition of the Maruzen volume), pp. 74–123.
- Fukui Shizuo, Japanese Naval Vessels Illustrated 1869-1945 , Vol.2, Cruisers, Corvettes and Sloops, KK Orderers Publishing, Tokyo 1980, pp. 440-443, 455, 467-468.
- Kizu Tohru, Japanese Cruisers (Ships of the World Vol. 441), Kaijisha Co., Tokyo 1991, pp. 124-127.
- Todaka Kazushige, Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album Vol. 4, Cruisers , Kure Maritime Museum / Diamond Publishers, 2005, ISBN 4-478-95059-8 , pp. 176-180, 252-253.
- Hara Tameichi, Japanese Destroyer Captain (translated into English and edited by Saito and Pineau, original title: Taikoku Kaigun No Saigo ), Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1967, ISBN 1-59114-354-3 .
