Ashigara (ship, 1928)
 Heavy cruiser Ashigara 1942
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The Ashigara ( Japanese 足 柄 ) was a heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy and at the same time the last ship of the four-unit Myōkō-class , which were put into service between November 1928 and August 1929. The ship was named after a mountain in the border area of on Honshu lying prefectures Kanagawa and Shizuoka . The cruiser was mainly used in the Pacific War before it was sunk by a submarine a few weeks before the end of the war on June 8, 1945 .
Construction and remodeling
The keel of the ship was laid on April 11, 1925 at the Kawasaki shipyard in Kobe, and it was launched almost exactly three years later to the day on April 20, 1928. The first changes were made to the ship just a few years after it was commissioned. As early as 1932, the ten 20 cm guns of the main artillery (model 3 Nendo shiki 1 Gō 20 cm) were exchanged for ten more modern 20.3 cm guns (model 3 Nendo shiki 2 Gō 20.3 cm).
From November 15, 1934, the Ashigara underwent a six-month renovation, with the rigidly built-in torpedo tubes , the aircraft hangar and the six older 12 cm guns of the middle artillery being taken from board. Instead, the cruiser received eight 12.7 cm multi-purpose guns in four double mounts, two swiveling quad tube sets for torpedoes of the type 93 and two catapults as well as four sea observation aircraft of the type Nakajima E8N (although the ship seldom carried more than two machines at the time) . In addition, a new anti-aircraft fire control system was installed on board. However, the structural changes also caused the water displacement to increase by around 680 ts, which made it necessary to enlarge the side bulges to ensure stability.
After parts of the Japanese fleet suffered considerable damage in a typhoon in September 1935, the longitudinal and transverse struts of the Ashigara hull were also subjected to reinforcement.
As part of a renewed conversion from 1939, the Ashigara received two additional quad tube sets for 609 mm torpedoes of the type 93. In addition, more powerful catapults and three modern reconnaissance aircraft came on board, including two Mitsubishi F1Ms . However, the modifications again impaired the stability of the ship and made it necessary to enlarge the side bulges again.
In addition, the cruiser's light flak , which was initially considered to be very weak - when it was commissioned in 1929, there were just two 7.62 mm machine guns on board - was reinforced several times between 1936 and 1941 and later in the course of the war, initially with heavy ones 13.2 mm machine guns, later by 2.5 cm flak. At the beginning of the Pacific War in 1941, the Ashigara had eight 2.5 cm anti-aircraft guns in four double mounts and four 13.2 mm machine guns. Between 1943 and 1944 the light flak was reinforced several times. At the end of 1944 there were a total of 48 2.5 cm anti-aircraft guns, a type 21 radar device for air space observation and a type 22 radar system for sea space monitoring on board. To save weight, two searchlights and two of the four torpedo tube sets were dismantled in return.
Calls
After commissioning on August 20, 1929, the cruiser was initially used as the flagship of the 4th cruiser squadron, which was formed by the four units of the Myōkō-class, and operated almost without exception in domestic waters. After the Ashigara was temporarily transferred to reserve status in December 1932 and subjected to some modifications, she briefly formed the 5th cruiser squadron with her three sister ships from May 1933, which was dissolved again in the summer of 1933. At the end of 1933, the Ashigara was assigned to the guard squadrons of the naval bases Kure and Sasebo together with the three other ships and then subjected to a lengthy renovation.
In mid-1935 the cruiser was put back into service and undertook several practice runs. During a test firing east of Hokkaidō, a severe explosion occurred in tower no. 2, which devastated the twin tower and killed 41 crew members. Fortunately, the flame did not hit the ammunition magazine, which saved the ship from serious damage. The repair work that was then necessary as well as renewed construction work as part of the reinforcement of the hull ensured that the cruiser was not ready for operation again until June 1936.
Between April and June 1937, the Ashigara was meanwhile again the flagship of the 4th cruiser squadron, the cruiser undertook an extensive trip to Europe and visited Portsmouth , where the ship took part in an international fleet parade on the occasion of the coronation of King George VI. participated, and Kiel. As part of a trip to Berlin, the commander of the 4th cruiser squadron, Rear Admiral Sonosuke Kobayashi , and the commander of the Ashigara , Kaigun-Taisa Moriji Takeda, were received by Adolf Hitler in the Reich Chancellery.
Immediately after returning to Japan, the cruiser became the flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron. In this role, he took part in an international rescue operation in December 1937 for the US steamer President Harrison , which was in distress northeast of Formosa , and in the course of 1938, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War , operated mainly in Chinese and Indochinese waters.
In the summer of 1941, the Ashigara took part in the occupation of the French possessions in Indochina and temporarily moved to Saigon with the 7th cruiser squadron .
Second World War
Immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Ashigara acted together with the heavy cruiser Maya , the light cruiser Kuma and two destroyers as a cover group for the so-called North Philippines Association and supported the landings on December 10, 1941 Aparri and Vingan on Luzon. Here the cruiser survived an attack by American B-17 bombers unscathed, while the Americans initially believed after this attack that they had sunk the battleship Haruna . In mid-December, the ship also took part in the landing operations in the Gulf of Lingayen .
In the spring of 1942 the Ashigara , meanwhile part of the 16th cruiser squadron, moved to the Dutch-East Indian waters and participated in the invasion of Java and in the defeat of the Allied naval forces in this area. On March 1, 1942, the Ashigara was part of a unit consisting of a total of four heavy cruisers and two destroyers, which entered a two-hour battle with the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter , the destroyer HMS Encounter and the US destroyer USS in front of the Sunda Strait Pope got involved. In the course of the battle, the British destroyer was knocked out by 8-inch shells from Japanese cruisers and sank. The Exeter was also shot down by the outnumbered Japanese and capsized after several torpedo hits near the island of Bawean. The American destroyer, which was initially able to escape from the battlefield, sank in the course of the day after attacks by aircraft belonging to the carrier Ryūjō and the seaplane tender Chitose .
After conquering the Dutch-East Indian possessions, the Ashigara moved back to Japan and underwent a major overhaul in Sasebo. The ship then went to Singapore , where it became the flagship of the 2nd expedition fleet. The Ashigara remained in this function until February 1944. In addition to transport trips, the cruiser mostly carried out security tasks between Penang, Singapore and the Dutch-East Indian islands.
In the spring of 1944, the ship was transferred to the 21st Cruiser Squadron in the North Pacific and moved back to Japan. In Sasebo, the cruiser received additional light anti-aircraft guns and a radar system for observing the sea area. Until June 1944, the Ashigara served together with her sister ship Nachi as a guard ship for the 21st cruiser squadron.
In October 1944 the cruiser was detached from Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide as part of the ongoing Japanese operations against the American landing in the Philippines and took part in the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte . The cruiser penetrated the Strait of Surigao together with the heavy cruiser Nachi and eight destroyers on October 25 . Since the main Japanese power in this area, including two battleships, had already been largely destroyed by superior US naval forces, the unit turned back and started the march back after shooting down a few torpedoes. During the retreat, the Ashigara took part in the recovery of the badly damaged cruiser Kumano . Remaining undamaged in this battle, the Ashigara took part in an advance against the American landing head near San Jose on the east of Luzon island of Mindoro in December 1944 . In the course of the operation, the Ashigara was hit by a 227-kilogram bomb in an American air raid on December 26 and was slightly damaged, but the cruiser was still able to reach the American landing head in the early morning hours of December 27 and with around 200 20 , Bomb 3 cm grenades.
In January 1945 the Ashigara was ordered back to Singapore and carried out security tasks and supply trips in the Dutch-East Indian island world over the course of the following five months. In June 1945 the cruiser was placed under the 10th Coast Fleet in Singapore and used for troop transports.
loss
At noon on June 8, 1945, the British submarine HMS Trenchant ( Commander Arthur Hezlet), which had previously been informed of the ship's route by an American and a British submarine, discovered the cruiser on one of these transport trips in the Bangka Road east of Sumatra . Despite the destroyer security, the British submarine attacked and, while submerged, shot a fan of eight torpedoes at the Ashigara . The cruiser loaded with around 1,600 soldiers on the way from Jakarta to Singapore was hit by five torpedoes at around 12:15 p.m. and capsized after around twenty minutes. In a well-coordinated rescue operation, the securing destroyer Kamikaze was later able to rescue 853 crew members, including the commandant of the Ashigara , Rear Admiral Hayao Miura, and around 400 soldiers. In total, however, an estimated 1,200 soldiers and sailors were killed when the cruiser sank.
Detailed technical data
- Displacement (standard): 10,000 ts
- Displacement (maximum): 13,300 ts
- Length (over all): 203.76 m
- Length (between perpendiculars): 192.38 m
- Width: 19.00 m
- Draft: 5.89 m (maximum)
- Armament (1941):
- ten 20.3 cm SK L / 50 in five twin towers
- eight 12.7 cm multi-purpose SK L / 40 in four double mounts
- eight 2.5 cm anti-aircraft guns in four double mounts
- four 13.2 mm anti-aircraft machine guns in two double mounts
- 16 torpedo tubes 609 mm (four rotating quad tube sets)
- Armor protection:
- Armored deck: 35 mm
- Upper deck: 13-25 mm
- Sides: 102 mm.
- Towers: 25 mm (splinter protection)
- Barbettes: 76 mm
- Machinery:
- 12 Kampon oil boilers (in eight boiler rooms)
- four geared turbines and four shafts each
- 130,000 WPS (on four screws)
- Top speed: 35.5 knots
- Range: 8,000 nautical miles at 14 knots
- Fuel supply: 2,470 ts of heating oil
- Crew: 773 (more than 900 later in the war)
Evidence and references
Remarks
- ↑ for 1940 after Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. P. 273 - Construction dates before modernization are described in the class article.
- ↑ The Japanese rank Taisa corresponds to the German rank of captain at sea . The prefix Kaigun indicates that it is a naval officer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joachim Wätzig: The Japanese Fleet - From 1868 to today. Brandenburgisches Verlagshaus, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89488-104-6 , p. 183.
- ^ Wiliam B. Hopkins: The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players That Won the War: The Strategy, the Politics, and the Players. Zenith Press, Minneapolis 2009, ISBN 978-0-7603-3435-5 , p. 52.
literature
- Joachim Wätzig: The Japanese fleet. From 1868 until today. Brandenburgisches Verlags-Haus, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-89488-104-6 .
- Mike J. Whitley: Cruiser in World War II. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01842-X , pp. 198-203.
Web links
- www.combinedfleet.com (English)