Kasumi (ship, 1939)
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The Kasumi ( Japanese 霞 ) was a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy . She entered service on June 28, 1939 and was the ninth of a total of ten Asashio- class ships .
history
The Kasumi was laid down in the Uraga shipyard on December 1, 1936 and launched on November 18, 1937. It was put into service on June 28, 1939. She was assigned to the 2nd Fleet under Captain Tomura Kiyoshi . Before the attack on Pearl Harbor , the Kasumi was stationed on Etorofu in the Kuril Islands as part of Admiral Nagumo Chuichi's carrier group . She ran out with this and was intended to protect the supply ships . After the attack, she returned to Kure Base on December 24th .
In January 1942, she escorted the aircraft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku to Truk and then covered the Japanese landings on Rabaul and Kavieng . She set out from Palau in February and reached her new base in Sulawesi on the 21st of the month . From there she ran out to patrol around Java , where she sank a merchant ship on March 1st. On March 27, the Kasumi ran out again to support the advance of a carrier group into the Indian Ocean . After the Japanese air raids on Colombo and Trincomalee , she returned to Kure on April 23 to have damage repaired, the cause of which is not known. After a transfer to Saipan , the Kasumi ran out on June 3 as an escort ship and took part in the Battle of Midway . After the battle, she accompanied the cruisers Kumano and Suzuya from Truk to the dock in Kure. Then, from June 28, she escorted the light carrier Chiyoda to Kiska Island . About 13 kilometers from Kiska, she was hit by a torpedo on July 5 , which had been fired from the American submarine USS Growler . Her bow was badly damaged and 10 sailors lost their lives. After successfully returning to Japan, she remained in dry dock for repairs until June 30, 1943.
From September 1 of the same year the Kasumi was assigned to the 5th Fleet and patrolled the waters around the Kuril Islands until the end of November. In December, she moved pilots from Yokosuka to Kwajalein and Wotje and then returned to Maizuru . There she received two more Type 96 triple anti-aircraft guns .
In February 1944 the Kasumi returned to their patrol station around the Kuril Islands and at the end of March escorted a troop transport to Uruppu . Another stay in Kure followed at the beginning of August.
During the sea and air battle in the Leyte Gulf , she was part of Admiral Shima Kiyohide's force during the fighting on Surigao Straits on October 24th and 25th. On November 5, she recovered survivors of the merchant ship Nachi , which had fallen victim to an Allied air strike. This happened as part of a troop convoy to Ormoc . Later in November, the Kasumi herself was attacked by Allied aircraft, killing one sailor. After further convoy activity, she took part in coastal bombings in the Philippines in late December .
In February 1945 the ship returned to Kure once more and was reassigned to the 2nd fleet on March 10th.
On April 6th, the Kasumi, together with the Yamato and its association, left for Operation Ten-Go in Okinawa . The following day the formation was discovered and attacked by Allied aircraft. The Kasumi was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned, killing 17 men and wounding 47. The destroyer Fuyuzuki picked up the survivors and then sank the Kasumi with two torpedoes, 275 kilometers southwest of Nagasaki . On May 10, 1945 she was deleted from the naval register.
literature
- Andrieu D'Albas: Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II . Devin-Adair Pub., 1965, ISBN 0-8159-5302-X .
- David Brown: Warship Losses of World War Two . Naval Institute Press, 1990, ISBN 1-55750-914-X .
- George Feifer: The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb . The Lyons Press, 2001, ISBN 1-58574-215-5 .
- Tameichi Hara: Japanese Destroyer Captain . Ballantine Books, Toronto & New York 1961, ISBN 0-345-27894-1 .
- Stephen Howarth: The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945 . Atheneum, 1983, ISBN 0-689-11402-8 .
- Hans Georg Jentsura: Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945 . US Naval Institute, 1976, ISBN 0-87021-893-X .
- Anthony J. Watts: Japanese Warships of World War II . Doubleday, 1967.
- MJ Whitley: Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia . Arms and Armor Press, London 2000, ISBN 1-85409-521-8 .