Mogami (ship, 1935)
 The Mogami 1935
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The Mogami ( Japanese 最 上 ), named after the river of the same name , was the lead ship of the Mogami class , a class of cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy , and was used during the Second World War .
Planning and construction
It was formally built as a "light cruiser", but with characteristics that, apart from the caliber of the main armament, already corresponded to heavy cruisers. Finally, shortly before the start of the war, the corresponding guns of 8-inch caliber (20.3 cm) were installed so that the ship could be used as a full-fledged heavy cruiser in World War II (the reclassification took place on March 31, 1938 after the Main armament of caliber 15.5 cm by 20.3 cm). Until the armament was replaced, the Mogami- class was operated as a B-class ship.
In the early 1930s, the Japanese fleet command felt inferior to the other naval powers when it came to cruisers . That is why as many were built as the maximum allowed by the Washington Naval Agreement . The Mogami was equipped with five triplet turrets, whose 15.5 cm L / 60 year 3 gun barrels could be raised up to 55 °. The Mogami was thus the first ship in the Navy whose main guns could fight both air and sea targets. Striking was the very strong Fla -Bewaffnung the ship. During this time, the future Admiral Itō Seiichi was the commander of this ship.
In order to save weight, the individual components were not riveted, but welded together and most of the superstructures were made from an aluminum alloy. The number of steam boilers could be reduced to ten compared to previous cruisers. On the cruisers of the Mogami class, as on the ships of the predecessor classes, the front exhaust duct was bent sharply backwards so that it emerged as far aft from the deck as possible. The bridge and control room should be kept free of smoke as far as possible. In the Mogami and Tone classes , the two chimneys were so close that they could be merged into one above the boat deck .
However, the designers had placed too much emphasis on lightweight construction. The Mogami- class ships had too high a center of gravity, which led to instability. After the first test shots, several welds also tore. The hull was therefore reinforced and widened, which, however, reduced the speed by 2 kts.
At the beginning of 1939, all ships of the Mogami class were overhauled, the main guns were replaced with 203 mm twin turrets and the old 155 mm guns were later installed on the Yamato and the Musashi . An additional torpedo protection was also attached.
Calls
Midway
The Mogami and their sister ships took part in the Battle of Midway . They were assigned to secure the Japanese aircraft carriers .
However, there was a collision between the Mogami and the Mikuma when both ships tried to avoid a submarine attack. Soon after, carrier planes attacked and sank the Mikuma . The Mogami received several bomb hits; but since the crew had thrown the cruiser's torpedoes overboard before the air attack, no secondary explosion could occur and the ship escaped. However, her bow was dented and she spent ten months at the shipyard in Japan to repair the damage . The first work on the damaged Mogami had already been carried out in the Truk naval base, which the Mogami left on August 5, 1942 and was in dry dock at the Sasebo naval shipyard from September 1, 1942 for repairs and renovations.
modification
With the repair, the conversion to a hybrid carrier took place: The aft 20.3 cm towers were omitted, and the existing catapult deck was extended to the stern. An aircraft hangar could not be installed, but expanded storage rooms were created for flight operations, which could hold fuel, ammunition and spare parts. The concept corresponded in the approach to the hybrid carrier conversion of the Ise class , but turned out to be much simpler due to the limited possibilities on the much smaller cruiser.
Leyte
The remaining three cruisers of the class were used in the Battle of Leyte in October 1944 . A Mogami aircraft made the first reconnaissance flight for the Southern Fleet on October 24, 1944. The Mogami was hardly damaged in the American air raids that followed that day . The following night there was a battle in Surigaostraße , in which the Mogami was hit by 8-inch shells from American cruisers and finally collided with the heavy cruiser Nachi , as a result of which five torpedoes exploded on the starboard side and destroyed the machinery there. As a result, US cruisers scored more hits on the damaged Mogami , but initially they withdrew. The following morning the ship was attacked from the air again, received two bombs and finally had to be abandoned after the failure of the port propulsion system around noon on October 25, 1944.
The accompanying destroyer Akebono sank the wreck with a single 61 cm torpedo after taking over the surviving crew. About 700 Mogami men survived, while 192 crew members, including her last commandant, Sea Captain Toma Ryu, went down with her.
Evidence and references
Remarks
- ↑ for March 1940 after Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War , p. 451
literature
Only Japanese sources specific to the Mogami or the cruisers of the Japanese Navy:
- Japanese Naval Vessels. Maru Special (first series in 56 volumes), Volume 10: Mogami / Mikuma . Tokyo 1977. Second Series Volume 122: History of the Mogami and Tone Classes. Tokyo 1987
- Gakken Pictorial Series, Volume 38, Mogami Class. Tokyo 2002
- Kaijinsha (publ.): The Imperial Japanese Navy. (in 14 volumes), Volume 7 (Schwere Kreuzer 3). Tokyo 1990
- Fukui Shizuo: Japanese Naval Vessels Illustrated, 1869-1945. (in three volumes), Volume 2, Cruisers, Corvettes and Sloops. Tokyo 1980
- Todaka Kazushige: Japanese Naval Warship. (so far in 6 volumes) Volume 4, Cruisers, Kure Maritime Museum, Kure 2005
- T. Kizu: Japanese Cruisers, Ships of the World. Volume 441, Tokyo 1991
- Model Art No.360, Drawings of IJN Vessels Vol. 2, Cruisers. Tokyo 1991
Other sources:
- Lacroix, Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis 1997.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The German rank of captain at sea corresponds to the Japanese rank Taisa ( 大佐 ), which literally means great assistance .