Yahagi (ship, 1943)
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The Yahagi ( Japanese 矢 矧 ) was a light cruiser of the Japanese Navy during World War II . The ship was sunk by American planes during the last offensive operation of the Imperial Navy on April 7, 1945.
construction
The Yahagi was built in the naval shipyard in Sasebo . The keel was laid on November 11, 1941, the launch on September 25, 1942. After more than two years of construction, the Yahagi was put into service on December 29, 1943. It was named after the Yahagi River .
Together with its sister ships Sakawa , Noshiro and Agano , the ship belonged to the Agano class .
Calls
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The ship experienced the first battle during the battle in the Philippine Sea on June 19, 1944. It saved the survivors of the fleet carrier Shōkaku together with the destroyer Urakaze .
In July 1944 she received two more anti-aircraft guns and two radar systems . A type 13 air search radar and a type 22 radar for surface search were installed.
Battle of Leyte
From October 24 to 25, 1944, the Yahagi took part in the sea and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte . She survived the battle without significant damage, while numerous other ships of the Imperial Navy were sunk by American planes and submarines.
Downfall
During the Battle of Okinawa , the Yahagi was used together with the battleship Yamato and several destroyers for a relief mission, Operation Ten-gō .
The Yahagi was initially so badly damaged by a torpedo hit by an American fighter plane on the afternoon of April 7, 1945 in the East China Sea that it was immobilized before it was finally at position 30 ° 47 ' N , 128 ° 8' E after at least seven Torpedoes and several bomb hits went down.
In the sinking, 446 officers and men of the original 1000 crew members lost their lives.
Web links
literature
- Eric Lacroix, Linton Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Publisher Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1997.