Haguro (羽黒) was a heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. Commissioned in 1929, Haguro saw significant service during World War II, participating in nine naval engagements between 1942 and 1945. As a heavy cruiser, she was better armed and armored than most surface vessels, and had multiple battles during her combat career. In the early part of the war, she engaged in vigorous shore bombardment duties to support the Japanese invasions of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, and took part in the destruction of the Allied cruiser force defending the Dutch East Indies in the Battle of the Java Sea from 27 February to 1 March 1942. With torpedo hits, Haguro sank the Allied flagship, the light cruiser , and the destroyer , and received primary credit for sinking the heavy cruiser with gunfire, and was not damaged during the entire battle.

After patrol duty, from 7–8 May, Haguro escorted aircraft carriers during the Battle of the Coral Sea, escorted the invasion force at the Battle of Midway, and escorted carriers during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August. After a long series of patrol and escorting duties, Haguro fought an American cruiser-destroyer force at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, where she helped to damage the light cruiser , but was hit by ten shells from enemy cruisers, but most were duds, so she got off with light damage. After more patrol duties and surviving the occasional air raid, Haguro escorted carriers at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where she aided the sinking aircraft carrier , and fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, surviving the submarine and air attacks that sank several Japanese ships, and in turn damaging several American warships and helping to sink the destroyer , while taking minor damage from shell and bomb hits.

After escaping back to mainland Japan, Haguro spent most of 1945 transiting between bases transporting cargo. In May, she was transporting troops when she was ambushed by Royal Navy destroyers in the Malacca Strait, the last surface battle between enemy warships. Haguro was sunk by at least nine torpedo hits and nearly an hour of gunfire. The wreck was discovered in 2010 and illegally salvaged in 2014. the other ships were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and (足柄). The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were long, and were capable of .

Armament

Haguro was originally equipped with ten 20 cm (7.9-inch)/50 naval guns in five twin turrets, three forward and two aft, making her the most powerful heavy cruiser in the world at the time of her commissioning. Her secondary battery consisted of six Type 10 12 cm (4.7-inch) dual purposed guns in six single mounts, a pair of 13.2 mm machine guns, and twelve 61 cm (24 inch) torpedo tubes in four triple mounts, a pair on each side.

Afternoon battle

By 6:00 on 27 February Haguro located the enemy ships and closed to a reasonable firing range. At around , Haguro fired her ten 8-inch (203 mm) guns, immediately targeting the Allied flagship, the Dutch light cruiser . As the range drew closer, Haguro succeeded in hitting De Ruyter twice. The first hit the auxiliary motor room and started a small fire, killing one crewman and injuring six others, while the second penetrated unarmored portions of the ship without exploding. Even when they did not hit, Haguros shells still straddled De Ruyter several times, causing light damage. In turn, several Allied cruisers targeted Haguro, which they reported to have blown up and sunk with gunfire damage. Gunfire from all four cruisers then destroyed Exeters guns and lit her aflame, leading to her crew scuttling her. By this point, Haguro was almost entirely out of ammunition, with enough rounds for 13 salvos and just 4 torpedoes, causing her to retire from the engagement, while Myōkō and Ashigara joined the destroyers and in sinking the Encounter with gunfire. Pope temporarily escaped, but within two hours was crippled by aircraft from the light carrier and then finished off by gunfire with the arrival of Ashigara and Myōkō.

Further operations

thumb|Haguro escorting the aircraft carriers and during [[Battle of the Coral Sea|Operation MO]]

thumb|Haguro (right) and the heavy cruiser performing AA duty during the [[battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 August 1942]]

After the battle, the almost completely depleted Haguro returned to Kendari on 3 March, and spent the rest of the month transiting between various naval facilities before returning to mainland Japan. On April 18, Haguro was present during the attack on Tokyo by the aircraft carrier but was not damaged, and in turn served in the force that failed to track down the American task force responsible for the air raid, anchoring at Yokosuka on 22 March. Haguro spent the rest of the month preparing to support the planned invasion of Port Moresby. This commenced on 1 May when Haguro, Myōkō and six destroyers departed Truk as part of a larger escort to the aircraft carriers and , which fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea. Haguros crew watched as the first aircraft carrier battle in history unfolded from 7–8 May, and for her part survived the carrier raids which crippled Shōkaku without suffering any damage herself before helping to assist the mauled but still-floating carrier. Haguro arrived back at Truk on 17 May, and returned to Kure on 22 May, then on the 27 May arrived at Hashirajima in preparation for the Battle of Midway, where Haguro escorted a large troop convoy for the planned invasion of Midway Island, a convoy which was called off on 6 June after the battle turned into a devastating defeat in which Japan lost four aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser. Haguro spent the rest of the month assisting invasion convoys.

Shortly afterwards Haguro finally found the range, and along with Myōkō displayed excellent marksmanship. With just three salvos each at 22,000 yards, they hit Denver with three 8-inch (203 mm) shell hits at the waterline, causing her to fall out of formation due to a flooded bow, damaged Columbia with an 8-inch (203 mm) shell that punched through her plating and landed in a sail locker, and straddled Montpelier several times. However, Cleveland, Columbia, and Montpelier all fired on Haguro, hitting the ship with ten 6-inch (152 mm) shells over a ten minute period, smashing into Haguros turret 2, port flight deck and catapult, aft deck hospital room, and paint shed. But six out of the ten hits were duds, and thus only superficial damage was inflicted, killing only one of Haguros men and injuring five others. Shortly afterwards, Myōkō hit the destroyer with an 8-inch (203 mm) waterline hit right as the destroyer began to shell the already damaged Hatsukaze which forced her back.

thumb|Haguro under attack during the [[Bombing of Rabaul (November 1943)|bombing of Rabaul mere hours after the battle of the Empress Augusta Bay]]

However, the Japanese received far more damage than they inflicted. Sendai had already been turned into a floating flaming wreck by gunfire from the four American cruisers and sunk with most of her crew in a one-sided massacre. Spence then called upon Captain Arleigh Burke's Destroyer Division 45, consisting of , , , and , to deliver the final blow to the crippled Hatsukaze, which they finished off with gunfire. Deciding to cut their losses, Haguro and the other Japanese ships retreated. Not only had they lost more tonnage than they damaged, they failed to disrupt the American landings in any way.

Haguro returned to Okinawa on 22 June, and two days later was drydocked in Kure for refit, receiving 52 additional AA guns and upgraded type 13 and 22 radar. She was undocked six days later and immediately departed on a troop transport mission to Manila. She then spent July operating off Singapore, before spending the next few months on vigorous training duties.

thumb|Haguro under carrier aircraft attacks on the 24th

On 22 October, the fleet departed Brunei for battle, Haguro in a line of cruisers following the battleships. However, in the darkness of the early morning of 23 October, the fleet was intercepted by the submarines and , which torpedoed and sank the heavy cruisers and , respectively. Shortly afterwards, two torpedoes from a salvo from Darter forced Haguro to maneuver to avoid damage. The heavy cruiser was hit by two torpedoes and forced to retire from the battle, taking the destroyers and for protection.

thumb|Damage inflicted to [[USS Hoel (DD-533)|USS Hoel by Haguro, which helped to sink her]]

With four salvos, Haguro hit Hoel with nine 8-inch (203 mm) shells and one 5-inch (127 mm) shell, destroying three of Hoels five 5-inch (127 mm) guns, her port engine, after generator, bridge, and main battery director, as well as inflicting other damage. Had Haguro correctly identified Hoel as a destroyer and not a cruiser, the hits to the turrets and handing room would have likely detonated her magazines and sank her then and there. However, Haguro fired armor-piercing shells that penetrated Hoels unarmored hull without exploding. Still, the damage was significant, and the crippled Hoel was later finished off by gunfire from Yamato and Nagato.

Haguro temporally retreated to conduct repairs. After 8:30, she returned to the battlefield, where she joined Tone in continuing to pound Kalinin Bay. Closing to 10,100 yards, Haguro and Tone struck Kalinin Bay with another eleven 8-inch (203 mm) shell hits, the first two punching through her hangar bay, while the third holed her below the waterline, passed through the ship, and detonated after coming out the other side and hitting the water, effectively acting as a near miss. This shell disabled the ship's fuel lines, shredded her forward bulkhead, and caused notable flooding. The next two hits again punched through the flight deck, while another holed her bow above the waterline. The rest of the hits all plunged into Kalinin Bays flight deck, starting a fire which raged throughout the hangar bay. In addition to the direct hits, several damaging near misses resulted in seawater flooding the ship. In total, Kalinin Bay took fourteen direct 8-inch (203 mm) rounds, seven each from Haguro and Tone, a 14-inch (356 mm) shell from Haruna, and after the surface action two kamikazes. Despite this, she would not sink, undoubtedly due to the use of armor-piercing shells that failed to explode upon hitting the ship, when high explosive shells would have detonated and sunk the carrier.

Japanese retreat

thumb|The Japanese fleet retreating from Taffy 3. is seen in the center, and Haguro ahead of her

Haguro fired her last salvo at 9:12. During the course of the engagement, she unleashed a total of 345 8-inch (203 mm) rounds. With the sinking of the heavy cruisers , , and to air attacks, and the damaging of several more, while believing his ships had sunk at least two fleet carriers (if not more) and multiple cruisers and destroyers, Kurita ordered a withdrawal. Haguro, while retreating with the other Japanese ships, spotted the formation of escort carriers that made up Taffy 2, but chose not to attack. Just before 11:00, aircraft from American carriers attacked. Haguros AA guns responded, but failed to shoot down any planes. Haguro was undamaged, as most of the planes ignored her and targeted Yamato, which they too failed to damage. More air attacks ensued the next two days, sinking the light cruiser and the destroyers , , and . However, Haguro was attacked by a single plane whose bomb landed a damaging near miss to her port side.

On 28 October, Haguro returned to Brunei with the rest of the fleet. The battle was a devastating defeat. Japan had lost three battleships, an aircraft carrier, three light carriers, six heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and 11 destroyers, and in turn sank just one American light carrier, two escort carriers, two destroyers, and two destroyer escorts. This battle crippled the Japanese navy, rendering it unable to effectively operate as a fleet due to the oil fields of the Dutch East Indies being cut off and the sheer number of Japanese ships sunk in both the battle and its immediate aftermath. Despite helping to sink a destroyer and damaging several other ships, Haguro failed to engage her intended target of the American troop convoys, as with the rest of the fleet, rendering the Battle of Leyte Gulf both a crushing tactical and strategic victory for the Allied forces.

With the start of 1945 Haguro was reassigned to the Southwest area fleet, and from 22 to 30 January was drydocked for repairs to her number 3 oil tank. She immediately departed for Lingga and arrived on the 31st, where she remained at anchor for the entirety of February; the 5th saw Haguro reassigned to Tenth area fleet before the 24th saw Haguro survive an attack by US air force bombers undamaged. Haguro finally left Lingga on 20 March on a return journey to Singapore, where a mine exploded nearby and spooked the cruiser's crew, but no damage was inflicted. including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her. Rear Admiral Sugiura was posthumously promoted to vice admiral on 16 May. Haguro was the last major Japanese warship to be sunk in a surface action during the war.

Haguro was stricken from the Navy list on 20 June.

thumb|[[United States Army Air Forces|USAAF gun camera footage of Haguro under attack at Rabaul]]

Wreck

On 4 March 2003, a group of specialized shipwreck divers operating off MV Empress discovered the wreck of Haguro in of water in the Malacca Strait south of Penang. The wreck sits upright, covered in places by discarded trawler nets with her hull opposite her forward turrets buried in the seabed to about her original waterline, but this level gradually reduces until at the stern her outer propellers and shafts are actually up above the seabed. Her foremast and the top half of the bridge structure are missing/collapsed. Her mainmast is collapsed. Her funnels are missing. British hits are visible in places. The bow section forward of no. 2 turret is badly damaged by torpedo hits. Haguros no. 1 turret and barbette are uprooted and lie against the hull, the rear of the turret on the starboard sea bed and the barrels pointing vertically towards the surface. Her no. 2 turret is trained to starboard at approximately the 1 o'clock position, with its roof collapsed and both barrels and breeches missing, as they were not replaced after being damaged by a bomb at the earlier Battle of Leyte Gulf. Her no. 3 turret's guns are askew and trained to the port quarter at the 8 o'clock position. Both her stern main turrets' guns point almost directly astern. Just behind the no. 5 turret, the wreck is broken in half, although the very stern section is still "partially" attached and heavily damaged on the port side.

Notes

References

Books

  • Hara, Capt. Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York: Ballantine Books.
  • Haguros history in detail