Japanese cruiser Haguro

 

Haguro was the third of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers (sometimes referred to as the Nachi class due to the second ship, Nachi, being completed before Myōkō, despite starting construction after);^[4] the other ships were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and Ashigara (足柄).^[5] The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 201 metres (659 ft) long, and were capable of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).

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.^[4]

In the mid 1930s, Haguro's offensive capabilities were drastically improved. Her 20 cm (7.9 inch) guns were removed and replaced by ten 203 mm (8-inch) guns, improving rate of fire and penetration power. Her 12 cm (4.7 inch) dual guns were replaced by eight 127 mm/40 dual purposed naval gun in four twin turrets, a pair on each side, and her triple torpedo tubes were replaced by quadruple torpedo mounts, making her total torpedo tubes a number of sixteen. Haguro's new AA battery also consisted of various 25 mm (1 inch) machine guns.^[4]

Haguro's main belt was very thick for a cruiser, at 102 mm (4 inches) in thickness. She also carried 35 mm (1.4 inch) deck armor. She carried 76 mm (3 inch) barbette armor, and 25 mm (1 inch) turret armor. Her superstructure was mostly unarmored to avoid stability issues.^[4]

 

Haguro was laid down at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki on 16 March 1925, launched and named on 24

March 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 25 April 1929. In October 1930, Haguro embarked on a voyage carrying Emperor Hirohito from Kobe to the battleship Kirishima from the 22nd to 25th, ^[2]

Between 1931 and 1933 she was commanded by Nomura Naokuni who subsequently achieved flag rank. In 1936, Haguro received her first modernizations, and took part in a variety of troop-ferrying and convoy-escorting missions during the Sino-Japanese war, but did not see combat.^[2]

By the time of Japan's entry into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Haguro was en route to the Philippines as part of a large cover force to support Japanese landings. Haguro saw her first action just four days later bombarding Legaspi, then she bombarded Davao on the night of 19–20 December after escorting troop transports, before she conducted more shore bombardment on Jolo on the 24th. On 4 January 1942, she survived B-17 air attacks undamaged, then Haguro took part in several more shore bombardment missions to aid in the invasion of Celebes. On 26 January, the submarine USS Sailfish fired four torpedoes at Haguro, but none made their mark. On 10 February, Haguro bombarded Makassar, then on the 20th bombarded Timor to support Japanese troop landings.^[2]

On 26 February, Haguro and her sistership Nachi were escorting a large Japanese troop convoy departing through the Java Sea to support the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. En route, one of Nachi's floatplanes spotted a large Allied task force consisting of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and nine destroyers attempting to intercept and destroy Japanese troop convoys. Haguro sped at full speed as Nachi's floatplane radioed the Allied ships' action. ^[6]

By 6:00 on the 27th Haguro located the enemy ships and closed to a reasonable firing range. At around 28,000 yards (26,000 m), Haguro fired her eight 203 mm (8 in) guns at the enemy ships, immediately targeting the Allied flagship, the Dutch light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter. As the range drew closer, Haguro succeeded in hitting De Ruyter twice. The first hit the axillary motor room and started a small fire, killing one crewman and injuring six others, while the second over penetrated unarmored portions of the ship without exploding. Even when they did not hit, Haguro's 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 sank with gunfire damage.^[2]

In reality, Haguro was not hit once, and as a torpedo attack from Japanese destroyers forced the Allied ships to conduct evasive maneuvers, Haguro switched fire to the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, one of the most capable ships of the task force. Exeter responded back, but gunnery was poor, and by the eighth salvo she had only managed to straddle Haguro. In stark contrast, closing to about 22,000 yards (20,000 m) Haguro hit Exeter twice. One 203 mm (8 in) shell hit was a dud, but the other penetrated deep inside the ship and exploded, destroying six of her eight boilers as Exeter's speed dropped to 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph), The damage killed 40 men as the crippled Exeter was forced to withdraw from the battle. Almost simultaneously, Haguro fired a spread of eight type 93 torpedoes, and around 15 minutes later, one of these torpedoes hit the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer. Within an instant, the destroyer was blown in half, the bow section rapidly sinking, and the stern section sinking several minutes later. 40 sailors went down with the ship. Fired from a distance of 22,000 yards, this would be probably the longest ranged torpedo hit in history.^[4][2][7][6]

Immediately afterwards, Japanese ships sank the destroyer HMS Electra, and with one cruiser crippled and two destroyers sunk, Admiral Doorman aboard De Ruyter ordered an immediate retreat from the battle, and seemed to do so successfully. However, unknown to Doorman, one of Haguro's floatplanes tracked down his ships and trailed the force. Haguro, joined by Nachi, used the details given to them to sail to an interception point. It was just before midnight that Haguro located the enemy force again, which were unaware of her presence. At around 16,000 yards (15,000 m), a stealthy torpedo attack was prepared, Nachi let out eight torpedoes, while Haguro unleashed four. A torpedo from Nachi hit the light cruiser HNLMS Java, which ignited her main battery magazines, blowing the cruiser in two and sinking her in two minutes with the loss of all but 19 men. Four minutes later, one of Haguro's torpedoes hit De Ruyter. The hit immediately killed much of the cruiser's damage control team, started a large fire, and overwhelming flooding disabled her engines and De Ruyter stopped dead in the water. Over three hours, De Ruyter capsized and sank with the loss of 367 men, including Admiral Doorman and Captain Eugène Lacomblé. Having sunk the Allied flagship, Haguro steamed from the battlefield. Depending on the source, she was either undetected, or spotted but Allied gunfire was ineffective.^[2][4][6]

On 1 March 1942 in another action south of Borneo, Exeter and her two escorting destroyers HMS Encounter and USS Pope unintentionally stumbled into Haguro and Nachi and their two escorting destroyers while trying to make an escape from the Java Sea.^[8] After a running gun battle lasting almost two hours that subsequently included the cruisers Myoko and Ashigara and their two destroyers, shells again disabled Exeter's engine room, electrical power, and guns and lit her aflame, leading to her crew scuttling her.^[9][10] With their work accomplished, Haguro and Nachi proceeded to leave the scene while Myōkō and Ashigara combined fire to sink Encounter.^[11] Pope temporarily escaped, but within two hours was crippled by aircraft from the light carrier Ryūjō^[12] and then finished off by gunfire with the arrival of Ashigara and Myōkō.^[13][14][15]

After the battle, the almost completely depleted Haguro returned to Kendari on the 3rd, and spend the rest of March 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 USS Hornet but was not damaged, and in turn served in the force that failed to track down the US task force responsible for the air raid, anchoring at Yokosuka on the 22nd. Haguro spent the rest of the month in preparation for supporting the planned invasion of Port Moresby. This commenced on May 1 when Haguro alongside Myōkō and six destroyers departed Truk as part of a larger escort to the aircraft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku in what became known as the Battle of the Coral Sea. Haguro's 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 damage herself before helping to assist the mauled but still afloat flattop. Haguro arrived back at Truk on the 17th, and returned to Kure on the 22nd, then on the 27th 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 June 6 after the battle turned into a devastating defeat which lost Japan four aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser. Haguro spend the rest of the month assisting invasion convoys.^[2]

 

Haguro did not sortie during July, only seeing her next action as an escort for Japanese aircraft carriers during the battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, coming under light air attacks but receiving no damage. In turn, Shōkaku and Zuikaku crippled the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, but failed to stop the sinking of the light carrier Ryūjō, the destroyer Mutsuki, and a troop transport to US dive and torpedo bombers, ending the battle in an American victory. Haguro spent the rest of August and into September transiting between ports, surviving attacks by B-17 bombers without damage, before being docked for refit on October 5. On November 27, Haguro departed Sasebo alongside Myōkō on a troop transport mission to Truk, then returned to Kure by the end of the year.^[2]

On January 31, 1943, Haguro escorted Japanese aircraft carriers which served as a cover force for what became the evacuation of Guadalcanal. She returned to Truk on February 9. For the next few months, Haguro engaged in a series of peaceful patrol duties throughout the Indian Ocean, which failed to yield combat, finally returning to Yokosuka later that May, before escorting navy responses to the invasion of Attu until June when she was docked for refit which installed new sets of radar and several anti-aircraft guns. She returned to Japan on July 19. Throughout August and September, Haguro engaged in troop and supply transport missions, surviving a raid from US carrier aircraft on September 18 without damage. At the end of September, Haguro attempted to track down the US navy task force 15, but failed to make contact, then took part in convoy escorting missions throughout October.^[2]

Main Article: Battle of the Empress Augusta Bay

 

Later that year, Haguro partook in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay against US cruisers and destroyers on 1–2 November 1943. Haguro was only lightly damaged in the battle and returned to Rabaul.^[2]

On 19 June 1944, she participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.^[2]

 

Between 22 and 26 October 1944, Haguro participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Haguro evaded two torpedoes in the submarine attacks that sank the heavy cruisers Atago and Maya, and crippled the heavy cruiser Takao. The next day, Haguro was not hit in the US carrier aircraft attacks that sank the battleship Musashi and damaged the battleships Yamato, Nagato, and the cruiser Tone. After Myōkō was hit by an air dropped torpedo and forced to leave the battle, Vice Admiral Hashimoto transferred his flag to Haguro.^[2]

The next day, Haguro partook in the Battle off Samar against Task Force 3. During the battle, Haguro first hit the destroyer USS Hoel with an 8-inch (203 mm) shell to her bridge from 14,000 yards (13,000 m). She then targeted the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay, who reported spotting a "Nachi-class cruiser" from 18,000 yards (16,000 m). Haguro landed fourteen hits on the escort carrier, but in turn was lightly damaged by a pair of 5-inch (127 mm) shells from the US carrier.^[16] Haguro then re-engaged Hoel, and heavily contributed to her sinking alongside Yamato and Nagato, saluting the destroyer as she sank. Haguro then heavily damaged the destroyer escort USS Dennis.^[17]

After Kurita ordered a retreat, Haguro survived air attacks into the 26th completely undamaged. She and the rest the center force arrived at Brunei on the 28th.^[18]

In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British "Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze just after midnight on 16 May 1945, and began the attack. During the battle, Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX torpedoes from the British destroyers. She soon began to slow down and took a 30-degree list to port.

At 02:32, after receiving an hour of gunfire and around nine torpedoes, Haguro finally began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait, 55 mi (48 nmi; 89 km) off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors, but 751 men,^[18] including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her.^[19] 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.^[20]

Haguro was stricken from the Navy list on 20 June 1945.

 

On 4 March 2003, a group of specialized shipwreck divers operating off MV Empress discovered the wreck of Haguro in 67 metres (220 ft) of water in the Malacca Strait south of Penang.^[21] 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. Haguro's 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.^[2]

In 2010 a further diving expedition surveyed the wreck in detail.^[19] In 2014 the wreck was among five located in the region reported to have been heavily destroyed by illegal salvors.^[22]

• Winton, John (1979). Sink the Haguro!. Seeley, Service & Co. ISBN 0-330-28139-9.
• D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
• Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
• Lacroix, Eric & Wells II, Linton (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
• Parshall, Jon; Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander; Nevitt, Allyn. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)". Retrieved 14 June 2006.
• Tamura, Toshio (2004). "Re: Japanese Cruiser Torpedoes". Warship International. XLI (4): 366–367. ISSN 0043-0374.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Haguro (ship, 1929).

• Haguro's history in detail