Japanese battleship Kirishima: Difference between revisions

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|Ship homeport=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Scuttled following the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]] on November 15, 1942
|Ship fate= Sank following the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]] on November 15, 1942
|Ship status=
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
|Ship notes=

Revision as of 16:25, 6 August 2010

For the JMSDF Kongō class destroyer, see JDS Kirishima (DDG-174).
Kirishima off Tsukumowan, Japan in 1937.
History
Japanese Navy Ensign
NameKirishima
Ordered1911
BuilderMitsubishi
Laid downMarch 17, 1912
LaunchedDecember 1, 1913
CommissionedApril 19, 1915
FateSank following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 15, 1942
General characteristics
Class and typeKongō-class battlecruiser
Displacement36,600 long tons (37,187 t)[1]
Length222 m (728 ft 4 in)[1]
Beam31 m (101 ft 8 in)[1]
Draught9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)[1]
PropulsionSteam turbines, 4 shafts
Speed30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)[1]
Range10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)[1]
Complement1360
Armamentlist error: <br /> list (help)
• 8 × 356 mm (14 in) guns (4×2)[1]

• 16 × 152 mm (6.0 in) guns (8×2)[1]
• 8 × 127 mm (5 in) DP (8×1)[1]

• numerous 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 AA guns
Armourlist error: <br /> list (help)
deck: 2.3–1.5 in (58–38 mm) (later strengthened +101mm on ammo storage, +76mm on engine room)
turrets: 9 in (230 mm)
barbettes: 10 in (250 mm)
belt: 8–11 in (200–280 mm)

Kirishima (霧島) was a fast battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I and World War II. She was the third ship of her class, and was designed by British naval engineer George Thurston. Laid down as a battlecruiser in 1912 at Nagasaki, Kirishima was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister-ship Haruna; she was one of the four most powerful capital ships in the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time. Kirishima saw minor patrolling duty during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.

Kirishima underwent two major reconstructions during her maritime career. The first of these, started in 1927, rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armour and improving her speed. The second, started in 1934, completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her engine plant, and equipped her with floatplanes. Capable of the speeds necessary to accompany Japan's fast carrier fleet, she was reclassified as a fast battleship following her second reconstruction. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kirishima acted as a support vessel and troop transport, moving army troops to mainland China. On the eve of World War II, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Combined Fleet as an escort for the six fast carriers that attacked Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941.

As part of the Third Battleship Division, Kirishima participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies and the Indian Ocean Raid of April 1942. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo's four fast carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondo during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. On the evening of 13 November 1942, Kirishima engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Hiei. On the night of 14/15 November, in one of two battleship duels of the Pacific theatre, Kirishima engaged (and heavily damaged) the USS South Dakota before being crippled in turn by the battleship USS Washington. Kirishima capsized in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound.

Design and construction

Kirishima was the third of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Error: {{sclass}} invalid format code: 6. Should be 0–5, or blank (help)s, a line of capital ships designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston.[2] The class was ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of HMS Invincible in 1908.[3] The four battlecruisers of the Kongō class were designed to match the naval capabilities of the other major powers at the time; they have been called the battlecruiser version of the British (formerly Turkish) battleship HMS Erin.[1][4] With their heavy armament and armor protection (which took up 23.3% of their approximately 30,000 ton displacement),[1] Kirishima and her sister ships were vastly superior to any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time.[4]

The keel of Kirishima was laid down at Nagasaki by Mitsubishi on 17 March 1912, with most of the parts used in her construction manufactured in Japan.[3][1] Due to a shortage of available slipways, Kirishima and her sister ship Haruna were the first two capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be built in private Japanese shipyards.[1] After being launched on 1 December 1913, Kirishima's fitting out began in December 1913.[4] On 15 December 1914, Captain Kamaya Rokuro was assigned as her chief equipping officer,[3] and she was completed on 19 April 1915.[1]

Armament

Kirishima's main battery consisted of eight 14-inch (36 cm) heavy-caliber main guns in four twin turrets (two forward, two aft).[2] The turrets were noted by the US Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets",[5] with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high-explosive or armour-piercing shells 38,770 yards (19.14 nmi; 35.45 km) at a firing rate of two shells per minute.[6] In keeping with the Japanese doctrine of deploying more powerful vessels before their opponents, Kirishima and her sister ships were the first vessels in the world equipped with 14-inch (36 cm) guns.[7] The main guns carried ammunition for ninety shots, and had an approximate barrel life of 250–280 shots.[5] In 1941, dyes were introduced for the armour-piercing shells of the four Kongo-class battleships, with Kirishima's shells using blue dye.[5]

Her secondary battery was originally sixteen 6-inch (15 cm) 50-caliber medium guns in single casemates (all located amidships),[4] and eight 5-inch (13 cm) guns.[2] The sixteen 6"/50 caliber guns were capable of firing 5–6 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 500 rounds.[8] The 6"/50 caliber gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells, though the positioning of the guns on Kirishima made antiaircraft firing impractical.[4] The eight 5"/40 caliber guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 800–1500 rounds.[9] The 5"40 had the widest variety of shot type of Kirishima's guns, being designed to fire antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells.[9] During her second reconstruction, Kirishima was also fitted with a small number of 1-inch (2.5 cm) Type 96 antiaircraft autocannons.

Service

1914-1927: Battlecruiser

Kirishima docked at Sasebo in December 1915

Kirishima was formally commissioned on 19 April 1915, and along with Haruna was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the First Fleet.[3] After seven months of trials, she was reassigned to the 3rd Battleship Division of the Second Fleet, with Captain Shima Takeshi in overall command of the ship. In April 1916, Kirishima and Haruna departed Sasebo Naval Base to patrol the East China Sea for ten days. She remained in Sasebo until April 1917, when she again deployed to the Chinese coast with her sister-ships Haruna and Kongo. Her last patrol operation of the First World War was off the Chinese and Korean coast in April 1918. In July 1918, Kirishima acted as the transport of Prince Arthur of Connaught for his extended cruise to Canada, before returning to Japan.[3]

Following the end of the First World War, the Japanese Empire annexed the Korean Peninsula and gained control of former German possessions in the central Pacific per the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.[10] Due to Japan's warm relations with the British Empire and the United States at the time, Kirishima and other Japanese warships became significantly less active than during the war. On 1 December 1920, she was reassigned to the Third Division of the Second Fleet. Other than a patrol alongside Kongo and Nagato off the Chinese coast in August 1921, Kirishima remained in Sasebo.[3] On 10 September 1922, she collided with the destroyer Fuji during fleet maneuvers, with both ships sustaining minor damage. Following the Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923, the capital ships of the Japanese Navy assisted in rescue work until the end of the month. She was placed in reserve in December 1923.[3]

With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.[11] The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed 35,000 tons.[12] Provided that new additions did not exceed 3,000 tons, existing capital ships were allowed to be upgraded with improved torpedo bulges and deck armour.[12] By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I-era capital ships—the Yamashiro and Ise class battleships, and the Kongō class battlecruisers—remained active.[13]

1927-1934: Reconstruction into Battleship

Kirishima in 1932, following her first reconstruction

Stripped of the ability to construct new capital ships, the Japanese Navy instead opted to significantly upgrade and reconfigure their existing battleships and battlecruisers.[14] Kirishima was placed in Third Reserve in December 1926, before beginning her first reconstruction in early 1927. Horizontal armour over the ammunition magazines was strengthened, while she was also fitted with anti-torpedo bulges, as permitted by the Washington Treaty.[3] To upgrade Kirishima's speed capabilities, the 36 Yarrow boilers were removed and replaced with ten new oil-fired Kampon boilers.[15] To allow for more equipment to be installed onboard, her forecastle was also reconstructed in the Pagoda mast style, facilitating the removal of one of her three funnels.[3] The reconstruction of the Kongō class battlecruisers added an additional 4,000 tons of armour to the ships, directly violating the terms of the Washington Treaty.[16] On 16 April 1930, the reconstruction was declared complete.[N 1]

Six days after Kirishima's reconstruction was completed, Japan signed the London Naval Treaty, which placed further bans on capital ship construction until 1937, and pledged to scrap several of Japan's remaining battleships.[18] From August-October 1930, she was outfitted with the equipment necessary to equip reconnaissance seaplanes. In September 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, violating existing League of Nations protocols and international law.[18] Kirishima patrolled the coast of China near Shanghai in April 1932, before she was again placed in the Third Reserve.

On 25 February 1933, the League of Nations agreed that Japan had violated Chinese sovereignty in its invasion of Manchuria.[18] Refusing to accept the organization's judgment, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day.[18] Immediately following, Japan also withdrew from the Washington and London Naval Treaties, thus removing all restrictions on the number and size of her capital ships.[19]

1934-1941: Fast Battleship

Kirishima and the fast carrier Akagi off Tsukumowan, April 1939

On 18 November 1934, Kirishima was drydocked in Sasebo in preparation for her second reconstruction, which would enable her to function alongside Japan's growing fleet of fast carriers. Her stern was lengthened by 26 feet, while her superstructure was rebuilt to allow for new fire-control mechanisms to be added.[3] Her boilers were removed and replaced with eight new Kampon Boilers, and she received newer geared turbines.[16] The elevation of her main and secondary battery was increased, and she was equipped with two Nakajima E8N "Dave" and Kawanishi E7K "Alf" reconnaissance floatplanes. To this end, her catapults and launch-rails were also refitted.[3]

Kirishima's armour was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of 8 inches (as opposed to varying thicknesses of 6-8 inches before the upgrades), while diagonal bulkheads of a depth ranging from 5 to 8 inches (127 to 203 mm) reinforced the main armoured belt.[20] The turret armour was strengthened to 10 inches (254 mm), while 4 inches (102 mm) were added to portions of the deck armour.[20] The armour around her ammunition magazines was also strengthened over the course of the refit. The reconstruction was declared complete on 8 June 1936. Capable of speeds of up to 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph), Kirishima was reclassified as a fast battleship.[21]

In August 1936, Kirishima departed Sasebo alongside Fuso to patrol the Chinese coast off Amoy. From March 1937-April 1939, she was frequently deployed as a support vessel and troop transport during Japanese operations as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1938, Kirishima was designated the command vessel of the Third Battleship Division, and was under the command of Rear Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. In November 1939, she was placed in reserve and fitted with additional armour on the front face of her turrets and barbettes.[3]

On 11 November 1941, after a continual series of transfers between Japanese naval bases, Kirishima was outfitted in preparation for coming hostilities and assigned - alongside her sister-ships - to the Third Battleship Division. On 26 November, Kirishima departed Hitokappu Bay, Kurile Islands in the company of Hiei and six Japanese fast carriers of the First Air Fleet Striking Force (Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku). On 7 December 1941, aircraft from these six carriers attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at their home base of Pearl Harbour, sinking four U.S. Navy battleships and numerous other vessels. Following the attack and the declaration of war by the United States, Kirishima returned to Japan.

1942: Combat and Loss

Kirishima (center) and the cruiser Takao steaming for Guadalcanal, 14 November 1942

On 8 January 1942, Kirishima departed Japan for Truk Naval Base in the Caroline Islands alongside the Carrier strikeforce. She provided escort during the invasion of New Britain on 17 January before returning to Truk. She sortied again in response to American carrier raids in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands.[3] In March 1942, while supporting fleet operations off of Java in the Dutch East Indies, one of Kirishima's floatplanes bombed an enemy merchant vessel. South of Java, the Japanese fleet was surprised by the appearance of the destroyer USS Edsall. While Hiei and Chikuma initially opened fire on the ship, they failed to score any hits. After dive-bombers from three of Admiral Nagumo's carriers immobilized the destroyer, Kirishima and the other two ships resumed firing on the Edsall until she sank.[3]

In April 1942, Kirishima and the Third Battleship division joined five fleet carriers and two cruisers in an attack against British naval bases in the Indian Ocean. On 5 April - Easter Sunday - the Japanese fleet attacked the harbour at Colombo, while seaplanes from the Tone spotted two fleeing British cruisers, both of which were later sunk by aerial attack.[22] A floatplane from Kirishima also strafed a withdrawing oil tanker.[3] On 8 April, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the British base at Trincomalee, only to find that all of Admiral James Somerville's warships had withdrawn the previous night. Returning from the attack, a floatplane from Kirishima's sister ship Haruna spotted the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes, which was quickly sunk by massive aerial attack.[23] Upon returning to Japan, Kirishima was drydocked and her secondary armament configuration modified with the addition of 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin mounts.[3][24]

In June 1942, Kirishima sailed as part of the Carrier Strike force during the Battle of Midway, providing escort for Admiral Nagumo's four fast carriers alongside Haruna.[25] Following the disastrous battle - during which all four Japanese carriers were sunk - she took on survivors from the four scuttled flattops before returning to Japan.[3] In August 1942, she departed Japan for the Solomon Islands in the company of Hiei, three carriers, three cruisers and eleven destroyers, in response to the American invasion of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carriers during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, during which the light carrier Ryūjō was sunk.[25] Following the battle, the fleet returned to Truk Naval Base. During the Battle of Santa Cruz, Kirishima was part of Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe's Vanguard Force, which provided distant cover to Nagumo's carrier groups.[25] She was attacked by American dive-bombers on 26 October, yet remained undamaged.

On 10 November 1942, Kirishima departed Truk alongside Hiei and eleven destroyers in preparation to shell American positions on Guadalcanal in advance of a major transport convoy of Japanese troops. U.S. Navy reconnaissance aircraft spotted the Japanese fleet several days in advance, and deployed a force of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and eight destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan in Ironbottom Sound to meet them.[26] At 01:24 on 13 November, the Japanese force was detected 28,000 yards (26 km) out by the light cruiser USS Helena. In the ensuing First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the American task force concentrated the majority of their firepower on the battleship Hiei.[25] This enabled Kirishima to score multiple hits on the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco and Helena, while Hiei crippled the light cruiser USS Atlanta, killing Rear Admiral Norman Scott.[27] Both Hiei and Kirishima then raked San Francisco with shellfire, killing Rear Admiral Callaghan.[28] However, Hiei was in turn crippled by San Francisco and several American destroyers. With Hiei effectively out of the battle, Kirishima and the surviving destroyers withdrew to the north. On the morning of 13 November, she was ordered to tow Hiei to safety.[3]. However, the heavily damaged battleship came under air attack, and was eventually abandoned and scuttled.[29][30]

Washington fires on Kirishima during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942

On the evening of 13 November, Kirishima and her escorting destroyers were joined by the Fourth Cruiser Division and prepared to reenter Ironbottom Sound under the command of Admiral Nobutake Kondo. In the early morning of 14 November, three Japanese heavy cruisers bombarded Guadalcanal before withdrawing.[3] Aware of the damage suffered by his ships the previous night, Admiral William Halsey reinforced the American naval units with the new battleships South Dakota and Washington.[29] The two fleets made contact on 14 November at 23:01. The two forces exchanged gunfire and torpedoes, with four American destroyers disabled (three would later sink), while the Japanese destroyer Ayanami was crippled by Washington and South Dakota.[31] At 23:40, South Dakota suffered a series of electrical failures, crippling her radar, radios and gun batteries.[32] Kirishima and the heavy cruiser Atago illuminated the battleship with searchlights, and the near entirety of Kondo's force opened fire.[32] Kirishima managed to hit South Dakota with one salvo of 14-inch shells and numerous salvos from her secondary battery, which knocked out the battleship's fire control systems and communications. Washington, undetected, managed to evade the Japanese fleet, and at midnight fired on Kirishima from 5,800 yards (5,300 m).[32][33] Kirishima was hit by nine primary and forty secondary battery salvos, jamming her rear 14-inch turrets, steering, and causing the battleship to list 18 degrees to starboard. Initially, the light cruiser Nagara attempted to tow her out of Ironbottom Sound.[3] Kirishima capsized at 03:25 on the morning of 15 November 1942, with 212 crewmen lost.[29]

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ^ Sources disagree on the exact dates of the reconstruction. While Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships gives the beginning date of March 1927 and an end-date of 31 March 1930, Kirishima's Combined Fleet Tabular Record of Movement states that it was from May 1927 to 16 April 1930.[17][3]

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Gardiner and Gray (1980), p. 234
  2. ^ a b c "Combined Fleet - Kongo class battlecruiser". Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "Combined Fleet - tabular history of Kirishima". Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e Jackson (2007), p. 27
  5. ^ a b c DiGiulian, Tony. "Japanese 14"/45 (35.6 cm) 41st Year Type". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  6. ^ "Combined Fleet - 14"/45 Naval Gun". Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. Retrieved 11 February 2009.
  7. ^ Jackson (2000), p. 48
  8. ^ DiGiulian, Tony. "Japanese 6"/50". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  9. ^ a b DiGiulian, Tony. "Japanese 5"/40". Navweaps.com. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  10. ^ Willmott, p. 22
  11. ^ Jackson (2000), p. 67
  12. ^ a b Jackson (2000), p. 68
  13. ^ Jackson (2000), p. 69
  14. ^ Willmott, p. 45
  15. ^ Whitley, pp. 178, 180
  16. ^ a b Jackson (2008), p. 27
  17. ^ Gardiner and Gray (1980), p. 234
  18. ^ a b c d Jackson (2000), p. 72
  19. ^ Willmott (2002), p. 35
  20. ^ a b McCurtie, p. 185
  21. ^ Willmott, p. 35
  22. ^ Jackson (2000), p. 119
  23. ^ Jackson (2000), p. 120
  24. ^ Stille, p. 18
  25. ^ a b c d Stille, p. 19
  26. ^ Hammel, pp. 99-107
  27. ^ Stille, pp. 19-20
  28. ^ Morison, p. 247
  29. ^ a b c Stille, p. 20
  30. ^ Schom, p. 417
  31. ^ Frank, p. 478
  32. ^ a b c Schom, p. 424
  33. ^ Garzke and Dulin, p. 44

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Battleship Kirishima.
  • Breyer, Siegfried (1973). Battleships and battle cruisers, 1905–1970. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. OCLC 702840.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870219073.
  • Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1980). Battleships: Allied Battleships in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0870211005. OCLC 6355577.
  • Hammel, Eric (1988). Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea: The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13–15, 1942. (CA): Pacifica Press. ISBN 0-517-56952-3.
  • Jackson, Robert (2000). The World's Great Battleships. Brown Books. ISBN 1-89788-460-5
  • McCurtie, Francis (1989) [1945]. Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. London: Bracken Books. ISBN 1-85170-194-X
  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1958). "The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12–15 November 1942". The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 – February 1943, vol. 5 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-58305-7.
  • Schom, Alan (2004). The Eagle and the Rising Sun; The Japanese-American War, 1941-1943. Norton & Company. ISBN 2-00201-594-1
  • Stille, Cdr Mark (2008). Imperial Japanese Navy Battleship 1941-1945. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-280-6
  • Whitley, M. J. (1998). Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 155750184X.
  • Willmott, H.P. & Keegan, John [1999] (2002). The Second World War in the Far East. Smithsonian Books. ISBN 2004049199.


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