Japanese battleship Kirishima

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Kirishima.

Kirishima anchored at Sukumo Bay, 10 May 1937.
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Kirishima
Namesake	Mount Kirishima
Ordered	1911
Builder	Mitsubishi Shipyard of Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha (currently Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)
Laid down	17 March 1912
Launched	1 December 1913
Commissioned	19 April 1915
Fate	Sunk by USS Washington following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942
General characteristics
Class & type	Kongō-class battlecruiser
Displacement	36,600 long tons (37,187 t)
Length	222 m (728 ft 4 in)
Beam	31 m (101 ft 8 in)
Draught	9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	Steam turbines, 4 shafts
Speed	30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h)
Complement	1360
Armament	8 × 356 mm (14 in) guns (4×2) 16 × 152 mm (6 in) guns (16×1) 8 × 127 mm (5.0 in) (8×1; after reconstruction) 20 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 AA guns (10 × 2)
Armor	Deck: 2.3–1.5 in (58–38 mm) (later strengthened +101 mm on ammo storage, +76 mm on engine room) Turrets: 9 in (230 mm) Barbettes: 10 in (250 mm) Belt: 8 in (200 mm)

Kirishima (Japanese: 霧島; named after Mount Kirishima) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy which saw service during World War I and World War II. Designed by British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the third launched of the four Kongō-class battlecruisers. Laid down in 1912 at the Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki, Kirishima was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Haruna. Kirishima patrolled on occasion off the Chinese coast during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Starting in 1927, Kirishima's first reconstruction rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed. From 1934, a second reconstruction completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her engine plant, and equipped her with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, she was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kirishima acted primarily 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 Kido Butai as an escort for the six carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor 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 (now Indonesia) and in the Indian Ocean raid from February to April 1942, during which she helped to sink the destroyer USS Edsall and the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo's four 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 Kondō 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 only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima attacked and badly damaged the American battleship USS South Dakota before being fatally wounded in turn by 16-inch (406 mm) gunfire from the battleship USS Washington under the command of Rear Admiral Willis Augustus Lee Jr and then Captain Glenn B. Davis. Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound.

Kirishima being launched, 1 December 1913

Design and construction

Kirishima under construction at a Mitsubishi dockyard in Nagasaki, 1914

Kirishima was the third of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Kongō-class battlecruisers, a group of capital ships designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston. The class was ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of HMS Invincible in 1908. 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. With their heavy armament and armor protection (which took up 23.3% of their approximately 30,000 ton displacement), Kirishima and her sister ships were vastly superior to any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time.

The keel of Kirishima was laid down at the Nagasaki shipyards of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on 17 March 1912, with most of the parts used in her construction manufactured in Japan. 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. After her launch on 1 December 1913, Kirishima's fitting-out began later that month. On 15 December 1914, Captain Kamaya Rokuro was assigned as her chief equipping officer, and she was completed on 19 April 1915.

Armament

Kirishima's main battery consisted of eight 14-inch (36 cm) heavy-caliber main guns in four twin turrets (two forward, two aft). The turrets were noted by the US Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets", with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high-explosive or armor-piercing shells a maximum distance of 38,770 yards (19.14 nmi; 35.45 km) at a firing rate of two shells per minute. The ship's magazines could accommodate ninety rounds of ammunition for each of the main guns, which had an approximate barrel life of 250–280 shots. In 1941, dyes were introduced for the armor-piercing shells of the four Kongō-class battleships, with Kirishima's shells using blue dye.

Her secondary battery was originally sixteen 6-inch (15 cm) 50-caliber medium guns in single casemates (all located amidships), eight 3-inch (7.6 cm) anti-aircraft guns, and eight submerged 21-inch (53 cm) torpedo tubes. The sixteen 6-inch/50 caliber guns were capable of firing 5–6 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 500 rounds. The 6-inch/50 caliber gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells, though the positioning of the guns on Kirishima made antiaircraft firing impractical. During her second reconstruction, the 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight 5-inch (13 cm) guns. These guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 800–1500 rounds. Designed to fire antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells, the 5-inch/40 caliber had the widest variety of shot type of Kirishima's guns. 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 moored 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. 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 Kongō. Her last patrol operation of World War I 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.

Following the end of World War I, the Japanese Empire gained control of former German possessions in the central Pacific per the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. 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 Kongō and Nagato off the Chinese coast in August 1921, Kirishima remained in Sasebo. On 10 September 1922, she collided with the destroyer Fuji during fleet maneuvers, with both ships sustaining minor damage. Following the Great Kantō earthquake of September 1923, the capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy assisted in rescue work until the end of the month. She was placed in reserve in December 1923.

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. The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed 35,000 tons. Provided that new additions did not exceed 3,000 tons, existing capital ships were permitted to be upgraded with improved torpedo bulges and deck armor. By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I-era capital ships—the Fusō and Ise-class battleships, and the Kongō-class battlecruisers—remained active.

1927–1934: Battleship

Kirishima anchored off Beppu following her first reconstruction, October 1932

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

Six days after Kirishima's reconstruction was completed, Japan pledged to scrap several battleships and signed the London Naval Treaty, which placed further bans on capital ship construction until 1937. From August to October 1930, she was outfitted with the equipment necessary to equip reconnaissance seaplanes. Kirishima patrolled the coast of China near Shanghai in April 1932, before she was again placed in the Third Reserve.

In September 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. On 25 February 1933, based on a report by the Lytton Commission, the League of Nations agreed that Japan had violated Chinese sovereignty in its invasion of Manchuria. Refusing to accept the organization's judgment, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day. 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.

1934–1941: Fast battleship

Kirishima and Kongō anchored off Qingdao, 26 March 1938

On 18 November 1934, Kirishima was drydocked in Sasebo Naval Arsenal 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 (7.9 m), while her superstructure was rebuilt to allow for new fire-control mechanisms. Her boilers were removed and replaced with eight new oil-fired Kampon Boilers, and she received newer geared turbines. 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, aircraft catapults and launch-rails were also refitted. Her older 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight 5-inch dual-purpose guns. She was also outfitted with twenty Type 96 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin turrets, while two of her 6-inch guns and her remaining torpedo tubes were removed.

Kirishima, the aircraft carrier Akagi, and destroyer division 8 anchored in Sukumo Bay, April 1939

Kirishima's armor 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 armored belt. The turret armor was strengthened to 10 inches (254 mm), while 4 inches (102 mm) were added to portions of the deck armor. The armor 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.

In August 1936, Kirishima departed Sasebo alongside Fusō to patrol the Chinese coast off Amoy. From March 1937 to April 1939, she was frequently deployed as a support vessel and troop transport during 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 armor on the front faces of her turrets and barbettes.

Kirishima, Kaga, and Hiei (L to R) anchored in Hitokappu Bay, 23 November 1941

Start of Pacific war

Kirishima, Hiei, and Akagi (R to L) underway shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 6 December 1941

On 11 November 1941, after a 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 the 17th, Kirishima along with Hiei departed Sasebo naval base for the destination of Hitokappu Bay, Kurile Islands, where she arrived on the 22nd. Kirishima and Hiei gathered in port with the six Japanese aircraft carriers of the First Air Fleet Striking Force, also known as the Kido Butai, Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku, alongside two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers, with a secret mission known only to the command staff of each ship. It was only after Kirishima and the rest of the fleet departed Hitokappu Bay on 26 November that her crew learned of the mission's intent, a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that would begin the Pacific war and result in Japan and the United States of America entering WW2. Kirishima would escort the aircraft carriers to their destination until the 7th of December saw the attack commence and air attacks ravage the naval base, before Kirshima escorted the carriers back to Japan where she arrived at Kure on 24 December. Three days later Kirishima was drydocked for maintenance and was undocked another three days later and departed Kure for Hashirajima.

1942

On 8 January 1942, Kirishima departed Japan for Truk Naval Base in the Caroline Islands alongside the Carrier Strike Force. 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 at the start of February, before spending the next three weeks transiting between naval ports with her sister ships. On 21 February, Kirishima arrived at Staring Bay along with Kongō and Hiei to join the Kido Butai and their escorts for operations off Java in the Dutch East Indies, departing 4 days later.

Sinking of USS Edsall

The sinking USS Edsall being lifted out of the water by a salvo from Kirishima, photographed from Tone

On 1 March 1942, one of Kirishima's floatplanes attempted to bomb an enemy merchant vessel. However, South of Java, the Japanese fleet was surprised by the appearance of the destroyer USS Edsall which was attempting to escape the Dutch East Indies for safety in Australia. Initially mistaking Edsall for an Omaha class light cruiser, Kirishima joined Hiei and the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma in chasing the destroyer, but did not join Hiei and Chikuma in opening fire at 27,900 yards, which achieved several straddles but not a direct hit. However, dive bombers from Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryū disabled Edsall and set her on fire with one hit and one near miss. Now correctly identifying Edsall as a destroyer, Kirishima finally opened fire with both her main and secondary battery at 19,400 yards shortly joined by Hiei, then Tone and Chikuma, and 13 minutes later Edsall succumbed to a hail of 14-inch (356 mm), 8-inch (203 mm), and 6-inch (152 mm) gunfire and sank with the loss of 196 men. During a 90 second film reel taken by Tone of Edsall sinking, a 14-inch (356 mm) shell hit from Kirishima lifted the destroyer out of the water.

On 5 March, Kirishima and Hiei were still patrolling off Java when they stumbled upon the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman, which had already been damaged by an air raid the previous day. Kirishima and Hiei opened fire and sank the patrol ship with ease. After another week of escorting the carrier fleet, during which the Dutch East Indies surrendered to Japan, Kirishima returned to Staring Bay on the 11th.

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 harbor at Colombo in Ceylon, sinking the destroyer HMS Tenedos and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector, while seaplanes from the Tone spotted the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, both of which were later sunk by aerial attack. A floatplane from Kirishima also strafed a withdrawing oil tanker. On 8 April, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the Royal Navy base at Trincomalee in Ceylon, only to find that all of Admiral James Somerville's remaining warships had withdrawn the previous night; they still sank the cargo ship SS Sagaing. Returning from the attack, a floatplane from Kirishima's sister ship Haruna spotted the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes and escorting destroyer HMAS Vampire, which were quickly sunk by a massive aerial attack. Upon returning to Japan, Kirishima was drydocked and her secondary armament configuration modified with the addition of 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin mounts.

Battle of Midway

On 27 May 1942, Kirishima departed Hashirajima to escort Admiral Nagumo's Carrier Strike Force for what became the Battle of Midway, providing escort for Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū alongside Haruna. The battle began on the 4th of June as the carriers attacked Midway Island, and at 7:10, Kirishima was operating abreast of Akagi when the group was attacked by US air-force B-26 bombers. Kirishima would assist Japanese fighters with her AA complement - including firing type 3 AA shells from her 14-inch (356 mm) guns - and helped to shoot down two bombers, one of which attempted to crash into Akagi's bridge before missing.

At 8:25, Kirishima continued to escort the carriers, sailing alongside the light cruiser Nagara and the destroyers Nowaki and Arashi, when the four ships were spotted by the periscope of the submarine USS Nautilus. At 4,500 yards, Nautilus fired two torpedoes from her bow, and her target was Kirishima, but luckily for the battleship one torpedo malfunctioned, while the other torpedo came close to Kirishima but missed. Kirishima then noticed the periscope of Nautilus and rained fire with her starboard secondary battery, which forced Nautilus to dive but failed to inflict noticeable damage. Nautilus was then depth charged first by Nagara, before Arashi closed in to finish the job as Kirishima, Nagara, and Nowaki sailed away at 25 knots to keep up pace with the aircraft carriers. After failing to sink Nautilus, Arashi would be trailed back to the main fleet as she sailed to rejoin the carriers by two squadrons of aircraft from USS Enterprise, and waves of carrier aircraft would soon attack the formation. The initial attacks by USS Hornet were thwarted, but between 10:22 to 10:30, dive bombers from Enterprise fatally wounded Akagi and Kaga, while dive bombers from USS Yorktown mangled Sōryū, leading to the scuttling of all three carriers after the battle.

Over the rest of the day, Hiryū would cripple the Yorktown with three bomb and two torpedo hits, enabling the aircraft carrier to be finished off, and the destroyer USS Hammann sunk, by a spread of torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-168, but in turn waves of aircraft from Enterprise would succeed in bombing Hiryū beyond saving, and result in the last Japanese aircraft carrier being scuttled like her fallen companions. When attempts to save Hiryū were being undertaken, Kirishima was ordered to sail to her location and tow the crippled aircraft carrier. When arriving to Hiryū's position, the burning carrier illuminated Kirishima and put her at threat of submarine attacks, which contributed to the decision to finally abandon Hiryū. Kirishima would instead only take on many of Hiryū's over 900 survivors from destroyer division 10's Yūgumo, Makigumo, and Kazagumo. With the battle concluded in a tide changing American victory, sinking four of Japan's six experienced aircraft carriers and the heavy cruiser Mikuma, Kirishima returned to Hashirajima on 14 June.

Guadalcanal Campaign

Kirishima sailed to Kure on 9 July where she received AA upgrades and new floatplanes, before escorting Shōkaku and Zuikaku to Truk, but on the 20th the route was cancelled as the fleet refueled from oilers before sailing to Guadalcanal to counterattack American carrier operations. This would culminate in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August in which Shōkaku and Zuikaku dueled the aircraft carriers Enterprise and USS Saratoga. They crippled Enterprise with three bomb hits but in turn Saratoga aircraft sank the detached light carrier Ryūjō while land-based aircraft sank the destroyer Mutsuki and the troop transport Kinryu Maru. The main fleet came under light attacks first by a scout plane from Enterprise then by B-17 bombers, lightly damaging Shōkaku with near misses but achieving nothing else, with Kirishima seeing little action during the engagement. A four-day journey saw Kirishima travel with the fleet to Truk, where Kirishima remained on guard duty outside the naval base for another two days until being allowed to retire, refueling from the fleet oiler Tatekawa Maru. From 10-23 September, Kirishima joined Kongō and Haruna to escort the fleet on patrol duty in the Solomon Islands, then underwent maintenance and guard duty.

On 11 October, Kirishima departed Truk as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Junyō and the light carrier Zuihō on another attempt to lure American carriers into battle and sink them. From the 12th to 15th, Kirishima and Hiei took a detour as distant cover for Kongō and Haruna's bombardment of Henderson field, then the bombardment conducted by the heavy cruisers Chōkai and Kinugasa, before returning to the main fleet; during their absence planes from Zuikaku sank the destroyer USS Meredith. On the 25th, a Catalina flying boat spotted the Japanese fleet, and Kirishima's floatplane badly damaged the American aircraft and chased it off, and later that day a flight of six B-17s attacked Kirishima but failed to inflict damage. The next day saw the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet face the Japanese ships, badly damaging the Shōkaku and the heavy cruiser Chikuma with bomb hits but failing to score any sinkings as Kirishima let loose with her AA defense against the American planes. Kirishima was attacked by three SBD dive bombers but not hit. In turn, Japanese aircraft left Hornet bordering on the line of sinking - and finished off 12 hours later by the destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo - and sank the destroyer USS Porter, alongside badly damaging several other American ships, ending the battle in a Japanese victory as Kirishima returned to Truk on 30 October.

Naval battle of Guadalcanal

Main article: Naval battle of Guadalcanal

On 9 November 1942, Kirishima departed Truk alongside Hiei and eleven destroyers in preparation for a second bombardment mission on Henderson Field, a former Japanese air base which had been captured by the Americans and used against Japanese shipping to great effect. The previous bombardment by Kongō and Haruna is considered the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war but was not enough to capture the airfield just yet, so Kirishima and Hiei were to enact the same plan yet again. They would sail with the light cruiser Nagara and 11 destroyers as escorts. They sailed smoothly for the first days of their journey, but rain squalls broke up the destroyer formation and left them operating in small clusters. However, by 1:25 on the 13th, signs of enemy ships began to appear. As it turned out, the force was spotted by US Navy reconnaissance aircraft several days in advance. The US deployed a force of 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers and 8 destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan to meet the Japanese force in Ironbottom Sound, and at the exact moment the Japanese spotted the American ships, the light cruiser USS Helena located the Japanese ships on radar at 27,000 yards. Over the next 25 minutes, both fleets closed to point blank range. At 1:50, Hiei and the destroyer Akatsuki ignited their searchlights and illuminated the light cruiser USS Atlanta. American ships then sank Akatsuki with a hail of gunfire while Hiei bombarded Atlanta with her 14-inch (356 mm) guns before the cruiser was torpedoed by the destroyer Ikazuchi and sank hours later, opening up the first naval battle of Guadalcanal. However, Kirishima and Hiei were loaded with type 3 AA shells in their main guns, which carried limited effectiveness in damaging enemy ships; handicapping them for the duration of the battle.

Just before 2:00, Kirishima and Hiei trained their guns on the Allied flagship, the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, and entered a gunnery duel at 2,500 yards. Kirishima was only hit by one 8-inch (203 mm) shell as the cruiser focused most of her fire on Hiei, but they crippled San Francisco with at least twelve 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits, alongside nearly 40 5-inch (127 mm) and 6-inch (152 mm) shell hits from their secondary batteries and escorting destroyers. The damage destroyed or disabled all of her guns besides 5-inch (127 mm) mount number 8, wrecked her steering and engine control, destroyed all communication equipment, set San Francisco ablaze, and deformed the ship so badly she was not even recognizable as an enemy cruiser to the crew of the destroyer Amatsukaze until her searchlights were ignited. A 14-inch (356 mm) hit to the navigation bridge in particular succeeded in killing Admiral Callaghan, Captain Cassin Young, and most of the ship's command staff, with 86 sailors killed in total. San Francisco limped away from the battle while still being pestered by gunfire from the destroyer Amatsukaze as Kirishima ceased fire. Had Kirishima and Hiei been loaded with proper anti-shipping rounds for their main guns instead of type 3 shells, they probably would have sank San Francisco. Instead, the mangled heavy cruiser remained out of commission until February 1943.

The Helena soon came to San Francisco's defense, which resulted in Kirishima turning her guns on her. Kirishima hit the light cruiser with five 14-inch (356 mm) shells that caused negligible damage and killed one sailor. Just after 2:00, Kirishima was credited with a pair of 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits to the destroyer USS Laffey, (although anecdotally Hiei was widely believed to have caused this damage) one shell struck the bridge, with the other hitting the superstructure amidships causing some minor damage. A torpedo from destroyer Yukikaze would provide the knockout blow as Laffey would sink at around 2:15. Kirishima then more verifiably attacked the destroyer USS Aaron Ward and landed three 14-inch (356 mm) shells, two 6-inch (152 mm) shells, and four 5-inch (127 mm) shells to Aaron Ward above the waterline that destroyed her gunnery director, disabled steering control, and caused her to lose speed until going dead in the water at 2:35, killing 15 men and wounding 57.

During the gunfight with San Francisco Hiei was hit by seventeen 8-inch (203 mm) shells, two of which disabled her steering gear, severely crippling the ship. Kirishima and the escorting destroyers attempted to assist Hiei - with Kirishima taking her sister ship under tow - but by daybreak the fleet was attacked by aircraft from Henderson Field and the carrier Enterprise, with Hiei absorbing another 8 bombs and 6 torpedoes prompting the destroyers Yukikaze and Teruzuki of Abe's force and the nearby destroyers Shigure, Ariake, and Yūgure to evacuate Hiei's crew before leaving her to sink.

Kirishima following the heavy cruisers Takao and Atago in-between the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal, 14 November 1942

After the battle, Kirishima would rendezvous with the distant cover fleet north of Guadalcanal, and later that night detached to continue the mission under the command of Admiral Kondō, escorted by the heavy cruisers Takao and Atago, the light cruisers Nagara and Sendai, and 9 destroyers. By 7:39 the submarine USS Trout stumbled upon the force and was initially unable to gain an attack formation as the fleet sailed on. However, later that afternoon at 15:18 Trout located the fleet again and managed to unleash 5 torpedoes, her target was Kirishima. One torpedo hit Kirishima but turned out to be a dud, inflicting no damage. Another torpedo passed under a destroyer before nearly hitting the Atago, but just barely missing. At 20:48, Kirishima was notified a floatplane spotted an American formation consisting of 2 cruisers and 4 destroyers heading north at 25 knots, and Admiral Kondō anticipated a surface action under the assumption his force would demolish the enemy ships, as his escorts alone were significantly superior to the formation described in the report, yet alone the addition of a Kongō class battleship. However, the report was correct about the four destroyers - USS Walke, Preston, Benham, and Gwin - but the two "cruisers" were actually the battleships USS Washington and USS South Dakota, both of which were among the newest and greatest of the US battleships and far more capable than Kirishima.

Second naval battle of Guadalcanal

The battle began after 00:05 on 15 November 1942 when Washington detected the Japanese fleet on radar at 19,600 yards, followed immediately by the destroyer Uranami spotting the American warships. At 18,500 yards, Washington and South Dakota fired the first shots at the Sendai and her immediate destroyers, scoring a few straddles but failing to inflict real damage. However, the Japanese scored first blood when the Nagara and 5 destroyers neutralized the American destroyers. Walke was blown in half by a torpedo from the destroyer Samidare and sank within 10 minutes, while Preston was hit simultaneously by three 5.5-inch (14 cm) shells from Nagara which detonated her aft magazines and a torpedo from the destroyer Ayanami which sunk her rapidly. Benham was fatally wounded by a torpedo probably from the destroyer Shirayuki and she sank not long after the battle; Gwin was badly damaged by gunfire from Ayanami which eliminated the last of Washington's and South Dakota's escorts. In exchange, Washington sank Ayanami with long range gunfire.

At 0:44, South Dakota suffered a power outage which briefly disabled the ship; it took a full two minutes for her radar to be restored, and only by relying on their secondary battery fire control did South Dakota begin to track the Nagara and Sendai at 7,000 yards. The Battleship fired three salvos from her 16-inch (406 mm) guns, with no hits scored. Nagara in turn recognized South Dakota as an enemy battleship and reported to Admiral Kondō aboard Kirishima before turning to engage the Americans. At 00:52 South Dakota presented a perfect broadside as Kirishima opened fire at 11,000 yards and scored two first salvo hits; one was a 6-inch (152 mm) shell that hit a 28 mm AA mount on the forward deck and the other was a 14-inch (356 mm) shell which exploded in South Dakota's bow. Takao, Atago, Nagara, and Sendai joined Kirishima in clobbering South Dakota, and the battleship took at least 27 shell hits, including six 14-inch (356 mm) shells and eight 6-inch (152 mm) shells from Kirishima, seven 8-inch (203 mm) shells and two 5-inch (127 mm) shells from Takao and Atago, and four 5.5-inch (14 cm) shells from Nagara and Sendai. The damage destroyed or disabled South Dakota's radar, directors, fire control instruments, and electrical circuits, blasted holes in the superstructure and ignited at least 28 fires, and caused minor flooding damage, killing over 40 men and wounding 180 others. Captain Gatch only survived due to the armored conning tower.

USS Washington sinking Kirishima with her 16-inch (406 mm) guns at a distance of 8,400 yards (7,700 meters)

However, Washington remained undetected and began to track a trio of Japanese warships with her main battery which turned out to be Kirishima, Takao, and Atago, and began to close the range when Atago noticed another enemy battleship off starboard. At 1:00, Captain Ijuin ordered "stand by for a gun and torpedo action to starboard", but it was too late. At that moment, at a distance of 8,400 yards (7,700 m), Washington fired a full broadside of nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns and immediately straddled Kirishima, which proceeded to continue firing on South Dakota. Washington's second salvo then scored a 16-inch (406 mm) shell hit to Kirishima's compass bridge, and her third salvo scored several 16-inch (406 mm) hits to Kirishima's amidships which detonated her secondary battery magazines and shredding her torpedo defense system. Kirishima incorrectly identified Washington as an "Idaho class battleship" which was washed up to her deck and sinking by the bow, only for the supposedly sinking Washington to hit Kirishima with another two 16-inch (406 mm) shells below the waterline. Kirishima's WW1 design was not designed to handle WW2 era deep penetration shells, and these two hits in particular cracked and mangled Kirishima's interior below and above the waterline, all the while Washington hit Kirishima with several 5-inch (127 mm) shells from her secondary guns to her forward funnel and surrounding superstructure.

16-inch (406 mm) shells then destroyed Kirishima's 14-inch (356 mm) gun turret 1 and forced its magazines to be flooded, holed her bow above and below the waterline before penetrating her stern above the waterline, while 5-inch (127 mm) shells detonated in her aft funnel and director. Then, two more 16-inch (406 mm) shells hit the battleship's stern below the waterline, one destroying her steering gear and the other detonating inside her 14-inch (356 mm) gun turret 4 hydraulic pump room and disabled turrets 3 and 4. Another salvo of 16-inch (406 mm) shells from Washington set fire to the 14-inch (356 mm) turret 2 magazines and forced it to be flooded as well, and at least six 5-inch (127 mm) shells hit the pagoda mast and set it ablaze. Washington's final salvo landed a pair of waterline hits, one penetrating her belt and exploding inside one of Kirishima's three hydraulic pump rooms, while the last 16-inch (406 mm) shell hit and destroyed Kirishima's twin rudders. In total, Kirishima was hit by at least twenty 16-inch (406 mm) shells and seventeen 5-inch (127 mm) shells from Washington.

Listing at 18 degrees to starboard, Kirishima's engines remained relatively untouched by gunfire as the crippled battleship attempted to sail away from the battlefield. Takao and Atago fended off Washington with gunfire and torpedoes while Kirishima escaped. Attempts were made to steer the ship using the propellers, but this failed as extreme heat overtook her machinery and killed most of her engineers, rendering the engine room as extremely hazardous as Kirishima waddled to safety. Nagara was ordered to tow Kirishima, but this order was refused. In the meantime, fires previously thought to have been put under control strengthened and spread to the aft magazines and forced them to be flooded. Natural flooding reversed the worsening list to port then back to starboard, until seawater reached and disabled Kirishima's starboard boilers. Captain Ijuin concluded the ship was fatally damaged by that point and ordered the port boilers shut down to allow the crew to evacuate. The destroyers Teruzuki, Asagumo, and Samidare came alongside Kirishima to rescue survivors. Ijuin's choice to abandon Kirishima proved to be the correct path as mere minutes later at 3:25, she finally lost buoyancy and suddenly capsized to starboard. Kirishima's superstructure almost crushed Teruzuki as she went down and took 212 men with her, while the remaining 300 men aboard Kirishima - including Captain Ijuin - were thrown overboard by the sudden sinking before Samidare rescued them. The three destroyers rescued 1,100 sailors.

Wreck

Kirishima's wreck was discovered by Robert Ballard during an expedition to map the wrecks from the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1992. She lies upside down, with her bow section missing from the bridge forward due to a magazine explosion. Her anchor chain is wrapped around her stern section. Ballard's investigation of the wreck unfortunately was aborted due to a technical emergency, resulting in the dive only lasting some nine minutes. This severely limited any information or images obtained. A further expedition to the wreck by Paul Allen's RV Petrel in January 2019 provided detailed information on both the damage received during the battle and confirms the subsequent detonation of her forward main magazines during the sinking process.

References

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• 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. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
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External links

• Media related to Kirishima (ship, 1915) at Wikimedia Commons
• Construction of Kirishima