- Japanese cruiser Suzuya
nihongo|"Suzuya"|鈴谷 was the third of four vessels in the "Mogami"-class of
heavy cruiser s in theImperial Japanese Navy . She was named after the Suzuya river inTohoku region ,Japan .Background
Built under the 1931 Fleet Replenishment Program, the "Mogami"-class cruisers were designed to the maximum limits allowed by the
Washington Naval Treaty , using the latest technology. This resulted in the choice of a 155 mm (6.1 in) dual purpose (DP)main battery in five tripleturret s capable of 55° elevation. To save weight, electricwelding was used, as wasaluminum in thesuperstructure , and the use of a single funnel stack. New impulse gearedturbine engines, coupled with very heavy anti-aircraft protection, gave the class a very high speed and protection. However, the "Mogami"-class ships were also plagued with technical problems due to their untested equipment, and proved to be top-heavy with stability problems in heavy weather as well.ervice career
Early career
"Suzuya" was completed at
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in January 1936, but on completion was immediately placed in the reserves while waiting fordry dock space to permit modifications. She was officially commissioned on31 October 1937 , but reconstruction and refit work was not completed until30 September 1939 .Assigned to CruDiv7 with her
sister ship s "Mogami", "Mikuma" and "Kumano", "Suzuya" participated in the occupation ofCochinchina ,French Indochina from her forward operating base onHainan , after Japan andVichy French authorities reached an understanding on use of air facilities and harbors from July 1941. At the time of theattack on Pearl Harbor , "Suzuya" was assigned to cover the invasion of Malaya as part of CruDiv7 underVice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa 's First Southern Expeditionary Fleet, providing close support for landings of Japanese troops atSingora ,Patani andKota Bharu .On
9 December 1941 , Japanese submarine "I-65" reported sighting ofRoyal Navy Force Z (the Royal Navybattleship HMS "Prince of Wales",battlecruiser HMS "Repulse" and supportingdestroyer s). The report was received bylight cruiser "Sendai", which relayed the message to Admiral Ozawa aboard his flagship, "Chokai". However, the reception was poor and the message took another 90 minutes to decode. Moreover, "I-65's" report was incorrect about the heading of Force Z. TwoAichi E13A 1 "Jake" floatplanes from "Suzuya" and "Kumano" attempted to shadow Force Z, but both were forced to ditch due to lack of fuel. Only "Suzuya's" crew was recovered. The following day, Force Z was overwhelmed bytorpedo bomber s of the 22nd Air Flotilla from Indochina.In December 1941, "Suzuya" was tasked with the invasion of
Sarawak , together with "Kumano", covering landings of Japanese troops atMiri . From her base atCam Rahn Bay , she sortied with "Kumano" to cover landings of troops atAnambas ,Endau ,Palembang andBanka Island ,Sabang onSumatra andJava from the end of December 1941 to the middle of March. "Suzuya" also participated in the seizure ofAndaman Islands on20 March 1942 .Indian Ocean Raids
From
1 April 1942 CruDiv 7 based fromMergui ,Burma joined with CruDiv 4 to participate in theIndian Ocean raids . "Mikuma", "Mogami" and destroyer "Amagiri" detached and formed the "Southern Group", which hunted for merchant shipping in theBay of Bengal , while "Suzuya", "Kumano", and "Shiokaze" covered the northern areas. "Chokai", light cruiser "Yura", aircraft carrier "Ryujo" and destroyers "Ayanami", "Yugiri", "Asagiri" formed a center group to reinforce northern or southern wings as necessary. Over the next few weeks, the northern groups claimed kills on a 4,986-ton American merchant vessel "Exmoor", British 7,621-ton freighter "Autoclycus", British 9,066-ton freighter "Malta" and the 2,440-ton British freighter "Shinkuang". In total the commerce raiding expedition sank over twenty ships during their brief stay in the Bay of Bengal. Afterwards, "Suzuya" was withdrawn back to Kure for repairs, and was then sent toGuam to join the Midway Invasion Task Force.Battle of Midway
On
5 June , AdmiralIsoroku Yamamoto ,CINC of theCombined Fleet ordered CruDiv 7 to shellMidway Island in preparation for a Japanese landing. CruDiv 7 and DesDiv 8 were 410 miles away from the island, so they made a high-speed dash at 35 knots. The sea was choppy and the destroyers lagged behind. At 2120, the order was canceled. However, this dash placed CruDiv 7 within torpedo range of the USS "Tambor", which was spotted by "Kumano". "Kumano" signaled a 45° simultaneous turn to starboard to avoid possible torpedoes. The emergency turn was correctly executed by the flagship and "Suzuya", but the third ship in the line, "Mikuma", erroneously made a 90° turn. Behind her, "Mogami's" navigator, watching "Suzuya", did not see "Mikuma's" movement and turned 45° as commanded. This resulted in a collision in which "Mogami" rammed "Mikuma's" portside, below the bridge. Both vessels were severely damaged. "Suzuya" returned to Kure on23 June and CruDiv 7 was transferred from the Second Fleet to the Third Fleet.After returning to Singapore, CruDiv 7 ("Suzuya" and "Kumano") were tasked with the Invasion of Burma from
28 July 1942 . While in theStraits of Malacca , "Suzuya" was attacked byRoyal Netherlands Navy submarine O-23 , which fired four torpedoes, but missed. However, with the American invasion ofGuadalcanal on7 August , "Suzuya" was quickly recalled to the Pacific front.Operations in the Solomon Islands
On
24 August 1942 , CruDiv 7 joined Vice AdmiralChuichi Nagumo 's Carrier Strike Force ("Shokaku", "Zuikaku", "Zuiho" and "Ryujo") with cruiser "Chikuma" northeast of Guadalcanal. During the resultantBattle of the Eastern Solomons , USS "Saratoga" sank the aircraft carrier "Ryujo"; but "Suzuya" was too far away to be in the combat. "Suzuya" subsequently patrolled betweenTruk and theSolomon Islands through the middle of October.On
26 October 1942 , Nagumo's Carrier Strike force engaged the USS "Enterprise", USS "Hornet", battleship USS "South Dakota" and cruiser USS "San Juan" in theBattle of Santa Cruz , sinking the "Hornet" and damaging other ships. The battle was a long-range air battle, and again "Suzuya" was far enough away to avoid direct combat.In early November, CruDiv 7 was ordered to reinforce Vice Admiral
Gunichi Mikawa 's Eighth Fleet atShortland , and participated on the bombardment of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal on14 November . "Suzuya", cruisers "Maya", "Tenryu", "Chokai", "Kinugasa" and "Isuzu" and destroyers "Kazagumo", "Makigumo", "Michishio", "Yugumo", "Asashio" and "Arashio" bombarded the air strip with 989 203 mm (8 in) shells. On withdrawing, the task force was attacked by USS "Flying Fish" (which missed) and aircraft from "Enterprise" and Guadalcanal. "Kinugasa" was sunk, "Chokai" and "Maya" were damaged; "Suzuya" escaped unscathed, and through early January 1943 continued her patrols and coverage of transport convoys between Truk,Kavieng and Rabaul. "Suzuya" returned to Kure on12 January 1943 for repairs, at which time additional AA guns and a Type 21 air search radar were installed. She returned to Kure again on6 April , at which time her dual 13 mm machine guns were replaced by two triple-mountType 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun s."Suzuya" departed Yokosuka on
16 June 1943 , with another major resupply convoy to the Solomon Islands, and shuttled back and forth from Truk to Rabaul through the end of the year. On18 July , "Suzuya" was attacked by Guadalcanal-based MarineTBM Avenger s offKolombangara , but escaped without damage. On3 November , "Suzuya" with "Mogami" and "Chikuma" bombarded American forces that landed atEmpress Augusta Bay ,Bougainville Island . "Suzuya" was in Rabaul harbor on5 November , when the United States launched an attack with 97 planes from USS "Saratoga" and USS "Princeton". "Suzuya" was one of the few ships not hit in the raid.CruDiv 8 was disbanded
1 January 1944 , and "Suzuya" reassigned to CruDiv 7. On1 February , "Suzuya" assisted with the evacuation of Truk. On20 March Rear AdmiralKazutaka Shiraishi assumed command of CruDiv 7. "Suzuya" went into refit at Singapore on24 March , at which time an additional eight single-mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns were installed.Battle of the Philippine Sea
On
13 June 1944 , AdmiralSoemu Toyoda , CINC, Combined Fleet, activated the "A-Go" plan for the defense of theMariana Islands . Suzuya was assigned toAdmiral Kurita 's "Force C" with the battleships "Yamato", "Musashi" and aircraft carriers "Zuiho", "Chiyoda", "Chitose",and cruisers "Atago", "Takao", "Maya", "Chokai", "Kumano", "Chikuma", "Tone", and "Noshiro".Later in the day, the Mobile Fleet's aircraft attacked
Task Force 58 offSaipan , but suffered overwhelming losses in the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot ". At 2030 on20 June , two hours after she was hit by torpedoes byGrumman TBM Avengers from USS "Belleau Wood", the "Hiyo" exploded and sank. That night, "Suzuya" retired with the remnants of the Japanese fleet toOkinawa .Back in Kure on
25 June 1944 , "Suzuya" was refit once again. Four triple-mount and 10 single-mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns were installed, bringing the total to 50 barrels (14×3 and 18×1) and a Type 22 surface search radar and Type 13 air-search radar were fitted. On8 July , "Suzuya" departed Kure back for Singapore andBrunei , and was involved in fleet training and patrols in the Singapore-Brunei area through October. By this time, her Type 22 Kai 4M radar was upgraded to Kai 4S for fire control.Battle of Leyte Gulf
In late October, the Japanese fleet assembled in Brunei in response to the threatened American invasion of the Philippines. On
25 October 1944 , in theBattle off Samar , "Suzuya" engaged the three "Jeep carriers" in American Task Group 77.4, but was attacked by ten TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers. A near-miss destroyed her port propeller. At 1050, "Suzuya" was attacked by 30 other carrier aircraft. Another near-miss caused theLong Lance torpedoes in "Suzuya's" No. 1 torpedo tubes to explode, which in turn started other fires, damaged the starboard engine rooms and the No. 7 boiler room. "Suzuya" was abandoned at 1150, and at 1322 sank at coord|11|45.2|N|126|11.2|E. Destroyer "Okinami" took off Captain Teraoka and 401 crewmen. US warships later rescued further sailors."Suzuya" was removed from the Navy List on
20 December 1944 .Commanding Officers
*Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Tsunemitsu Yoshida - 20 November 1934 - January 1936
*Capt. Tsunemitsu Yoshida - January 1936 - 1 December 1936
*Capt. Shojiro Mizusaki - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937
*Capt. Yaichiro Shibata - 1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938
*Capt. Kyuji Kubo - 15 November 1938 - 15 November 1939
*Capt. Gihachi Takayanagi - 15 November 1939 - 15 October 1940
*Capt. / RADM Masatomi Kimura - 15 October 1940 - 24 November 1942 (Promoted to Rear Admiral on 1 November 1942.)
*Capt. Takeji Ono - 24 November 1942 - 7 September 1943
*Capt. Yuji Takahashi - 7 September 1943 - 1 September 1944
*Capt. Masao Teraoka - 1 September 1944 - 25 October 1944References
Books
*cite book
last = Brown
first = David
authorlink =
year = 1990
title = Warship Losses of World War Two
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-914-X
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
chapter =
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*cite book
last = Howarth
first = Stephen
authorlink =
year = 1983
title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
publisher = Atheneum
location =
id = ISBN 0-68911-402-8
*cite book
last = Jentsura
first = Hansgeorg
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1976
chapter =
title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-893-X
*cite book
last = Lacroix
first = Eric
authorlink =
coauthors = Linton Wells
year = 1997
chapter =
title = Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-311-3
*cite book
last = Whitley
first = M.J.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1995
chapter =
title = Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-141-6External links
*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/mogami_c.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Mogami" class
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)
work =
accessdate = 2006-06-14
*cite web
last = Chen
first = Peter
year = 2007
url = http://ww2db.com/ship_spec.php?ship_id=40
title = WW2DB: Suzuya
accessdate = 2007-11-04
*Tabular record: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/suzuya_t.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Suzuya" history] (Retrieved 26 January 2007.)Notes
ee also
*
List of World War II ships
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