Japanese cruiser Natori
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| Career (Japan) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1919 Fiscal Year |
| Laid down: | 14 December 1920 |
| Launched: | 16 February 1922 |
| Commissioned: | 15 September 1922[1] |
| Struck: | 10 October 1944 |
| Fate: | sunk 18 August 1944 torpedoed by USS Hardhead (SS-365) east of Samar, Philippine Sea |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Nagara class cruiser |
| Displacement: | 5,088 tons (standard) 5,832 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 534 ft 9 in (163.0 m) |
| Beam: | 48 ft 5 in (14.8 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 shaft Gihon geared turbines 12 Kampon boilers 90,000 shp |
| Speed: | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Range: | 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 438 |
| Armament: | 7 × 5.5-inch (140 mm) guns (7x1) 2 × 25 mm AA guns, 6 × 13 mm AA guns, 8 × 610 mm torpedo tubes (4x2) 48 naval mines |
| Armor: | 62 mm (belt) 30 mm (deck) |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 x floatplane, 1 catapult |
IJN Natori (名取 軽巡洋艦 Natori keijunyōkan?) was a Nagara-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was named after the Natori River in Miyagi prefecture, Japan.
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[edit] Background
Natori was the fourth vessel completed in the Nagara-class of light cruisers. Like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.
[edit] Service career
[edit] Early career
Natori was completed Mitsubishi's Nagasaki shipyard on 15 September 1922. Soon after commissioning, Natori was assigned to patrols off the China coast. From 1938, it was based in Taiwan, and helped cover the landings of Japanese troops in southern China.
In 1940, a border dispute between Siam and French Indochina erupted into armed conflict. A Japanese-sponsored "Conference for the Cessation of Hostilities" was held at Saigon and preliminary documents for a cease-fire between the governments of General Henri Philippe Petain's Vichy France and the Kingdom of Siam were signed aboard Natori on 31 January 1941.
[edit] Early Stages of the Pacific War
On 26 November 1941, Natori became flagship of Rear Admiral Kenzaburo Hara's DesRon 5 under Vice Admiral Ibo Takahashi's Third Fleet and was assigned to the No.1 Surprise Attack Unit of the Philippine Seizure Force. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Natori was escorting six transports carrying elements of the IJA's 48th Infantry Division from Mako, Pescadores to Aparri, northern Luzon. The landing force was attacked by three USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the 14th Squadron on 10 December 1941, which slightly damaged Natori and its escorting destroyer Harukaze with near misses. After minor repairs at Mako, Natori ferried 27 transports with the 47th Infantry Regiment of the 48th Infantry Division and the 4th Tank Regiment to Lingayen Gulf in late December.
On 26 December 1941, Natori was reassigned to the No. 2 Escort Unit with the light cruiser Kashii, and tasked with escorting 43 transports of the Third Malaya Convoy to Singora.
[edit] Battle of the Sunda Strait
Natori was later assigned escort duties to cover the invasion force for the Dutch East Indies, and participated in the Battle of Sunda Strait on 28 February 1942.
Natori with DesDiv 5's Asakaze, DesDiv 11's Shirayuki, Hatsuyuki, DesDiv 12's Shirakumo and Murakumo and DesDiv 27's Shiratsuyu with CruDiv 7's Mikuma and Mogami deployed north and west of the landing areas. The USS Houston (CA-30) and the Australian light cruiser HMAS Perth sortied for Tjilatjap via the Sunda Strait and attacked Japanese troop transports screened only by Harukaze, Hatakaze and Fubuki. The destroyers made smoke to mask the transports. Fubuki charged the Houston and Perth and launched torpedoes.
At 2300, the Third Escort Force's Natori and her destroyers arrived with the Western Support Force's Mogami, Mikuma and Shikinami. Shiratsuyu opened fire on the Allies. Natori, with Hatsuyuki and Shirayuki, then opened fire and rapidly closed the range. At 2308, the Allied cruisers turned NE and Natori and her destroyers headed SE in three columns. Between 2310 and 2319 they launched 28 torpedoes at the Allies. The Perth's gunfire damaged the Harukaze's rudder and the Shirayuki's bridge.
At 2319, Mikuma and Mogami each fired six Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes at the Perth from about 9,300 yards (8,500 m) and opened main battery fire from about 12,000 yards (11,000 m), assisted by searchlights on their destroyers. At 2327, Mogami fired six Long Lances at the Houston. They miss, but hit the Army transports Sakura Maru, Horai Maru, Tatsuno Maru and the Commander-in-Chief of the invading Japanese 16th Army, Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura's transport Ryujo Maru.
At 2326, Harukaze and Hatakaze launch torpedoes. At 2330, Shirakumo and Murakumo also launch torpedoes. Altogether, the Japanese launch about 90 torpedoes in the engagement. The Perth, low on ammunition, was making 28 knots (52 km/h) when the first torpedo hit her forward engine room. Two more torpedoes hit her forward magazine and aft under "X" turret, and she sank three miles (5 km) ENE of St. Nicholas Point at after a fourth torpedo hit. At 0045, the Houston sanks at .
On 10 March 1942, Natori was assigned to CruDiv 16 with the light cruiser Nagara. After the occupation of Java, Natori participated in the Battle of Christmas Island. At Christmas Island on 1 April 1942 USS Seawolf (SS-197) fired three torpedoes at Natori, but all missed. The cruiser Naka which was hit starboard near her No. 1 boiler was not so lucky, and had to be towed back to Bantam Bay by Natori.
In April, Natori was assigned to patrols of the Java Sea, which continued into June. After a refit back at Maizuru, Natori returned to the Java Sea and Timor Sea until December, with occasional calls at Mergui in Burma, Penang, Singapore and Davao.
On 21 December 1942, Natori embarked a Special Naval Landing Force, which it disembarked at Hollandia, New Guinea.
On 9 January 1943, 18 nautical miles (33 km) southeast of Ambon, Natori was sighted by USS Tautog (SS-199) at about 3,000 yards (3,000 m). The Tautog fired two torpedoes which hit the Natori in the stern. It broke off and carried away her rudder. In the next few minutes, as Natori got underway at reduced speed, Tautog fired two more torpedoes, but they either missed or were duds and Natori managed to escape.
[edit] Refitting
On 21 January 1943, while at Ambon, Natori was damaged by a near-miss starboard side by a 500-lb. bomb dropped by a Consolidated Aircraft B-24 Liberator bomber of the 90th Bomb Group's 319th Bomb Squadron. The bomb opened plates and caused the No. 2 boiler room to flood. Natori departed Ambon that day for repairs at Makassar, but repair proved impossible, so Natori continued on to Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. Repairs were not completed until 24 May 1943, but by then a decision was made to send Natori back to Japan for further repairs and modernization
At Maizuru, Natori's No. 5 and No.7 140 mm guns were removed as were her catapult and derrick. A twin Type 89 127 mm HA gun was fitted, as were two triple mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns. This brought Natori's 25 mm AA suite to fourteen barrels (2x3, 2x2, 4x1). A Type 21 air-search radar was fitted and hydrophones were installed at her bow. Repairs and modernization were completed on 1 April 1944, and Natori was assigned as the flagship of the Central Pacific Fleet's DesRon 3.
[edit] Actions in the Philippines
On 5 June 1944, Natori embarked an Imperial Japanese Army detachment from Kure to Davao, Mindanao where it disembarked the Army detachment and embarked other troops for Palau, arriving on 17 June 1944 (the day before the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Natori remained at Davao in late June through August as a guard ship.
On 20 July 1944, the USS Bluegill (SS-242) patrolling off Davao spotted Natori making 26 knots (48 km/h), but was unable to gain a favorable firing position. Natori arrived in Palau 21 July 1944 to help evacuate 800 Japanese and Korean "comfort women" to Davao.
On 18 August 1944, 200 nautical miles (370 km) east of Samar, Natori was accompanying the transport T.3 to Palau when it was spotted by USS Hardhead (SS-365) east of San Bernardino Strait. USS Hardhead identified the target as a battleship and closed for a surface attack. One torpedo of its first salvo of five Mark 23 Torpedoes fired at 2,800 yards (2,600 m) hit the Natori portside in a boiler room. She stopped dead in the water and was hit starboard amidships with one of a second salvo of four Mark 18 Torpedoes.
At 0704, Natori sank at , taking 330 crewmen including Captain Kubota with her. The destroyers Uranami and Kiyoshimo rescued 194 survivors, and the USS Stingray (SS-186) recovered four more survivors in a rubber raft. On 12 September 1944, almost a month after her sinking, USS Marshall (DD-676) captured a lifeboat with another 44 survivors of the Natori aboard.
Natori was removed from the Navy List on 10 October 1944.
[edit] List of Captains
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Yoshichika Fukushima - 16 February 1922 - 15 September 1922
Capt. Yoshichika Fukushima - 15 September 1922 - 1 December 1922
Capt. Minoru Morita - 1 December 1922 - 20 November 1923
Capt. Taizo Ogura - 20 November 1923 - 1 December 1924
Capt. Shiro Inoue - 1 December 1924 - 20 November 1925
Capt. Keiji Mizuki - 20 November 1925 - 1 November 1926
Capt. Keiichi Ichikizaki - 1 November 1926 - 1 December 1926
Capt. Chuza Matsumoto - 1 December 1926 - 20 August 1927
Capt. Takehiko Tsuda - 20 August 1927 - 15 November 1927
Capt. Jugoro Arichi - 15 November 1927 - 1 August 1928
Capt. Toshiu Higurashi - 1 August 1928 - 10 December 1928
Capt. Kenichi Sada - 10 December 1928 - 30 November 1929
Capt. Yoshiro Koyama - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Taichi Miki - 1 December 1930 - 5 April 1931
Capt. Kurayoshi Hoshino - 5 April 1931 - 1 December 1931
Capt. Michimoto Nakayama - 1 December 1931 - 10 June 1932
Capt. Terumichi Goto - 10 June 1932 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Matsukichi Matsuki - 1 December 1932 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Eijiro Matsuura - 15 November 1933 - 15 November 1934
Capt. Fukuji Kishi - 15 November 1934 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Masao Okamura - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Yoshimasa Nakahara - 1 December 1936 - 10 November 1937
Capt. Hachiro Nakao - 10 November 1937 - 5 December 1938
Capt. Takeo Aruga - 5 December 1938 - 28 September 1939
Capt. Hiroshi Matsubara - 28 September 1939 - 15 November 1940
Capt. Teijiro Yamazumi - 15 November 1940 - 28 July 1941
Capt. Seigo Sasaki - 28 July 1941 - 1 July 1942
Capt. Toshihira Inoguchi - 1 July 1942 - 20 January 1943
Capt. Mitsuharu Ueda - 20 January 1943 - 20 July 1943
Capt. Yasuji Hirai - 20 July 1943 - 18 March 1944
Capt. / RADM* Toshi Kubota - 18 March 1944 - 18 August 1944 (KIA)
[edit] References
[edit] Books
- Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
- Cook, Haruko Taya; Theodore F. Cook (1992). "Lifeboat", Japan At War: An Oral History. New York: The New Press. ISBN 1-56584-039-9. First-hand account of the sinking of the Natori by one of the surviving crew.
- 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.
- Evans, David (1979). Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-68911-402-8.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
- Whitley, M.J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-141-6.
[edit] External links
- Parshall, Jon; Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt. CombinedFleet.com: Nagara class Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com). Retrieved on 2006-06-14.
- Tabular record: CombinedFleet.com: Natori history (Retrieved 26 January 2007.)
[edit] Notes
- ^ Lacroix, Japanese Cruisers, p. 794.
[edit] See also
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