Japanese cruiser Haguro

Haguro (羽黒) was a Myōkō-class cruiser heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. Commissioned in 1929, Haguro saw significant service during World War II, participating in nine naval engagements between 1942 and 1945. As a heavy cruiser, she was better armed and armored than most surface vessels, and had multiple battles during her combat career including in the Java Sea, in the waters around the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines. She was sunk in 1945 during a fight with Royal Navy destroyers in the Malacca Strait, one of the last major Japanese warships to be sunk in open waters during World War II. The wreck was discovered in 2010.

Design
Haguro was the third of the four-member Myōkō-class cruiser of heavy cruisers (sometimes referred to as the Nachi class due to the 2nd ship, Nachi, being completed before Myōkō, despite starting construction after); the other ships were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and JAPANESE CRUISER Ashigara (足柄). The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 201 m long, and were capable of 36 kn.

Armament
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.

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.

Armor
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.

Construction and career
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 of 1930, Haguro embarked on a voyage carrying Emperor Hirohito from Kobe to the battleship Kirishima from the 22nd to 25th,

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.

Second World War
By the time of Japan's entry into World War II with the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Haguro was enroute 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 the 19-20th after escorting troop transports, before she conducted more shore bombardment on Jolo on the 24th. On the 4th of January, she survived B-17 air attacks undamaged, then Haguro took part in several more shore bombardment missions to aid in the invasion of Celebes.

Battle of the Java Sea
Haguro played a key role in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942. Haguro and her sistership Nachi intercepted an Allied naval force consisting of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and nine destroyers. Haguro initially targeted the allied flagship, the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter (1935), scoring a pair of hits with her 8-inch (203 mm) main guns, before switching fire to the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter (68). Haguro hit Exeter with two 8-inch (203 mm) shells. One failed to explode, but the other destroyed half her boilers, which resulted in Exeter's speed dropping to 5 knots, forcing her out of the battle. A torpedo from Haguro then hit the destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer (1927). which immediately exploded and sank.

Almost six hours later, just before midnight, Haguro, Nachi and their escorts tracked down the allied force and, from around 16,000 yards, the pair of heavy cruisers fired their torpedo batteries. A torpedo from Nachi hit the light cruiser HNLMS Java which blew up the ship's magazines and broke her in two, sinking in under two minutes. Minutes later, a torpedo from Haguro hit the De Ruyter which as a result sank three hours later. Admiral Karel Doorman went down with the cruiser.

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. 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. With their work accomplished Haguro and Nachi proceeded to leave the scene while Myoko and Ashigara combined fire to sink Encounter. Pope temporarily escaped, but within two hours was crippled by aircraft from the light carrier Ryūjō and then finished off by gunfire with the arrival of Ashigara and Myoko.

Battles (1942-1943)
On 7 May 1942, she participated in the Battle of the Coral Sea, moving on to the Solomon Islands where she took part in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. The ship supported the evacuation from Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943. 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.

On 19 June 1944, she participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

Battle of Leyte Gulf
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 Musashi and damaged 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.

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. She then targeted the escort carrier USS Kalinin Bay, who reported spotting a "Nachi class cruiser" from 18,000 yards. 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. Haguro then reengaged Hoel, and heavily contributed to her sinking alongside Yamato and Nagato, saluting the valiant destroyer as she sank. Haguro then heavily damaged the destroyer escort USS Dennis.

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.

Battle of the Malacca Strait
In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British "Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla found her with the destroyer JAPANESE 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, Haguro began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait, 55 mi off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors, but 751 men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her. 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.

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

Shipwreck
On 4 March 2003, a group of specialized shipwreck divers operating off MV Empress discovered the wreck of Haguro in 67 m of water in the Malacca Strait south of Penang. 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.

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