Agano-class cruiser

Agano in October 1942, off of Sasebo, Nagasaki
Class overview
Name: Agano class
Builders: Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
Operators:  Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by: Sendai class
Succeeded by: Ōyodo class
Completed: 4
Lost: 3
General characteristics
Type: Light cruiser
Displacement: 6,652 t (6,547 long tons) (standard); 7,590 t (7,470 long tons) (loaded)
Length: 174 m (571 ft)
Beam: 15.2 m (50 ft)
Draught: 5.6 m (18 ft)
Propulsion:
  • 4 shaft Gihon geared turbines
  • 6 Kampon boilers
  • 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range: 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement: 730[1]
Armament:
Armour:
  • Machinery belt: 60 mm (2.4 in)
  • Magazine belt: 55 mm (2.2 in)
  • Armoured deck: 20 mm (0.8 in)
  • Forward armoured bulkheads: 25 mm (1.0 in) to 20 mm (0.8 in)
  • Rear armoured bulkheads: 20 mm (0.8 in)
Aircraft carried: 2 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities: 1 aircraft catapult

The four Agano-class cruisers (阿賀野型軽巡洋艦, Agano-gata keijun'yōkan) were light cruisers operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy.[2] All were named after Japanese rivers. Larger than previous Japanese light cruisers, the Agano-class vessels were fast, but with little protection, and were under-gunned for their size (albeit with a powerful offensive torpedo armament, able to launch up to eight Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes in a salvo). They participated in numerous actions during World War II.

The Agano class was followed by the larger Ōyodo-class cruiser, of which only a single vessel was completed.

Background

The Imperial Japanese Navy had developed a standardized design for light cruisers as flagships for destroyer and submarine squadrons, based on a 5,500 ton displacement, shortly after World War I. However, by the 1930s these vessels were obsolete, as contemporary destroyers were faster, carried more powerful armament, and had greater endurance. As soon as the restrictions of the London Naval Treaty were removed, the Navy General Staff developed a plan within the Fourth Fleet Supplemental Budget to build 13 new 6000 ton cruisers between 1939 and 1945 to replace the Tenryū, Kuma, and Nagara-class cruisers. These vessels were intended to be the flagships for six destroyer squadrons and seven submarine squadrons. The new design was finalized in October 1937; however, construction was delayed due to overloading of the Japanese shipyards.[3] Construction costs came to 16.4 million yen per vessel.

Design

The design for the Agano class was based on technologies developed by aboard the cruiser Yūbari, resulting in a graceful and uncluttered deck line and single funnel. Unlike most Japanese designs, the Agano class was not overweight, so it exhibited good stability and seaworthiness.[3]

The Agano class was armed with six 152 mm Type 41 guns in three gun turrets. These guns were also used on the Kongō-class battlecruiser, some of these weapons having been removed from the Fusō-class battleship and the Kongō class during their modernizations in the early and late 1930s, respectively.[3] This gun fired a 100 lb (45 kg) projectile 22,970 yards (21,000 m) and could elevate to 55 degrees, though it was relatively ineffective as an anti-aircraft weapon. These guns were mostly intended to be defensive, and were considered secondary armament. Tertiary armament consisted of four 76 mm Type 98 DP guns designed specifically for the class, in two twin turrets amidships. Anti-aircraft weapons included two triple 25 mm AA guns in front of the bridge, and two twin 13 mm mounts near the mast.[3] As its primary offensive weapon, the class also had two quadruple centerline torpedo launchers for Type 93 torpedoes located below the flight deck, with eight reserve torpedoes.[3] The torpedo tubes were mounted on the centerline, as was more common with destroyers, and had a rapid reload system with eight spare torpedoes. Being mounted on the centerline allowed the twin launchers to fire to either port or starboard, meaning that a full eight-torpedo broadside could be fired, whereas a ship with separate port and starboard launchers can fire only half of its torpedoes at a time, or needs to be fitted with twice as many tubes. This emphasis on powerful torpedo armament in a light platform reflected Japanese emphasis on the ability of their light forces to inflict heavy losses on the US Navy main fleet during a transit across the Pacific, leaving it weakened when finally brought to battle by the IJN Main Fleet. Torpedoes were the only weapons that gave small vessels like submarines, destroyers and light cruisers the potential to sink or seriously damage capital ships, as they could not hope to carry guns heavy enough to do such. Heavy cruisers were given a heavy 20.3 cm (8 in) main armament, but were also heavily armed with torpedoes. The relatively light caliber "main guns" of the Agano class were intended mostly for fending off counterattacks by enemy light screening forces or sinking enemy merchant vessels. Two depth charge rails and 18 depth charges were also installed aft. The class was also equipped with two Aichi E13A aircraft. The first two vessels in the class (Agano and Noshiro) had a larger 26-meter catapult, while the later Yahagi and Sakawa had a shorter 19-meter catapult.[3]

The engines were a quadruple-shaft geared turbine arrangement with six boilers in five boiler rooms, developing 100,000 shp (75,000 kW) for a maximum speed of 35 knots (65 km/h). Like Yūbari, the Agano class had its stacks join into a single funnel.

All of the vessels in the class were updated with additional anti-aircraft weaponry and radar at various points in their service lives.

Ships in class

Four ships were budgeted under the 1939 4th Naval Replenishment Programme, three from the Sasebo Naval Arsenal and one from Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.

Name Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Fate
Agano Sasebo Naval Arsenal 18 June 1940 22 October 1941 31 October 1942 Torpedoed, 16 February 1944
Noshiro Yokosuka Naval Arsenal 4 September 1941 19 July 1942 30 June 1943 Sunk in air attack, 26 October 1944
Yahagi Sasebo Naval Arsenal 11 November 1941 25 October 1942 29 December 1943 Sunk in air attack, 7 April 1945
Sakawa 21 November 1942 9 April 1944 30 November 1944 Sunk as target ship, 2 July 1946

Agano

Completed on 31 October 1942, Agano participated in the battles for Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands during 1943. Agano was badly damaged in Rabaul harbor by aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga and USS Princeton, and in a subsequent attack by aircraft from TF38 on 11 November she received a torpedo hit. Ordered to home waters for repair, she was torpedoed and sunk north of Truk by the US submarine USS Skate (SS-305), on 16 February 1944.[4]

Noshiro

Commissioned on 30 June 1943, Noshiro participated in operations in the Solomon Islands and was damaged during the US carrier aircraft raids on Rabaul on 5 November 1943. She served in the Marianas in the summer of 1944, and was part of Admiral Kurita's force during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. She was west of Panay while withdrawing from the Battle off Samar on the morning of 26 October when she was sunk by aircraft from USS Wasp and USS Cowpens.[5]

Yahagi

Commissioned on 29 December 1943 Yahagi saw action in the Marianas in May/June 1944, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. After the US invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945, she was ordered to accompany the battleship Yamato on its suicide mission against the American fleet at Okinawa. Yahagi was hit by some seven torpedoes as well as a dozen bombs, and sank on the afternoon of 7 April 1945.[6]

Sakawa

Sakawa was not completed until the end of 1944, by which time there was little fuel available. She survived the war unscratched and was used as a transport to return demilitarized troops from New Guinea and other areas after the war. She was expended in the atom bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑
    • Nishida, Nishida (2002). "Agano-class light cruisers". Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X. page 111-112
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stille, Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45 , pages 34-39;
  4. ↑ Combined Fleet.com IJN Agano Tabular Record of Movement
  5. ↑ Combined Fleet.com IJN Noshiro Tabular Record of Movement
  6. ↑ Combined Fleet.com IJN Yahagi Tabular Record of Movement
  7. ↑ Combined Fleet.com IJN Sakawa Tabular Record of Movement

Sources

  • Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
  • Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
  • Lacroix, Eric & Wells, Linton (1997). Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
  • Roscoe, Theodore (1949). United States Submarine Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-731-3.
  • Stille, Mark (2012). Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45. Osprey. ISBN 1-84908-562-5.
  • Whitley, M.J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-141-6.
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