Japanese cruiser Natori
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2008) |
 Natori off Nagasaki in 1922
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Natori |
| Namesake | Natori River |
| Ordered | 1919 Fiscal Year |
| Builder | Mitsubishi |
| Laid down | 14 December 1920 |
| Launched | 16 February 1922 |
| Commissioned | 15 September 1922[1] |
| Stricken | 10 October 1944 |
| Fate | Torpedoed and sunk by USS Hardhead, 18 August 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Nagara-class cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,088 tons (standard) |
| Length | 534 ft 9 in (162.99 m) |
| Beam | 48 ft 5 in (14.76 m) |
| Draught | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) |
| Range | 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 438 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
| Aircraft carried | 1 × floatplane |
| Aviation facilities | 1 × catapult |
Natori (名取) was a
Construction and career
Early career
Natori was completed at
In 1940, a border dispute between
Early stages of the Pacific War
On 26 November 1941, Natori became flagship of
On 26 December 1941, Natori was reassigned to the No. 2 Escort Unit with the light cruiser
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 Destroyer Division 5's
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 northeast and Natori and her destroyers headed southeast in three columns. Between 2310 and 2319 they launched 28 torpedoes at the Allies. Perth's gunfire damaged Harukaze's rudder and Shirayuki's bridge.
At 2319, Mikuma and Mogami each fired six
At 2326, Harukaze and Hatakaze launched torpedoes. At 2330, Shirakumo and Murakumo also launched torpedoes. Altogether, the Japanese launched about 90 torpedoes in the engagement. 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 3 nautical miles (6 km) east-northeast of St. Nicholas Point at 05°48′42″S 106°07′52″E / 5.81167°S 106.13111°E after a fourth torpedo hit. At 0045, Houston sank at 05°48′45″S 106°07′55″E / 5.81250°S 106.13194°E.
On 10 March 1942, Natori was assigned to Cruiser Division 16 with the light cruiser
In April, Natori was assigned to patrols of the
.On 21 December 1942, Natori embarked a
On 9 January 1943, 18 nautical miles (33 km) southeast of Ambon, Natori was sighted by the submarine USS Tautog at about 3,000 yards (3,000 m). Tautog fired two torpedoes which hit 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.
Refitting
On 21 January 1943, while at
At
Actions in the Philippines
On 5 June 1944, Natori embarked an Imperial Japanese Army detachment from Kure to Davao, Mindanao where the cruiser 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 submarine USS Bluegill 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 they were spotted by the submarine USS Hardhead east of San Bernardino Strait. 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 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 12°29′N 128°49′E / 12.483°N 128.817°E, taking 330 crewmen including Captain Kubota with her. The destroyers Uranami and Kiyoshimo rescued 194 survivors, and the submarine USS Stingray recovered four more survivors in a rubber raft. On 12 September 1944, almost a month after her sinking, the destroyer USS Marshall captured a lifeboat with another 44 survivors from Natori aboard.
According to survivor Matsunaga Ichirô, three cutters from Natori containing 180 survivors rowed 13 days from the site of the sinking to a Japanese torpedo-boat station located on the northeastern tip of Mindanao Island near Surigao.
Natori was removed from the
Notes
- ^ Lacroix & Wells, Japanese Cruisers, p. 794
- ^ L., Klemen (1999–2000). "Rear-Admiral Kenzaburo Hara". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
- ^ L., Klemen (1999–2000). "Vice-Admiral Ibo Takahashi". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942.
References
- L, Klemen (2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942".
- Lacroix, Eric & ISBN 0-87021-311-3.
- Whitley, M. J. (1995). Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-141-6.
Further reading
- Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: 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.
- Dull, Paul S. (1978). A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-097-1.
- Evans, David C. & ISBN 0-87021-192-7.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
External links
- Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander & Nevitt, Allyn. "Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com): Nagara class". Imperial Japanese Navy Page. Retrieved 14 June 2006.
- Tabular record: Imperial Japanese Navy Page: Natori history (Retrieved 26 January 2007.)
