was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class of four

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

s built for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

(IJN) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Completed in 1942, she escorted a troop convoy to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...

in December. In early 1943 the ship participated in

Operation Ke was the largely successful withdrawal of Japanese forces from Guadalcanal, concluding the Guadalcanal Campaign of . The operation took place between 14 January and 7 February 1943, and involved both Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and Imperial ...

, the evacuation of Japanese troops from

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the se ...

. Six months later ''Agano'' transported troops and supplies to New Guinea and she played a minor role in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay in early November. A few weeks later, the ship was badly damaged by American

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The off ...

s and she sailed for Truk under her own power the following day. While en route, ''Agano'' was torpedoed by an American submarine and had to be towed to her destination. After several months of repairs, she left for Japan, but was intercepted and sunk by another American submarine in February 1944. Most of her crew was rescued by her escorting

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

, but that ship was sunk with the loss of most of her crew and all of ''Agano''s survivors by an American airstrike the following day.

Design and description

The ''Agano''-class ships were intended to replace the obsolete light cruisers built in the 1910s and 1920s as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

s of destroyer

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...

s. The ships measured long overall with a beam of and had a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . They displaced at standard load and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into we ...

.Whitley, p. 186 The ships had a crew of 51 officers and 649 enlisted men; assignment as a flagship added 6 officers and 20 more sailors. The ''Agano'' class had four geared

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam tu ...

sets, each driving a single

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

, using steam provided by six

Kampon The was the externally operating division of the Ministry of the Navy of Japan responsible for the administration of naval vessel construction. From 1923 onward, it took on the role of a research institution for the research and development of n ...

Ro Gō

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...

s. The turbines were designed to produce a total of and give the ships a speed of . The ships carried enough

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), b ...

to give them a range of at a speed of .Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 111

Armament and protection

The main armament of the ''Agano'' class consisted of six 41st Year Type guns in three twin-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanis ...

s, two superfiring in front of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

and one

aft "Aft", in nautical terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning towards the stern (rear) of the ship, aircraft or spacecraft, when the frame of reference is within the ship, headed at the fore. For example, "Able Seaman Smith; lie aft!" or "Wh ...

. The secondary armament included four Type 98 8 cm (3 in) anti-aircraft (AA) guns in two twin-gun mounts

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17t ...

.Stille, pp. 35–36 The suite of light anti-aircraft weapons included a pair of triple mounts for Type 96 AA guns and two twin-gun mounts for Type 93

anti-aircraft machinegun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s. The ships also had two rotating quadruple torpedo launchers on the upper deck for Type 93 (''Long Lance'') torpedoes on the centerline and had a reload system with eight spare torpedoes. The ''Agano''-class ships were also fitted with a pair of

Aichi E13A The Aichi E13A ( Allied reporting name: "Jake") was a long-range reconnaissance seaplane used by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1941 to 1945. Numerically the most important floatplane of the IJN, it could carry a crew of three and a bombl ...

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, m ...

s and a

catapult A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of stor ...

. To detect submarines, the ''Agano''s were equipped with a Type 93 Model 2

hydrophone A hydrophone ( grc, ὕδωρ + φωνή, , water + sound) is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates an electric potenti ...

installation and a Type 93 Model 3

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

. They were equipped with two

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

chutes for 18 depth charges and could also carry three mines. The propulsion machinery was protected by a waterline

armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to t ...

thick with transverse bulkheads fore and aft of the propulsion machinery and a middle deck of the same thickness. The ships'

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s were enclosed in armored boxes with sides, 20-millimeter tops and 20- or 25-millimeter ends.

Construction and career

''Agano'', named for the

Agano River The is a river in the Hokuriku region of Honshu, Japan. It is also called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in Fukushima. The source of the river is Mount Arakai on the border of Fukushima and Tochigi. It flows to the north and meets the Ni ...

, was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Sasebo Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Sasebo Naval District was established at Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1886, as the third of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

on 18 June 1940, launched on 22 October 1941 and completed on 31 October 1942. She was assigned as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 10 () of the

Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...

on 20 November after working up. The ship departed

Kure is a port and major shipbuilding city situated on the Seto Inland Sea in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. With a strong industrial and naval heritage, Kure hosts the second-oldest naval dockyard in Japan and remains an important base for the Japan M ...

six days later and arrived at Truk in the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

on 1 December where

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Susumu Kimura , was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He commanded Destroyer Squadron 10 which participated in several important naval battles at the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal Campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Biography ...

hoisted his flag aboard her the following day. On 16 December ''Agano'' escorted the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

and a troop convoy to

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. ...

and

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

. The ships briefly covered the landing of Japanese forces at Hollandia before returning to Truk on 20 December. ''Agano'' escorted the forces covering the evacuation of Japanese troops from Guadalcanal Island (Operation KE) from 31 January to 9 February 1943, during which 11,700 Japanese soldiers were removed.Hackett & Kingsepp The ship was transferred to the 1st Mobile Fleet the following day. She returned to

Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama prefecture, Wakayam ...

in early May for her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s and was then assigned to the

Combined Fleet The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a permanent organization, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units norm ...

preparing to counterattack the American offensive in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

, but this operation was cancelled after the Allied victory on Attu on 29 May. ''Agano'' was refitted at the

Kure Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Kure Naval District was established at Kure, Hiroshima in 1889, as the second of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the J ...

from 3 June to 2 July. The ship exchanged her 13.2 mm machine guns for a pair of twin-gun Type 96 mounts and another pair of triple 25 mm mounts were added amidships, giving her a total of sixteen 25 mm guns. A Type 21

early-warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum t ...

was also installed. ''Agano'' departed for Truk on 9 July escorting the

First Carrier Division was an aircraft carrier unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Air Fleet. At the beginning of the Pacific War, Pacific Campaign of World War II, the First Carrier Division consisted of the fleet carriers Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, ''Ak ...

while carrying troops and supplies. Despite numerous sightings by American submarines and an attack on the aircraft carrier , the convoy made it safely to Truk on the 15th. ''Agano'' helped to ferry troops and supplies to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

on 19–26 July. In response to the American carrier raid on

Tarawa Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati
''

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

to search for the American forces before they returned to Truk on 23 September, having failed to locate them. The Japanese had intercepted some American radio traffic that suggested another attack on

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

, and on 17 October, ''Agano'' and the bulk of the fleet sailed for Eniwetok to be in a position to intercept any such attack, but no attack occurred and the fleet returned to Truk.

Battle of Empress Augusta Bay

The ship, now the flagship of Rear Admiral

Morikazu Osugi Morikazu (written: 盛和 or 守一) is a masculine Japanese given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and d ...

, departed Truk on 30 October for Rabaul just as the Americans were preparing to invade Bougainville Island on 1 November. The Japanese attempted to disrupt the landings on the night of 1/2 November with a force of two

heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

s, two light cruisers, including ''Agano'', and six destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Sentarō Ōmori. The Japanese ships had been spotted by American aircraft around 21:00 and Task Force 39, which consisted of four light cruisers and eight destroyers, was ordered to intercept them. Omori arranged his ships in three staggered columns; the outer ones were each led by one of the light cruisers followed by three destroyers and the two heavy cruisers were in the middle. Osugi in ''Agano'' led the southernmost column, which trailed the main body. One of the cruiser floatplanes claimed to have spotted a cruiser and three destroyers south at 01:20 and Ōmori ordered his ships to make a 180-degree maneuver intended to buy time for the pilot to investigate

Empress Augusta Bay Empress Augusta Bay is a bay on the western side of the island of Bougainville Island, within the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in northeastern Papua New Guinea. It is a subsistence fishing area for the people of Bougainville. History Em ...

for American shipping. Less than an hour later, he reported that American transports crowded the bay; the pilot had actually spotted three

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...

s and their destroyer escort that were leaving the bay. Omori ordered his ships to reverse course at 02:25. In the darkness, and with most ships lacking radar, the Japanese formation of three columns was disordered by the maneuvers and commanders lost track of where their ships were in relation to each other. American radar picked up the Japanese at a range of at 02:27 and Rear Admiral Aaron Merrill, commander of the task force, ordered his destroyers to attack with their torpedoes while his cruisers stood off to avoid Japanese torpedoes and would open fire when the torpedoes struck their targets to maintain the element of surprise. The leading division of four destroyers fired a

salvo A salvo is the simultaneous discharge of artillery or firearms including the firing of guns either to hit a target or to perform a salute. As a tactic in warfare, the intent is to cripple an enemy in one blow and prevent them from fighting b ...

of 25 torpedoes by 02:46, but they were detected as they turned away and the Japanese turned into the torpedoes to makes themselves smaller targets. Their maneuvering caused Merrill to believe that his ships had been spotted and the first of his cruisers opened fire at the light cruiser , leading the northernmost column, three minutes later. The abrupt maneuvers by the Japanese ships, both to evade the American torpedoes and to fire their own, led to one collision and several near misses early in the battle. Most of the American cruisers were firing at the heavy cruisers in the center column by 03:05 and Omori turned away in a 270-degree turn that cut across the path of ''Agano''s column. The heavy cruiser rammed and crippled the destroyer while the heavy cruiser nearly struck the destroyer . Incorrectly believing that he had sunk three of the American cruisers, Omori ordered his ships to cease fire at 03:29 and turned away to disengage four minutes later. Osugi, who had kept his ships on the disengaged side of the heavy cruisers after the collision, fired a parting shot of eight torpedoes at 03:40, all of which missed. After returning to Rabaul, ''Agano'' was near-missed by a bomb when the aircraft carriers and attacked the port on 5 November. The bomb damaged one anti-aircraft gun and killed one crewman. ''Agano'' and her sister put to sea on the following day to destroy the American forces near Empress Augusta Bay, but this was cancelled and the ships returned to Rabaul on 7 November. Four days later, the American aircraft carriers of Task Group 50.2 attacked Rabaul. ''Agano'' was hit by a

Mark 13 torpedo The Mark 13 torpedo was the U.S. Navy's most common aerial torpedo of World War II. It was the first American torpedo to be originally designed for launching from aircraft only. They were also used on PT boats. Design Originating in a 1925 des ...

which blew off the very end of her stern and bent her rearmost propeller shafts. The ship's rudder was not damaged, although Osugi was injured in the attack. After emergency repairs were made by the ship's crew, ''Agano'' departed Rabaul under her own power the next day, escorted by the destroyer . Not long after their departure, the ships were sighted by the American submarine , which launched six torpedoes. One of them struck the cruiser amidships, flooding all of the boiler rooms, which knocked out all power. While attempting to repair the damage, the submarine attempted to attack, but was prevented from doing so by depth charges from ''Urakaze''. ''Noshiro'' and the light cruiser were ordered to her assistance on the 13th and her sister took ''Agano'' in tow upon her arrival. The tow parted the following day and ''Nagara'' took over the task. The damaged ship finally reached Truk on 16 November.

Sinking

Temporary repairs by the repair ship began immediately upon her arrival and lasted until 15 February 1944. That evening she departed Truk to get permanent repairs in the

Japanese home islands The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...

, escorted by the destroyer and

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

''CH-28''. On the afternoon of 16 February, about north of Truk, ''Agano'' was attacked by the submarine , which fired four torpedoes. Two struck the cruiser on the starboard side at 16:44, flooding Boiler Room No. 2 which gave her a

list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...

of 12° and started a large fire. The ship progressively flooded and ''Oite'' rescued 523 survivors between 20:00 and 23:30. ''Agano'' sank at at 01:50 on 17 February and was struck from the

navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 31 March.Lacroix & Wells, pp. 595–596 As ''Oite'' was approaching Truk the following morning, the destroyer was sunk by

Grumman TBF Avenger The Grumman TBF Avenger (designated TBM for aircraft manufactured by General Motors) is an American World War II-era torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air and naval av ...

s of

Task Force 58 The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The task ...

in the course of

Operation Hailstone Operation Hailstone ( ja, トラック島空襲, Torakku-tō Kūshū, lit=airstrike on Truk Island), 17–18 February 1944, was a massive United States Navy air and surface attack on Truk Lagoon conducted as part of the American offensive drive ...

, and sank within minutes, taking all but twenty of her own crew down with her. All of the ''Agano'' crewmembers originally rescued were lost.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agano Agano-class cruisers Ships built by Sasebo Naval Arsenal 1941 ships World War II cruisers of Japan Ships sunk by American submarines World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ships lost with all hands Maritime incidents in February 1944