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heavy cruiser A 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 calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
, armed with ten guns, four guns, eight tubes for the Type 93 torpedo, and assorted anti-aircraft guns. Named for
Mount Chōkai is an active volcano located on the border of Akita and Yamagata in the Tōhoku region of Japan, and is tall. Because of its (roughly) symmetrical shape and massive size, it is also variously known as , or depending on the location of the vi ...
, ''Chōkai'' was designed with 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, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
strategy of the great "Decisive Battle" in mind, and built in 1932 by
Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
's shipyard in
Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...
. ''Chōkai'' participated in numerous actions during the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
including the
Battle of Savo Island The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the , and colloquially among Allied Guadalcanal veterans as the Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks, was a Naval warfare, naval battle during the So ...
off
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
, in which she, along with other Japanese cruisers, sank the heavy cruisers , and . She was sunk in the
Battle off Samar The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battle in history, largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar (island), Samar Island, in the Philippin ...
in October 1944.


Design

The ''Takao''-class cruisers were an improved version of the previous design, incorporating technical elements learned with the development of the experimental light cruiser . They had a distinctive profile with a large, raked main smokestack, and a smaller, straight, second smokestack. Intended to address issues with the ''Myōkō '' class, the ''Takao'' class had thicker armor, dual-purpose main guns which could be used against aircraft, and torpedo launchers moved to the upper deck for greater safety. However, as with its predecessors, the ''Takao'' class was also top-heavy.Patton, ''Japanese Heavy Cruisers of World War Two'', pp. 36–48 The ''Takao'' class displaced . ''Chōkai'' was long, with a beam of , draft of and was capable of 35.25 knots. Propulsion was by 12
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 ...
boilers driving four sets of single-impulse geared turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers. The ship was armored with a side belt, and armored deck;, the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
was armored with armored plates. ''Chōkais main battery was ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time, mounted in five twin turrets. Her secondary armament included four Type 10 12 cm dual purpose guns with four single mounts, two on each side, and 8 Type 90 torpedoes in four twin launchers, with 16 as reloads. She was very deficient in anti-aircraft capability, with only two
anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...
s and two 7.7 mm machine guns. Her last refit removed the two 40 mm and 7.7 mm anti-aircraft guns in exchange for a total of 38 Type 96 in four twin and 22 single mounts. Her torpedoes were upgraded to the more powerful
Type 93 torpedo The was a -diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given to it after the war by Samuel Eliot ...
es. Uniquely to ''Chōkai'', she did not receive the extensive refit her sisters did, keeping the 12 cm guns and four twin torpedo tubes, whereas her sisters received the Type 89 and four quad torpedo tubes.


Operational history

At the start of the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
, ''Chōkai'' supported the invasion of
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
and participated in the pursuit of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
's battleship
Force Z Force Z was a British naval squadron during the Second World War, consisting of the battleship , the battlecruiser and accompanying destroyers. Assembled in 1941, the purpose of the group was to reinforce the British colonial garrisons in the ...
. During January and February 1942, ''Chōkai'' was involved in operations to seize the oil-rich
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
and the island of
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
. Steaming near Cape St. Jacques, ''Chōkai'' struck a reef, sustaining hull damage on 22 February 1942. On 27 February, she reached
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
for repairs. After repairs, ''Chōkai'' was once again assigned to a support role in an invasion, this time the landings at Iri, Sumatra, and the invasion of the
Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...
and the seizure of
Port Blair Port Blair (), officially named Sri Vijaya Puram, is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headqu ...
a few days later. Afterwards, ''Chōkai'' sailed to Mergui, Burma. On 1 April 1942, ''Chōkai'' left Mergui to participate a raid on merchant shipping in the Bay of Bengal. First, ''Chōkai'' torpedoed and sank the U.S. freighter ''Bienville'', and later on, the British steamship ''Ganges'' on 6 April. With her role in the operation successfully concluded, ''Chōkai'' returned to
Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
on 22 April 1942.


Battle of Savo Island

By mid-July 1942, ''Chōkai'' was made the new flagship of
Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...
Mikawa Gunichi and his 8th Fleet. She proceeded towards
Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...
. On 7 August 1942, with
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
having been invaded by the Americans, ''Chōkai'' headed for the Guadalcanal waters, with Vice Admiral Mikawa aboard. In the
battle of Savo Island The Battle of Savo Island, also known as the First Battle of Savo Island and in Japanese sources as the , and colloquially among Allied Guadalcanal veterans as the Battle of the Five Sitting Ducks, was a Naval warfare, naval battle during the So ...
, Mikawa's squadron of heavy cruisers, consisting of ''Chokai'' herself, and the heavy cruisers ''Furutaka,'' ''Kako'', ''Aoba'', and ''Kinugasa'' inflicted a devastating defeat on an Allied cruiser squadron. First, ''Chōkai'' and ''Aoba'' targeted the Australian heavy cruiser ''Canberra'', followed by ''Furutaka'' and ''Kako'' joining in, and all four ships sank ''Canberra'' with gunfire. Following that, ''Chōkai'' pounded the heavy cruiser , and as ''Aoba'', ''Kako'', and ''Kinugasa j''oined in, ''Astoria'' sank. Finally, while other cruisers lit the cruiser aflame and sank her, ''Chōkai'' sank the heavy cruiser with two hits from her long lance torpedoes. The battle of Savo Island was one of the most devastating Japanese naval victories of the war, the four allied heavy cruisers sunk and several more ships damaged or crippled. However, ''Chōkai'' sustained several hits from ''Quincy'' and ''Astoria'', disabling her "A" turret and killing 34 men. ''Chōkai'' returned to Rabaul for temporary repairs. For the rest of the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
campaign, ''Chōkai'' would fight in an assortment of night battles with the U.S. Navy, sustaining varied, but mostly minor, damage.


Subsequent action

Relieved as the Eighth Fleet flagship shortly after the final evacuation of Guadalcanal, ''Chōkai'' headed back to Yokosuka on 20 February 1943. Tasked with various minor duties for the remainder of 1943 and first half of 1944, ''Chōkai'' was made the flagship of the Cruiser Division Four ("CruDiv 4") comprising , , , and ''Chōkai'' on 3 August 1944. All four ships took part in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a major naval battle of World War II on 19–20 June 1944 that eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious r ...
.


Battle of Leyte Gulf

CruDiv 4 was part of Admiral
Takeo Kurita was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Kurita commanded IJN 2nd Fleet, the main Japanese attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in history. Biography Early life Takeo Kurit ...
's large fleet of IJN
battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...
s,
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
s, and
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s that took part in the various engagements of the
Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital sh ...
at the Philippines. CruDiv 4 suffered a harrowing submarine attack on 23 October 1944, with the sinking of and (which was Kurita's flagship, though he survived), while was left permanently crippled, leaving ''Chōkai'' as the only undamaged ship of CruDiv 4. ''Chōkai'' was then transferred to Cruiser Division Five, where she survived an air attack on 24 October 1944, while the battleship '' Musashi'' was sunk.


Sunk in the battle off Samar

On the morning of 25 October, ''Chōkai'' engaged an American force of
escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slower type of aircraf ...
s,
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s, and
destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
s in the
Battle off Samar The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battle in history, largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar (island), Samar Island, in the Philippin ...
. During her approach to the US escort carriers, ''Chōkai'' was hit several times on the port side amidships by 5"/38 caliber guns of this force's escort carriers and destroyers. It was believed at the time that one of these hits may have set off the eight deck-mounted Japanese Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes; however, 's expedition in 2019 found ''Chōkai''s torpedoes still intact. An explosion was observed aboard ''Chōkai'' before a
TBM 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 ...
from the '' USS Kitkun Bay'' dropped a 500 lb (230 kg) bomb on her forward machinery room. Fires began to rage and she went dead in the water. She was scuttled later that day by torpedoes from the destroyer (), which also rescued some of her crew. Two days later ''Fujinami'' was sunk with the loss of all hands, including the ''Chōkai'' survivors.


Wreck

''Chōkai'' sits upright in of water on the edge of the
Philippine Deep The Philippine Trench (also called the Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and the Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues N ...
. RV ''Petrel'' discovered the wreck of ''Chōkai'' on 5 May 2019 and dived it via
ROV ROV may refer to: *Real options valuation, a financial discipline that uses option valuation techniques to analyse capital budgeting decisions *''Realm of Valor'', Thai-marketed version of multiplayer online video game ''Arena of Valor'' *Remotely ...
on 30 May 2019.


References


Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chokai Takao-class cruisers Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1932 ships World War II cruisers of Japan Scuttled vessels Warships lost in combat with all hands World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea Maritime incidents in October 1944 2019 archaeological discoveries Shipwreck discoveries by Paul Allen