''Nōmi'' (能美) was a
''Mikura''-class escort ship
Ocean escort was a type of United States Navy warship. They were an evolution of the World War II destroyer escort types. The ocean escorts were intended as convoy escorts and were designed for mobilization production in wartime or low-cost mass ...
of
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 ...
.
Construction and career
She 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 ...
on 1 June 1943 and
launched on 30 October 1943 by the
Hitachi Zosen Corporation Sakurajia Shipyard. She was
commissioned on 25 January 1944.
1944
On June 23, ''Nōmi'' was released from the
Yokosuka Naval District
was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its headquarters, a ...
Operation Command and was removed from the Yokosuka Maritime Escort Flottila. On the 23rd of the same day, under the command of Operation Ominato Guard (
Lt. Gen. Yasuo Inoue,
Commander-in-Chief), she was transferred to the military division maritime escort unit. Belongs to the Soya Defense Force.
On the 27th, ''Nōmi'' arrived in
Ominato,
Aomori Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, ...
. On the 28th, she was transferred to the Soya Defense Force (commander is Captain Tsuguo Chiba, commander of the Soya Defense Flotilla) along with the No. 15 submarine chaser. She arrives in
Wakkanai, northern
Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
, on June 30. Since then, ''Nōmi'' has cooperated with the Northeast Area Fleet and engaged in convoy escort, patrol, and rescue in the
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
,
Kuril Islands
The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...
, and Hokkaido areas. The 2nd Maritime Escort Flotilla, to which ''Nōmi'' belonged, was crushed in the
Battle of Saipan because she had a headquarter on
Saipan Island
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 es ...
, and was dismissed on July 18.
On September 5, ''Nōmi'' and
''Namikaze'' escorted the K-505 fleet and departed from
Otaru. On the night of the 8th, ''Namikaze'' was sunk by
USS ''Seal'', and her hull was cut off, making her inoperable. ''Nōmi'' was wary of the surroundings of the wave breeze and suppresses anti-submarine. The Ominato Guard Office dispatched destroyers such as
''Nokaze'' to rescue ''Namikaze'' and ''Kokugo Kaibo'' to escort the Ki-505 fleet. However, during this time, the Ki-505 fleet was unprotected. After that, ''Namikaze'' was towed by
''Kamikaze'', and was escorted by destroyer ''Nokaze'', ''Kaibokan Hachijo'' and ''Fukue'' (cooperating with escort from the middle) in Otaru.
The following morning, September 9, USS ''Seal'' raided the Ki-505 fleet, and the torpedoed the ''Shonan Maru'' sank. On the morning of the 10th, ''Nōmi'' passed the ''Shonan Maru'', but she couldn't find any survivors. The 4 Ki-505 fleets, which had lost her escort, had been evacuated to Sakhalin Kaori, so ''Nōmi'' and
''Kunashiri'' moved there. ''Nōmi'' housed the survivors of the ''Shonan Maru'', who had escaped on a large motorized boat. On the 15th, ''Nōmi'' and
''Kunigo'' continued to escort the Ki-505 fleet and set off
Shiki. She arrived at
Paramushir Island
russian: Парамушир ja, 幌筵島
, native_name_link =
, nickname =
, location = Pacific Ocean
, coordinates =
, archipelago = Kuril Island
, total_islands =
, major_islands =
, area_km2 = 2053
, length_km = 100
, width_km = 20
...
Kataoka Bay on the 22nd. On the 24th, she escorted the 403 fleet and left Kataoka Bay. ''Kunigo'' and ''Nōmi'' were divided by 18 of her passengers, 4 prisoners of war and 5 guards. The
USS ''Searaven'' was operating in the same direction, and had already sunk the transport ship ''Riyama Maru''.
On the morning of the 26th, the Wo-403 fleet, which was escorted by ''Kunigo'' and ''Nōmi'', were dispersed due to thick fog at latitude 47 degrees 7 minutes north latitude 151 degrees 35 minutes east longitude. ''Nōmi'' searches for the missing fleet. From midnight on the 26th to early dawn on the 27th, ''Nōmi'' engaged with an enemy submarine at latitude 45 ° 44'N and longitude 148 ° 41'E, north of
Etorofu Island, killing 7 people and injuring 16 seriously and lightly. She was hit by numerous bullets, and she was sent to Ominato for emergency repairs. She arrived in Otaru on the 29th. She departed Otaru on October 1 for a round trip to Ominato. She arrived at Ominato on the 2nd. She repaired in Ominato from the same day.
From December 4 to 11, maintenance and magnetic difference correction were carried out at the
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 the 10th during maintenance, the 1st Maritime Escort Flotilla was reorganized into the 1st Escort Flotilla (Commander-in-Chief, Fukuji Kishi). On the 12th, the Mota-28 Convoy (''Nōmi'', Miyake, No. 20 Kaibokan, No. 112, No. 138, and 2 other vessels, unknown participating vessels) departed from Sasebo. On the 22nd, the Mota-28 fleet unit arrived in
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. On the 25th, the Hi-85 fleet unit (commander Maj. Gen. Shibuya Shibuya) arrived in Kaohsiung, and both fleets were reorganized. 26th 09:00, Tama-38 Fleet Unit (
''Miyake'', ''Nōmi'', No. 20, No. 39, No. 112, No. 138,
''Shinshu Maru'', ''Kibitsu Maru'', ''Aobayama Maru'', ''Hinata Maru'') sortieed Kaohsiung. On the 29th, 1700, the Tama-38 fleet arrived at
San Fernando
San Fernando may refer to:
People
*Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia
Places Argentina
*San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...
,
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
. The ''Aobayama Maru'' and the No. 20 Kaibokan sank in the anti-aircraft battle on the 30th, but the landing was generally successful.
1945
On February 4, 1945, she escorted s fleet and left
Saigon
, population_density_km2 = 4,292
, population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2
, population_demonym = Saigonese
, blank_name = GRP (Nominal)
, blank_info = 2019
, blank1_name = – Total
, blank1_ ...
, and on the 5th, she was transferred to the 1st Escort Flotilla under the control of the 1st Escort Fleet. She arrived in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
on the 6th. She left Singapore on the 11th, escorting her 88F-fleet (2 ships). Along the way, she goes through Quinone Bay and
Tourane, and the fleet calls at Hong Kong on the 24th to repair ''Nōmi''. On the 26th, Noumi's repairs were completed and the fleet departed from Hong Kong. Arrived at Moji on March 8. She made a round trip to Kure on the same day and carried out repairs and maintenance, including weapons replacement, 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 ...
. In the description of "The 1st Escort Flotilla (Kaibokan Noumi) War Diary", the Type 94 Depth Charge Projector was removed during the repair in
Kure to make it a Type 3 Depth Charge Projector, and the underwater probe was tentatively called the Type 3 Depth Charge Projector. It is said that it was replaced with Kai II and equipped with No. 1 radio wave detector type 3 Kaiichi.
It was designated as the
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 fi ...
of the 1st Escort Flotilla on March 20, under repair in Kure, and was boarded by Captain Akira Ikeda, Commander of the Sea Defense Corps. She was repaired on April 2 and she was docked. She maintained and commissioned until the 8th, and on the 9th she was circulated to Moji. On the 11th, the escort group (''Nōmi'', Miyake, No. 31 Kaibokan) escorted the Moshi-02 fleet (special transport ship ''
Toyama Maru
''Toyama Maru'' (富山丸) was a 7,089-ton Japanese troop transport during World War II. On 29 June 1944, ''Toyama Maru'' was transporting over 6,000 men of the Japanese 44th Independent Mixed Brigade when she was torpedoed and sunk by the sub ...
'', 3,943 tons, about 400 passengers) and departed from Moji. On the afternoon of the 13th, the Moshi-02 fleet unit arrived at the harbor on
Jeju Island Hiyoshima, and three escorts (''Nōmi'', Umi 31, ''Miyake'') were to take turns patrol.
[Miyake Senki 2013, p. 165.] Before dawn on the 14th, the torpedo attack of USS ''Tirante'' that invaded the harbor caused a large explosion and sank the ''Toyama Maru''.
''Nōmi'' pursued ''Tirante'', but one of the two torpedoes fired by ''Tirante'' hit directly under ''Nōmi''
's bridge.
''Nōmi''
's ammunition detonated due to the explosion, and her hull was cut off and sank.
[Miyake Senki 2013, p. 166.] About 130 crew members, including Colonel Ei Ikeda, commander of the 1st Escort Flotilla, and Major Saburo Agen, the captain of the Escort Corps, were killed in action. ''Tirante'' fired her last torpedo at her chased No. 31 Kaibokan. The torpedo she hit did not explode, but the impact triggered a depth charge on the No. 31 Kaibokan, which capsized and sank (39 killed in action).
The only surviving Miyake, along with her supportive Kaibokan Aguni and No. 39 Kaibokan, carried out an anti-submarine sweep, but failed to capture ''Tirante''.
On May 25, ''Nōmi'' was removed from the Imperial Japanese Navy.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nōmi
Ships built by Hitachi Zosen Corporation
1943 ships
Ships sunk by American submarines
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Naval magazine explosions