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 ...
in the two-vessel of
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 T ...
s in 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 ...
. Launched in 1926 and heavily modernized in 1938-40, ''Aoba'' initially served as a patrol craft, largely along the China coast, and saw extensive service 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Repeatedly heavily damaged and repaired, she was finally crippled by bombing and settled on the bottom of shallow
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 ...
harbor in April 1945; two raids in late July reduced her to an unsalvageable hulk. During the attack on 24 July 1945, future Vice admiral
Dick H. Guinn dropped the bomb which contributed to the sinking of that vessel.
Named after Mount Aoba, a volcano located behind
Maizuru, Kyoto
is a city in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 78,644 in 34817 households and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
Maizuru is located in northern Kyoto Prefe ...
, she was formally removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945, and her wreck scrapped in 1946–47.
Background and design
''Aoba'' and her
sister ship were originally planned as the third and fourth vessels in the of heavy cruisers. However, design issues with the ''Furutaka'' class resulted in modifications to include double turrets and an aircraft
catapult. These modifications added yet more weight to an already top-heavy design, causing stability problems. Nevertheless, ''Aoba'' played an important role in World War II.
She displaced 8,300 tons (standard, 9,000 final), was long, and carried a main battery of six
20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns in three twin turrets, two forward and one aft.
Service career
Early career
''Aoba'' was completed at
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...
shipyards at
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
on 20 September 1927 and was assigned to CruDiv5 until 1933 and thereafter to CruDiv6 and CruDiv7, serving 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 fi ...
during much of her career. She was frequently dispatched to patrol the China coast in the late 1920s and the 1930s.
''Aoba'' was extensively modernized at
Sasebo Navy Yard
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 t ...
from 1938 to 1940, receiving new
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, enhanced
anti-aircraft gun
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, improved fire controls and better aircraft facilities. Her bridge was rebuilt and bulges added to her hull in an attempt to compensate for the additional weight and improve stability. After re-commissioning in October 1940, ''Aoba'' returned to CruDiv6.
Early stages of the Pacific War
In 1941, ''Aoba'' was flagship of
Rear Admiral Aritomo Goto
Aritomo (written: 有朋 or 存知) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include:
*, Imperial Japanese Navy admiral
*, Japanese general and Prime Minister of Japan
{{given name
Japanese masculine given names ...
as part of the First Fleet under overall command of
Vice Admiral Takasu Shiro
is a town in Kamikawa Subprefecture in Hokkaido, Japan. Translated into English, Takasu means "hawk's nest". As of April 2020, the town has an estimated population of 6,780 people.
Geography
Takasu is located in the central area of Hokkaido ...
. CruDiv 6 consisted of ''Aoba'', ''Kinugasa'', and . At the time of the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, CruDiv6 was engaged in the
invasion of Guam, following which she participated in the second invasion of
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 ...
.
Battle of Coral Sea
At the
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...
, CruDiv 6 departed
Shortland and effected a rendezvous at sea with light
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 ...
. At 1100 on 7 May 1942 north of Taguli Island, ''Shōhō'' was attacked and sunk by 93
SBD Dauntless
The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...
dive bombers and
TBD Devastator
The Douglas TBD Devastator was an American torpedo bomber of the United States Navy. Ordered in 1934, it first flew in 1935 and entered service in 1937. At that point, it was the most advanced aircraft flying for the Navy and possibly for any na ...
torpedo bombers from the aircraft carriers and .
The following day, 8 May 1942, 46 SBDs, 21 TBDs and 15
Grumman
The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...
F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atla ...
s from ''Yorktown'' and ''Lexington'' damaged the aircraft carrier severely above the waterline and forced her retirement. ''Furutaka'' and ''Kinugasa'', undamaged in the battle, escorted ''Shōkaku'' back to
Truk. ''Kako'' and ''Aoba'' continued to cover the withdrawing
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
invasion convoy.
After refueling at Shortland on 9 May, ''Aoba'' returned to
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 Ja ...
on 22 May 1942 for repairs, and returned to Truk on 23 June 1942, and from Truk to
Rekata Bay
Rekata Bay, also known as ''Suavanau'', is a bay located on the northeast coast of Santa Isabel Island in the Solomon Islands between Santa Isabel and Papatura Island.
History
Before the Second World War a copra plantation was built at Suavana ...
,
Santa Isabel Island
Santa Isabel Island (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the longest in Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province.
Location and geographic data
Choiseul lies t ...
, where she was assigned patrols through July.
In a major reorganization of the Japanese navy on 14 July 1942, ''Aoba'' was assigned to the newly created
Eighth Fleet under Vice Admiral
Mikawa Gunichi and was assigned to patrols around the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
,
New Britain
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...
, and
New Ireland.
The Battle of Savo Island
On 7 August 1942, an
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 ...
1 "Jake" from ''Aoba'' spotted "one battleship, one auxiliary carrier, four cruisers, seven destroyers, and fifteen transports" off
Lunga Point
Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field. is also the name of a United States Navy escort carrier ...
near Tulagi.
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 battle of the Solomon Islands ca ...
on August 9, 1942, CruDiv 6, , light cruisers and and destroyer engaged the
Allied
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
force in a night gun and torpedo action. At about 2300, ''Chōkai'', ''Furutaka'', and ''Kako'', all launched their reconnaissance
floatplanes. The circling floatplanes dropped flares illuminating the targets and all the Japanese ships opened fire. The cruisers , , and were sunk. The cruiser was damaged as were the
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 in ...
s and . On the Japanese side, ''Chōkai'' was hit three times, ''Kinugasa'' twice, and ''Aoba'' once; ''Furutaka'' was not damaged. As CruDiv6 retired towards Kavieng, ''Kako'' was sunk by the
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
, but ''Aoba'' escaped without further damage. Through the rest of August and September, ''Aoba'' and CruDiv6 provided cover to the "
Tokyo Express
The Tokyo Express was the name given by Allied forces to the use of Imperial Japanese Navy ships at night to deliver personnel, supplies, and equipment to Japanese forces operating in and around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands during the ...
" reinforcement convoys to
Guadalcanal.
Battle of Cape Esperance
At the
Battle of Cape Esperance
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , took place on 11–12 October 1942, in the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Na ...
on 11 October 1942, CruDiv 6's cruisers (''Aoba'', ''Furutaka'', and ''Kinugasa''), and destroyers ( and ) departed Shortland to provide cover for a troop reinforcement convoy by shelling
Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. Two American
OS2U Kingfisher
The Vought OS2U Kingfisher is an American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a large central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest because of its low-powered engine. The OS2U ...
reconnaissance aircraft spotted the fleet coming down the "Slot" at .
So alerted, the radar-equipped American cruisers , , , and and five destroyers steamed around the end of Guadalcanal to block the entrance to Savo Sound.
At 2235, ''Helena''s radar spotted the Japanese fleet, and the Americans successfully
crossed the Japanese "T". Both fleets opened fire, but Admiral Goto, thinking that he was under
friendly-fire, ordered a 180-degree turn that exposed each of his ships to the American broadsides. ''Furutaka'' was sunk. ''Aoba'' was hit by up to forty 6-inch (152 mm) and 8-inch (203 mm) shells. The bridge was wrecked, the No. 2 turret was knocked out and the No. 3 turret destroyed. Other hits put four of the ''Aoba''’s boilers off line. Admiral Goto was mortally wounded and 80 other crewmen were killed. After temporary repairs at Shortland, ''Aoba'' limped back to Truk on 15 October, where Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto
was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II until he was killed.
Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reor ...
personally inspected the damage and ordered the ship back to Japan.
Later service
''Aoba'' returned to Kure on 22 October. During repairs, the wrecked No. 3 turret was covered over with steel plates, and a
Type 96 triple-mount 25-mm AA gun installed in its place. ''Aoba'' was sent back to Truk on 24 February 1943.
On 3 April, while moored at
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248.
Kavi ...
, New Ireland, ''Aoba'' was bombed by
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
B-17 Flying Fortresses of the
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organizat ...
's
43rd Bombardment Group
The 43rd Air Mobility Operations Group is an active duty air mobility unit at Pope Field (formerly Pope AFB), Fort Bragg, North Carolina and is part of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) under the USAF Expeditionary Center. The unit is composed of f ...
. A direct hit on ''Aoba'' caused two
Type 93 Long Lance torpedoes to explode and set the ship on fire while the B-17s strafed the decks with machine guns. ''Aoba'' had to be beached to avoid sinking.
After being towed back to Truk, and again to Kure on 1 August, ''Aoba'' was again repaired and re-fitted. The gun was restored to the No. 3 turret and a Type 21 air-search
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
and two Type 96 twin-mount 25-mm AA guns were installed. However, irreparable engine damage reduced ''Aoba''s maximum speed to .
''Aoba'' was reassigned to the First Southern Expeditionary Fleet and arrived at
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 24 December 1943. The ship remained based out of Singapore to the end of February 1944, escorting supply convoys to
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, the
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago 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 maritime boundary between th ...
and along the
Malaya coast. On 25 February, the vessel was assigned to CruDiv16, with which ''Aoba'' participated in the
Indian Ocean raid
The Indian Ocean raid, also known as Operation C or Battle of Ceylon in Japanese, was a naval sortie carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 31 March to 10 April 1942. Japanese aircraft carriers under Admiral Chūichi Nagumo ...
during March 1944. Through April, May and June, ''Aoba'' resumed its escort duties through the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
. During a refit at Singapore in July, ''Aoba'' gained four triple-mount and 15 single-mount Type 96 25-mm AA guns and a Type 22 surface-search radar.
On 11 October, ''Aoba'' accidentally collided with the cruiser , but the damage was minor. However, on 23 October 1944, ''Aoba'' was attacked by the submarine . One of six torpedoes hit ''Aoba'' in the No. 2 engine room. ''Aoba'' limped into
Cavite
Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...
Navy Yard near
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, but while under emergency repairs the following day and on 29 October the ship was bombed by carrier-based planes from
Task Force 38
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 tas ...
. Repairs still incomplete, ''Aoba'' was assigned to a convoy returning to Japan. The convoy was attacked on 6 November off Luzon by the submarines , ''Bream'', and . Altogether the submarines fired 23 torpedoes, two of which hit the cruiser , but ''Aoba'' escaped without further damage. On arrival at Kure on 12 December, ''Aoba'' was examined but declared irreparable and re-rated as a reserve ship.
During a US air raid on Kure harbor on 24 April 1945, ''Aoba'' was further damaged by bombing, and settled on the shallow bottom of the harbor. Rather than repair the crippled vessel, four additional twin 25-mm AA guns were fitted around the mainmast, bringing the total number of 25-mm guns to 50 barrels (5x3, 10x2, 15x1). ''Aoba'' was re-rated as a floating anti-aircraft battery. On 24 July 1945, about 30 planes from Task Force 38
attacked Kure, and bombed ''Aoba'' again. At 2200 hours, ''Aoba'' settled to the bottom in of water at . On 28 July 1945, the hulk was again attacked by ten of Task Force 38's carrier aircraft. Four more direct bomb hits set it on fire. The fire attracted
7th Air Force
The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea.
The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...
B-24 Liberator bombers, which hit it again with four more bombs, breaking off the stern.
''Aoba'' was formally removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. Her wreck was scrapped in 1946–47.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*Tabular record
CombinedFleet.com: ''Aoba'' history(Retrieved 4 April 2016.)
*Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoba
Aoba-class cruisers
Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
1926 ships
World War II cruisers of Japan
Cruisers sunk by aircraft
Shipwrecks in the Inland Sea
Maritime incidents in July 1945
Ships sunk by US aircraft