Japanese cruiser Haguro

Haguro (羽黒) was the last of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. The other ships of her class were Myōkō (妙高), Nachi (那智), and Ashigara (足柄).

The ships of this class displaced 13,300 tons, were 201 m (661 ft) long, and were capable of 36 kt (67 km/h). They carried two aircraft and their main armament was ten 203 mm (8 in) guns in five twin turrets. At the time they were built, this was the heaviest armament of any cruiser class in the world.

Service history
Haguro was laid down at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki on March 16, 1925, launched and named on March 24, 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on April 25, 1929. Her service in World War II started in the Dutch East Indies, where she engaged the enemy off Makassar on February 8, 1942. She played a key role in the battle of the Java Sea on February 27, 1942, and was involved in the sinking of HMS Exeter (68) and the Dutch flag ship Hr Ms De Ruyter, and of HMS Encounter (H10) in another action off south Borneo on March 1, 1942.

On May 7, 1942 she participated in the battle of the Coral Sea, moving on to the Solomon Islands where she took part in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on August 24, 1942, the evacuation from Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943, and took light damage in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay on November 2, 1943. On June 19, 1944 she survived the battle of the Philippine Sea, and on October 23–25, 1944 she took light damage in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

Fate
In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British "Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze just after midnight on May 16, 1945, and began the attack. During the battle, the Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX Torpedoes. The Haguro soon began to slow down and took a 30-degrees list to port.

At 2:32 AM the Haguro began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait, 55 mi off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors, but nine hundred men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her. Rear Admiral Sugiura was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously on May 16. The Haguro was the last major Japanese warship to be sunk during the war. Haguro was stricken from the navy list on June 20, 1945. The wreck was discovered in 2003, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles.