Asashimo on 27 November 1943.
History
Empire of Japan
NameAsashimo
Laid down21 January 1943
Launched18 July 1943
Completed27 November 1943
Stricken10 May 1945
FateSunk in action, 7 April 1945
General characteristics
Class and typeYūgumo-class destroyer
Displacement2520 tons
Length119.15 m (390.9 ft)
Beam10.8 m (35 ft)
Draught3.75 m (12.3 ft)
Speed35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Complement228
Armament

Asashimo (朝霜, "Morning Frost") was a Yūgumo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was among the several ships sunk during Operation Ten-Go by attacking US aircraft in 1945.

Service career and fate

On 29 February 1944, while escorting a large convoy en route to Truk, Asashimo detected the submarine USS Rock making a night surface approach on the convoy. Rock fired a spread of four torpedoes from her stern tubes at the closing Asashimo without scoring a hit. Illuminated by the destroyer's searchlight, and under fire from the ship's 5-inch (130 mm) guns, Rock dived. For four hours Asashimo continued depth charge attacks, without success. That night Rock surfaced and found that her periscopes were excessively damaged and that her bridge had been riddled with shrapnel. The damage necessitated a return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Later that night, the busy Asashimo sank the submarine USS Trout. Japanese records indicate that one of their convoys, Matsu No. 1, was attacked by a submarine on 29 February 1944 in the patrol area assigned to Trout. Carrying the 29th Infantry Division of the Kwantung Army from Manchuria to Guam, Matsu No. 1 consisted of four large transports escorted by three Yūgumo-class destroyers of Destroyer Division 31: Asashimo, Kishinami, and Okinami. The submarine badly damaged one large passenger-cargo ship and sank the 7,126-ton transport Sakito Maru. About 2,200 of the 3,500 men aboard the Sakito Maru died, which included a large portion of the 18th Infantry Regiment.[1] Asashimo detected the submarine and dropped 19 depth charges. Oil and debris came to the surface and the destroyer dropped a final depth charge on that spot. The submarine was using Mk. XVIII electric torpedoes, and it was also possible that one of those had made a circular run and sunk the boat, as happened with USS Tang.

Asashimo participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she rescued survivors of the cruiser Atago on 23 October. At the Battle of Ormoc Bay, she was the only destroyer to survive the Convoy TA no. 4 Battle. On 26 December 1944, she assisted in scuttling the destroyer Kiyoshimo and rescued 167 crewmen, plus her C.O. and Comdesdiv2.

On 6 April 1945, Asashimo escorted the battleship Yamato from the Inland Sea on Operation Ten-Go towards Okinawa. She was sunk on 7 April by aircraft of Task Force 58, from the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto after falling astern of the Yamato task force due to engine trouble,[2] 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Nagasaki. All of her 326 crew members - as well as Commander Destroyer Division 21 (Captain Hisao Kotaki) - lost their lives. The others, including the destroyer Hamakaze, were sunk during the same attack, also by aircraft of San Jacinto, but several destroyers, such as Suzutsuki survived with heavy damage. Asashimo was sunk at (31°N 128°E / 31°N 128°E / 31; 128).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gailey, Harry (1988). The Liberation of Guam 21 July – 10 August. Novato, CA: Presidio Press. p. 37. ISBN 0-89141-651-X.
  2. ↑ Spurr, Russell (1981). A Glorious Way To Die - The Kamikaze Mission of the Battleship Yamato. New York: Newmarket Press. pp. 251. ISBN 9781557049131.
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