Japanese cruiser Haguro

Haguro at anchor in April of 1936
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Haguro
Namesake	Mount Haguro
Ordered	1924
Builder	Mitsubishi shipyard, Nagasaki
Laid down	16 March 1925
Launched	24 March 1928
Commissioned	25 April 1929
Stricken	20 June 1945
Fate	Sunk by Royal Navy destroyers in the Strait of Malacca, 16 May 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Myōkō-class cruiser
Displacement	13,300 long tons (13,513 t)
Length	201.7 m (661 ft 9 in)
Beam	20.73 m (68 ft 0 in)
Draft	6.32 m (20 ft 9 in)
Installed power	130,000 shp (97,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × geared turbines 12 × boilers 4 × shafts
Speed	36 kn (41 mph; 67 km/h)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement	773
Armament	As completed: 10 × 200 mm (7.9 in) guns (5x2) 6 × 120 mm (4.7 in) guns (to 1934) 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine guns 12 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4x3) After first reconstruction: 10 × 203 mm (8.0 in) guns (5x2) 8 × 127 mm (5 in)/40 guns (4x2; from 1935) 8 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine guns (2x4) 2 × 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine guns 16 × 610 mm (24 in) torpedo tubes (4x4)[1]
Armor	Main belt: 100 mm (3.9 in) Main deck: 37 mm (1.5 in) Turrets: 25 mm (0.98 in) Barbettes: 75 mm (3.0 in)
Aircraft carried	2 × floatplanes
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult

Haguro (羽黒) was a Myōkō-class heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. Commissioned in 1929, Haguro saw significant service during World War II, participating in nine naval engagements between 1942 and 1945. As a heavy cruiser, she was better armed and armored than most surface vessels, and had multiple battles during her combat career. In the early part of the war, she engaged in vigorous shore bombardment duties to support the Japanese invasions of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, and took part in the destruction of the Allied cruiser force defending the Dutch East Indies at the Battle of the Java Sea from 27 February to 1 March 1942. With torpedo hits, Haguro sank the Allied flagship, the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter, and the destroyer HNLMS Kortenaer, and with gunfire scored primary credit for sinking the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, and was not damaged during the entire battle.^[2]

After patrol duty, from 7–8 May, Haguro escorted aircraft carriers during the Battle of the Coral Sea, escorted the invasion force at the Battle of Midway, and escorted carriers during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August. After a long series of patrol duties, Haguro fought an American cruiser-destroyer force at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, where she helped to damage the light cruiser USS Denver, but was hit by ten 6-inch (152 mm) shells from enemy cruisers, but most were duds as she got off with light damage. After more patrol duties and surviving the occasional air raid, Haguro escorted carriers at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where she aided the sinking aircraft carrier Shōkaku, and fought in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, surviving the submarine and air attacks that sank several Japanese ships, and in turn damaging several US warships and helping to sink the destroyer USS Hoel while taking minor damage from shell and bomb hits.^[2][3]

After escaping back to mainland Japan, Haguro spent most of 1945 transiting between bases for cargo transport mission. In May, she was transporting troops when she was ambushed by Royal Navy destroyers in the Malacca Strait, the last surface battle between enemy warships. Haguro was sunk by at least nine torpedo hits and nearly an hour of gunfire. The wreck was discovered in 2010 and illegally salvaged in 2014.^[2]