Haguro left Singapore on 9th May’45, escorted by the destroyer Kamikaze, to re-supply the Port Blair garrison on the Andaman Islands and to evacuate troops back to Singapore. The Royal Navy intercepted a Japanese naval signal of this acvity. Later on this was confirmed by two submarines,HMS Statesman and Subtle,too. Force 61 of the Eastern Fleet set sail on 10th May from Trincomalee, Ceylon[now Sri Lanka]to intercept the Japanese flotilla. In the early hours of 16th May she was intercepted by five British destroyers while conducting such an operation at Andaman Islands, in the eastern Bay of Bengal. Haguro was hit by three torpedoes and sunk, with the loss of about three-quarters of her crew of some 1200 officers and men. Haguro, a 13,300 tons Myoko class heavy cruiser, was built at Nagasaki, the Fifth Sentai. It provided distant cover for Japan's successful effort to evacuate its troops from Guadalcanal. Timeline of Haguro:: ** Participated in the Landings at Philippines early ’42, ** Battle of the Java Seaon Feb’42, ** Battle of the Coral Sea on May’42 , ** Battle of the Eastern Solomonson Aug’42, ** Evacuation from Guadalcanal by Jan’43, ** Battle of Empress Augusta Bayon Nov’43, ** Battle of the Philippine Sea on June’44, ** Battle of Leyte Gulf.Oct’44 . ** She also took part in the battle of the Midway[Midway occupation force]. But in May ‘45, Haguro was the target of the British "Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla[HMS Saumarez,Verulam, Venus, Vigilant, and Virago, commanded by Captain Manley Laurence Power ] found her with the destroyer Kamikaze just after midnight on 16th May’45, and began the attack. During the battle, Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire alongwith three Mark IX Torpedoes. This attack made her to slow down and a 30-degrees list to port instantly. At 2:32 am the Haguro began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait,[55 miles off Penang] after the fierce surface-battle. Meanwhile Kamikaze able to rescue about 320 survivors . Seaman Pool of HMS Venus:: The man was sitting infront of his radar screen was seaman Pool.By late 10:40,he spotted Haguro on course to Singapore.Due to heavy weather , the distance show very high on the radar screen[about 35 nmi]. Seaman Pool was there to confirm about his findings, though his superiors were sceptical .But Pool had no choice either.His 293 PPI screen had been showing the blotches of rain-squall echoes since evening,he plotted one particular squall inside the spreading main echo,the hard bright dot of A solid object.He reported…’Plot,roger’……..’Echo zero four three,range fifty four thousand yards’’. Seaman Pool This[Operation Dukedom]was the last gun battle ever fought between surface ships of War 2. Torpedo Team in their mood~HMS Venus :
It has been quoted that had this action occured off Norway in 1940 instead of Malaya in 1945 there would have been medals and awards galore for the Royal Navy. This magnificent text book attack by the Royal Navy is almost unheard of because it happened when the war was all but over.
Operation Dukedom is one of my favorite naval battle of War 2,due to its critical technical aspects. 1] We may follow the account of HMS Shah ,an escort carrier[800 Squadron-Hellcat I/II]…….. reported that ,during the Operation Dukedom …out of six CVEs ,HMS Emperor[26th Destroyer Flotilla] was the only carrier to engage Haguro…….her position near Andaman-Nicobar Islands was reported by 11:50pm…… later on the 26th saw the Haguro sunk by gun fire …off Malacca…’’ H.M.S. SHAH at :: www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/SHAH.htm 2]‘’…In November 2010 Kevin Denlay (FI 98) carried Explorers Club Flag #52 on a shipwreck survey expedition entitled EXPEDITION ‘OPERATION DUKEDOM’ to the wreck of the Japanese heavy cruiser HIJMS Haguro in the Malacca Strait. His Imperial Japanese Majesties Ship (HIJMS) Haguro was one of four heavy cruisers of the Myoko Class………….’’ ’’ ………in February 2003 we set out from Singapore - again aboard MV Empress - and headed up the Malacca Strait to the general locale of Haguro’s sinking, armed with a side-scan sonar and a determination to find her. As it turned out we found her sitting upright, about 46 nautical miles southwest of Penang in approximately 68 metres of water, and about 15 nautical miles from her ‘official’ sinking position. I then returned to Haguro with Empress several times during the next couple of years and began a survey of the wreck….’’ http://www.anzec.org //View Details - Australia New Zealand Explorers Club - ANZEC// 3] We can see the war time map of the region, where 26th engaged with Haguro, here at: http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/haguro.html 4] We may see the report made by expedition member & E C Flag applicant Kevin Denlay –Fellow International 1998 on the account of …’’HIJMS HAGURO wreck survey on Malacca Strait, NOV 8-23rd ,2010.’’ The report may be seen here :: http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/ijn/haguro/expedition-operation-dukedom-%202010-EC-flag-52-report You know, I never ever heard/read …….. The incident occurred off Norway’40.
Meanwhile,you may be confuse as I wrote....''.....never ever heard/read …….. The incident occurred off Norway’40......'' I intend to write that,had the conflict occurred off Norway'40,by the Germans defeat [instead of Japan],the North Atlantic[The Battle of North Atlantic] alone could stop the war,much earlier.It was much needed . And for the awards...you know that a good number of prosperous soldiers have been deprived......no matter;we the people are here keeping their account of sacrifice,in our heart.
What I meant was that if a similar action had taken place off Norway in 1940 against a German heavy cruiser, the action would have resulted in many medals and awards for the British sailors involved and a much more promiment place in Royal Navy history.
