- Japanese cruiser Yura
The Japanese cruiser "Yura" was the third of the six vessels completed in the "Nagara"-class of
light cruiser s, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as theflagship of adestroyer flotilla. It was named after theYura River nearKyoto ,Japan .ervice career
Early career
"Yura" was completed at the
Sasebo Navy Yard on 20 March 1923. In 1930, she served as a test platform foraircraft catapult s installed in front of her bridge and, in 1933-34 received a rotating catapult amidships as well as a new mainmast to support an aircraft derrick. During theManchurian Incident , "Yura" was deployed toShanghai China in early 1932, and again between 1937 – 1939, to cover the landings of Japanese troops.Early stages of the Pacific War
On 1 September, 1941, "Yura" was flagship of Rear Admiral
Daigo Tadashige 's SubRon 5. It was assigned to the South Area Force based inHainan . At the time of theattack on Pearl Harbor , "Yura" was covering the first wave of the Malaya Invasion Force south of theCape of Camau ,French Indochina .On 9 December 1941, "Yura" and its squadron was ordered to pursue and sink the
Royal Navy Force Z (the Royal Navybattleship HMS "Prince of Wales",battlecruiser HMS "Repulse" and supportingdestroyer s). Although "Yura" received word from "I-65" that the British ships have been spotted, due to poor wireless reception, the signal was unclear and the British vessels were overwhelmed bytorpedo bomber s of the 22nd Air Flotilla from bases in Indochina before "Yura" and her submarines could take action."Yura" was then assigned to the invasion of
Sarawak from 13 – 26 December 1941, covering landings inBrunei ,Miri ,Seria ,Lutong andKuching . The 2,500 men of the "Kawaguchi Detachment" and the No. 2 YokosukaSpecial Naval Landing Force (SNLF) quickly captured Miri's airfield and oil fields. The operation was completed, and "Yura" returned to its base atCamranh Bay , Indochina by the end of the year.In February, "Yura" was assigned to Vice Admiral
Ibo Takahashi 's Third Fleet, Southern Force and covered the invasion ofSumatra , protecting the landings of troops atPalembang ,Banka Island, andBantam Bay and Merak onJava .On 1 March 1942, near
Euretan Wetan the Dutch submarine "K-XIV " made visual contact with "Yura" and attacked, launching two torpedoes from 2500-3000 meters, but both either missed or were duds. The Japanese made sixdepth charge attacks, dropping about 25 depth charges, but "K-XIV" survived and escaped viaSunda Strait toColombo ,Ceylon . On 4 March, "Yura" rescued the crew of the tanker "Erimo" (sunk by USS "S-39"). On 6 March, "Yura" was assigned to the No. 1 Escort Unit, and continued to cover troop landings in Sumatra and theAndaman Islands through the end of the month.Indian Ocean Raids
In April, "Yura" was assigned to raids in the Indian Ocean under Vice Admiral
Jisaburo Ozawa 's Second Expeditionary Fleet. "Yura", accompanied by the destroyers "Ayanami", "Yugiri", "Asagiri", and "Shiokaze", departMergui and steamed into theBay of Bengal with cruisers "Chokai" and "Suzuya", "Kumano", "Mikuma" and "Mogami" and light carrier "Ryujo" to attack merchant shipping.On 6 April 1942, 14 miles east of
Kalingapatam in theBay of Bengal "Yura" and "Yugiri" sank Dutch merchant "Batavia" en route fromCalcutta toKarachi . "Yura" and "Yugiri" also sank Dutch motorships "Banjoewangi" and British steamer "Taksang". At the end of April, "Yura" returned toSasebo Navy Yard for a refit.Battle of Midway
On 10 May 1942, "Yura" became
flagship of Rear AdmiralShoji Nishimura 's DesRon 4. At theBattle of Midway , "Yura" was in Vice AdmiralNobutake Kondo 's Second Fleet, Strike Force with DesDivs 2 and 9's seven destroyers with Rear AdmiralTamotsu Takama in command of DesRon 4. "Yura" did not see combat at Midway.olomon Islands Campaigns
On 7 August 1942 the United States began “Operation Watchtower" to retake
Guadalcanal , and theSolomon Islands . "Yura" was dispatched toTruk with Vice Admiral Kondo's Second Fleet to begin reinforcement operations, and was thus at theBattle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. Although the light carrier "Ryujo" was sunk and the seaplane carrier "Chitose" was damaged, Yura emerged unscathed, and returned to Truk on 5 September 1942.For the remainder of September, "Yura" patrolled between Truk, Guadalcanal and
Shortland Islands . On 25 September 1942, while at Shortland, it was attacked by twoBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of theUSAAF 11th Bomb Group based atEspiritu Santo and was slightly damaged by a small bomb.On 11 October 1942, the USS "Sculpin" claimed a torpedo hit forward of "Yura's" bridge that inflicted minor damage, but postwar analysis failed to confirm this attack and "Yura" was apparently not damaged this day.
On 12 October 1942, "Yura" departed Shortland to escort seaplane tenders "Nisshin" and "Chitose" returning from a transport run from Guadalcanal, and on 14 October 1942, "Yura" assisted in landing 1,100 troops on
Cape Esperance , Guadalcanal. Another "Tokyo Express” troop transport run to Guadalcanal was made on 17 October 1942 to carry 2,100 troops,field artillery pieces and anti-tank guns.On 18 October 1942, en route back to Shortland, "Yura" was attacked by USS "Grampus" off
Choiseul Island . The "Grampus" fired four Mark 14 torpedoes at the "Yura". One hit but did not explode, and "Yura" departed the area with just a dent in her port side.On 24 October 1942, "Yura" departed Shortland to bombard Guadalcanal with the No. 2 Attack Unit consisting of Rear Admiral Takama's flagship "Akizuki", "Harusame", "Murasame" and "Yudachi".
At the north entrance to Indispensable Strait, off Guadalcanal, on 25 October 1942 (the day before the
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands ), "Yura", leading an attack group of destroyers offSanta Isabel Island in the Solomons was attacked by fiveSBD Dauntless dive-bomber s of VS-71 and hit aft by two bombs near the engine room. She flooded and settled by the stern. After receiving reports of the attack, Vice Admiral Mikawa, CINC, Eighth Fleet, cancelled Rear Admiral Takama's bombardment mission. The No. 2 Attack Unit reversed course back towards Shortland. On the way back, "Yura" was attacked again by threeUSAAF Bell Aircraft P-39 Airacobra s and by four Marine SBDs, but these attacks failed to cause any additional damage. Captain Sato attempted to beach "Yura" but she was attacked again by four SBDs, threeGrumman F4F Wildcat s and four P-39s. Soon after this attack, the "Yura" was attacked by another six USAAFB-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Espiritu Santo. These attacks reignited "Yura's" fires.At 1830, after her crew was taken off, destroyers "Harusame" and "Yudachi" scuttled "Yura" with torpedoes. She broke in two and the forward portion sank. At 1900, the stern portion was sunk off
Savo Island by gunfire from "Yudachi" at coord|08|15|S|159|07|E."Yura" was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1942.
List of Captains
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Masaharu Ozoegawa - 16 February 1922 - 20 March 1923
Capt. Masaharu Ozoegawa - 20 March 1923 - 1 December 1923
Capt. Kiyoshi Ishikawa - 1 December 1923 - 1 November 1924
Capt. Shikai Nakahara - 1 November 1924 - 2 July 1925
Capt. Nobujiro Shigeoka - 2 July 1925 - 25 August 1925
Capt. Wasuke Komaki - 25 August 1925 - 1 November 1926
Capt. Soemu Toyoda - 1 November 1926 - 15 November 1927
Capt. Takenori Ikeda - 15 November 1927 - 10 December 1928
Capt. Tomisaburo Otagaki - 10 December 1928 - 1 November 1929
Capt. Senzo Wada - 1 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Jiro Ogura - 1 December 1930 - 1 December 1931
Capt. Umataro Tanimoto - 1 December 1931 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Kiichi Tomita - 1 December 1932 - 15 June 1933
Capt. Rokuzo Sugiyama - 15 June 1933 - 5 November 1933
Capt. Atsushi Kasuga - 5 November 1933 - 1 November 1934
Capt. Seisaku Wakabayashi - 1 November 1934 - 25 October 1935
Capt. Saichiro Tomonari - 25 October 1935 - 1 December 1937
Capt. Sakae Tokunaga - 1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938
Capt. Hisashi Ichioka - 15 November 1938 - 1 November 1939
Capt. Jisaku Uozumi - 1 November 1939 - 1 September 1941
Capt. Teruhiko Miyoshi - 1 September 1941 - 20 April 1942
Capt. Shiro Sato - 20 April 1942 - 25 October 1942
References
Books
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*cite book
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title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
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*cite book
last = Evans
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title = Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
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*cite book
last = Howarth
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title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
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first = Hansgeorg
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year = 1976
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title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
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id = ISBN 0-87021-893-X
*cite book
last = Lacroix
first = Eric
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coauthors = Linton Wells
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title = Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War
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*cite book
last = Whitley
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title = Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
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id = ISBN 1-55750-141-6External links
*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/nagara_c.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Nagara" class
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)
work =
accessdate = 2006-06-14 tabular record: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/yura_t.htm Tabular Record of Movement] (WWII only) – Jonathan Parshall
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-xz/yura.htm Naval Historical Center entry on the "Yura" with photos]Notes
ee also
*
List of World War II ships
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