Japanese cruiser Sakawa

The nihongo|IJN Sakawa|酒匂 軽巡洋艦|Sakawa keijunyōkan was an "Agano" class light cruiser which served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. It was named after a river in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan. She may be best known for her use as an atomic bomb target at Bikini Atoll.

Background

"Sakawa" was the fourth and final of the four vessels completed in the "Agano"-class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.

ervice career

Imperial Japanese Navy

"Sakawa" was completed on 30 November 1944 at Sasebo Navy Yard and was assigned to the Combined Fleet at Yokosuka. On 15 January 1945 "Sakawa" became flagship of DesRon 11, training with new destroyers in the Inland Sea and participating in a series of tests of a new anti-radar submarine coating.

On 1 April 1945, "Sakawa" was assigned to the Second Fleet for "Operation Ten-Go", the suicide mission against on the American invasion forces at Okinawa. "Sakawa" was originally scheduled to accompany "Yamato" with her sister ship "Yahagi", but there was no fuel available for Sakawa and her destroyer squadron. After the loss of "Yamato", "Sakawa" was reassigned back to the Combined Fleet.

At the time of the surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, "Sakawa" was at Maizuru, having never once been in combat.

On 5 October 1945, well after the war ended, "Sakawa" was officially removed from the Navy List.

United States Navy

"Sakawa" was taken as a prize of war by the United States after the conclusion of World War II, and was used to evacuate 1,339 Imperial Japanese Army troops stranded on four small islands in the southern Palau group in October 1945. It continued to work for the Repatriation Service as a transport until the end of February 1946.

On 25 February 1946, Sakawa was turned over to the US Navy, which wanted to use it (along with other surviving ships of the former Imperial Japanese Navy) in the upcoming Bikini atomic experiments. The salvage crew found the leaky hull infested with rats, and that most of the ship's systems were not functional. "Sakawa" departed Yokosuka for Eniwetok with an American crew of 165 men and officers on 18 March 1946, accompanied by "Nagato", also under an American crew. Ten days later, convert|300|nmi|km|-1 from Eniwetok, "Sakawa" broke down. "Nagato" attempted to tow, but then "Nagato" blew out a boiler and ran out of fuel. An oil tanker, "Nickajack Trail" was diverted to refuel the ships, but ran aground on a reef in bad weather and was lost. "Sakawa" finally reached Eniwetok on 1 April 1946.

While at Eniwetok, five of its American sailors were angry over the dismal working conditions aboard "Sakawa". In a ship normally staffed by 730 men, the U.S. Navy used a crew of 165 doing the work of 325 [ [Vasco, http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/sabotage.htm] ] ). The five sailors sabotaged the ship by removing the pressure line to the over-speed trip valves in the fuel system and pouring sand into the oil and water pumps. They smashed gauges, tachometers, and cut high pressure steam lines in an attempt to get relieved of duty aboard the filthy warship. Rather than being relieved of duty, the five sailors are brought up on charges. In May, after emergency repairs, Sakawa reached Bikini Atoll.

During Operation Crossroads on 1 July 1946, "Sakawa" and "Nagato" were the primary target ships in the atomic bomb air burst detonation test "Able", together with American battleships "USS Arkansas", "USS New York", "USS Nevada", and "USS Pennsylvania". "Sakawa" was moored off the port side of "Nevada", where the bomb was to be dropped. The detonation of the "Able" bomb occurred convert|490|yd|m|-1 above and slightly to starboard of "Sakawa's" stern. The blast caused "Sakawa" to burn fiercely for twenty-four hours; the force crushed her superstructure, damaged her hull and breached her stern. After the test, a tug boat, the USS "Achowani", tried to tow "Sakawa" toward a beach to prevent the latter ship from sinking, but failed. "Sakawa" started sinking almost as soon as towing began, and, with a tow cable connecting the two ships, the Achomawi started to be dragged down, too. After a number of attempts, sailors cut the tow cable with an acetylene torch. "Sakawa" sank 2 July 1946, with a portion of the tow cable still attached.

The second weapons test, "Baker", was an underwater shot about convert|500|ft|m|-1 away from the sunken "Sakawa".

References

Books

*cite book
last = Brown
first = David
authorlink =
year = 1990
title = Warship Losses of World War Two
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-914-X
*cite book
last = D'Albas
first = Andrieu
authorlink =
year = 1965
title = Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II
publisher = Devin-Adair Pub
location =
id = ISBN 0-8159-5302-X
*cite book
last = Dull
first = Paul S.
authorlink =
year = 1978
chapter =
title = A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1941-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-097-1
*cite book
last = Evans
first = David
authorlink =
year = 1979
title = Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-192-7
*cite book
last = Howarth
first = Stephen
authorlink =
year = 1983
title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895-1945
publisher = Atheneum
location =
id = ISBN 0-68911-402-8
*cite book
last = Jentsura
first = Hansgeorg
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1976
chapter =
title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-893-X
*cite book
last = Lacroix
first = Eric
authorlink =
coauthors = Linton Wells
year = 1997
chapter =
title = Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-87021-311-3
*cite book
last = Whitley
first = M.J.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1995
chapter =
title = Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
publisher = Naval Institute Press
location =
id = ISBN 1-55750-141-6

External links

*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/agano_c.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Agano" class
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)
work =
accessdate = 2006-06-14 tabular record: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/sakawa_t.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Sakawa" history]
* [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/e/stc0336.htm Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy]
* [http://www.warship.get.net.pl/Japonia/Cruisers/CL_1942_Agano_class/_Sakawa_photos.html Sakawa photo gallery] with some history
* [http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/current.htm History of the USS Current at Operation Crossroads] with detailed account of Sakawa
* [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/japan/cruisers/agano/sakawa.html Warships on the Web]
* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/atully08.htm Imperial Japanese Mysteries] with details from Operation Crossroads

Notes

See also

* List of World War II ships