- Japanese cruiser Ōi
nihongo|"IJN Ōi"|大井 軽巡洋艦|Ōi keijunyōkan was one of five "Kuma"-class
light cruiser s, which served in theImperial Japanese Navy duringWorld War II . It was named after theOi River inShizuoka prefecture ,Japan .Background
"Ōi" was the fourth vessel completed in the "Kuma"-class of light cruisers. As with its
sister ship s, it was intended for use both as a long-range, high speed scout ship and also as a command vessel fordestroyer orsubmarine flotillas.ervice career
Early career
"Ōi" was completed at
Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipyards atKobe on4 May 1921 . From 1928-1931, it was assigned to be a training vessel at theImperial Japanese Navy Academy inEtajima, Hiroshima . At the time of the Shanghai Incident of 1937, "Ōi" was re-assigned to patrols of theChina coast, but it resumed its training role from the end of 1933 to mid 1937. After August 1937, as theSecond Sino-Japanese War continued to escalate, "Ōi" was assigned to cover the landings of Japanese forces in central China, but it was again assigned to training duties from December 1937 through the end of 1939.On
25 August 1941 , "Ōi" returned to Maizuru for conversion to a "torpedo cruiser" with ten Type 92 Model 3 quadruple mount 1-cm torpedo tube launchers (a total of 40 tubes), housing long-range oxygen-propelled Type 93 “Long Lance” torpedoes arranged in two broadside rows of five, i.e. 20 per side. Modifications were completed30 September 1941 , and "Ōi" was assigned to the First Fleet, CruDiv 9 underRear Admiral Fukuji Kishi together with hersister ship , "Kitakami".Early stages of the Pacific War
During the
attack on Pearl Harbor of8 December 1941 , "Ōi" escorted thebattleship force of theCombined Fleet from its anchorage atHashirajima inHiroshima Bay to theBonin Islands and back.On
12 January 1942 , Chief of StaffRear Admiral Matome Ugaki inspected "Ōi", and expressed strong disapproval of the Navy's plans for the use of the newly remodeled torpedo cruisers and urged a revision to the Navy's tactics. While theImperial Japanese Navy General Staff debated the issue, "Ōi" was assigned to escorting transports betweenHiroshima and Mako,Pescadores Islands from the end of January through mid April.On
29 May 1942 , during theBattle of Midway , "Ōi" was part of Vice Admiral Takasu's (Aleutian Screening) force, and thus returned safely to Yokosuka on17 June 1942 .As a fast transport
From August - September 1942, "Ōi" and "Kitakami" were converted into fast transports. Their ten quadruple torpedo tubes were reduced to six, for a total of 24 tubes. They were equipped with two
Daihatsu landing craft (barges) and fitted with two triple mount Type 96 25-mm AA guns.Depth charge launching rails were also installed. Ōi was then used to transport the Maizuru No. 4 Special Naval Landing Force toTruk in theCaroline Islands .From the end of October and through most of December, "Ōi" ferried troops and supplies from Truk and
Manila toRabaul ,New Britain andBuin , Bouganville. On21 November 1942 , CruDiv 9 was disbanded and "Ōi" was assigned directly to the Combined Fleet. On24 December 1942 , "Ōi" returned to Kure for maintenance.From
12 January 1943 , "Ōi" participated in the operation to reinforce Japanese forces inNew Guinea . It ferried a convoy with IJA's 20th Infantry Division fromPusan toWewak , New Guinea viaPalau in January, and a convoy with IJA's 41st Infantry Division fromTsingtao to Wewak in February.On
15 March 1943 , "Ōi" was assigned to AdmiralShiro Takasu 's Southwest Area Fleet and was assigned to escort two convoys fromSurabaya toKaimana , New Guinea in April, and from Surabaya toAmbon and Kaimana in May. While atMakassar on23 June 1943 , it is attacked byConsolidated Aircraft B-24 Liberator s of the5th Air Force 's 319th Bomb Squadron, but is not damaged.On
1 July 1943 , "Ōi" was assigned to CruDiv 16 of the Southwest Area Fleet, and was based at Surabaya as a guard ship. After patrols in theJava Sea , it was repaired at Seletar Naval Base,Singapore in August.Operations in the Indian Ocean
From the end of August to the end of January 1944, "Ōi" and "Kitakami" made four troop transport runs from Singapore and
Penang to theAndaman Islands andNicobar Islands .From
27 February 1944 , "Ōi", with "Kinu" and destroyers "Uranami", "Amagiri" and the "Shikinami" was assigned to escort the cruisers "Tone", "Chikuma" and "Aoba" forcommerce raiding in theIndian Ocean , but in general remained in the vicinity of Singapore andBalikpapan and Tarakan inBorneo until the end of April. During the month of May, "Ōi" was primarily involved in troop transport operations between Tarakan, Palau andSorong , and in June it was re-assigned to patrols in the Java Sea.On
6 July 1944 , "Ōi" departed Surabaya forManila . On19 July 1944 it was sighted in theSouth China Sea , 570 miles south ofHong Kong by "USS Flasher" (SS-249). When the cruiser was 1,400 yards astern, the "Flasher" fired its four stern tubes; hitting "Ōi" with two torpedoes portside aft. One was a dud, but the other torpedo exploded and flooded "Ōi's" aft engine room. The "Flasher" then fired its four bow torpedoes from 3,500 yards, but all missed. At 1725, "Ōi" sank by the stern at coord|13|12|N|114|52|E. "Shikinami" rescued Captain Shiba and 368 crewmen, but another 153 crewmen went down with the ship. Captain Shiba was later one of the representatives of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the formal surrender ceremonies aboard the "USS Missouri" (BB-63) inTokyo Bay on2 September 1945 ."Ōi" was removed from the Navy List on
10 September 1944 .List of Captains
Capt. Takeshi Maruo - 4 May 1921 - 10 November 1922
Capt. Eijiro Hamano - 10 November 1922 - 1 December 1923
Capt. Saisuke Hashimoto - 1 December 1923 - 10 May 1924
Capt. Shigeru Matsushita - 10 May 1924 - 1 December 1924
Capt. Yurikazu Edahara - 1 December 1924 - 20 November 1925
Cmdr. / Capt. Toraroku Akiyama - 20 November 1925 - 15 November 1927 (Promoted to Captain on 1 December 1925.)
Capt. Masaharu Ebino - 15 November 1927 - 10 December 1928
Capt. Soichi Kasuya - 10 December 1928 - 1 April 1929
Capt. Eikichi Katagiri - 1 April 1929 - 30 November 1929
Capt. Nishizo Tsukahara - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Shunichi Okada - 1 December 1930 - 1 April 1931
Capt. Masaichi Niimi - 1 April 1931 - 15 October 1931
Capt. Taiji Ota - 15 October 1931 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Teizo Yamanouchi - 1 December 1932 - 1 June 1934
Capt. Kumeichi Hiraoka - 1 June 1934 - 15 November 1935
Capt. Gisaburo Yamaguchi - 15 November 1935 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Kiyohide Shima - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937
Capt. Yasuo Yasuba - 1 December 1937 - 10 January 1939
Capt. Isamu Takeda - 10 January 1939 - 15 November 1939
Capt. Senzaburo Tomomura - 15 November 1939 - 15 November 1940
Capt. Yoshio Kanemasu - 15 November 1940 - 1 September 1941
Capt. Nobue Morishita - 1 September 1941 - 10 April 1942
Capt. / RADM* Moichi Narita - 10 April 1942 - 3 October 1942 (Died of Natural Causes)
Capt. Takeo Nagai - 3 October 1942 - 24 December 1942
Capt. Shinshiro Soma - 24 December 1942 - 23 July 1943
Capt. Shigezo Kawai - 23 July 1943 - 12 February 1944
Capt. Katsuo Shiba - 12 February 1944 - 19 July 1944
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 1-55750-141-6External links
*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp, & Allyn Nevitt
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/kuma_c.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Kuma" class
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page (Combinedfleet.com)
work =
accessdate =
*Tabular record: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/oi_t.htm CombinedFleet.com: "Oi" history]Notes
ee also
*
List of World War II ships
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