Heavy Cruiser Mogami

Mogami

Country	Japan
Ship Class	Mogami-class Heavy Cruiser
Builder	Kure Naval Arsenal
Laid Down	27 Oct 1931
Launched	14 Mar 1934
Commissioned	28 Jul 1935
Sunk	25 Oct 1944
Displacement	11,169 tons standard; 13,440 tons full
Length	649 feet
Beam	66 feet
Draft	19 feet
Machinery	Geared turbines with four screws
Power Output	152,000 shaft horsepower
Speed	35 knots
Crew	850
Armament	10x8-in, 8x5-in, 4x40mm anti-aircraft, 12 torpedo tubes
Armor	3.9-in belt, 1.4-in deck, 1-in turrets, 5-in magazines
Aircraft	3 Type 1 reconnaissance aircraft

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseMogami was the lead ship of her class of cruisers. Her class of cruisers was uniquely designed to be lightweight yet still provided adequate armor; however, some design defects cracked hull welds during trials, returning her to the shipyards to repair the defects in the following year. During the Battle of Midway, she was under the command of Rear Admiral Takeo Kurita; after the Japanese carrier fleet was routed, Kurita's task force was recalled to rendezvous with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto to the west, but the fleet was sighted by American submarine Tambor. During emergency maneuvers to avoid a possible torpedo attack by Tambor, Mogami turned to port to move away from the potential incoming torpedoes, and then turned back to catch up. Unfortunately, her crew did not see that, while performing evasive maneuvers, her sister ship Mikuma had navigated directly in her path. Last second maneuvers avoided a 90-degree collision, but she still rammed to the port side of Mikuma, rupturing Mikuma's fuel tank, causing her to leave a trail of oil in her wake. Mogami's bow was crushed, crumpled in for about 40 feet. The two ships slowed to about twelve knots while the other two ships, along with Kurita, continued to steam full speed toward the rendezvous point; although Mikuma was capable of steaming at a high speed, Captain Shakao Sakiyama chose to stay behind to escort the damaged Mogami. On 6 Jun 1942, aircraft from American carriers Enterprise and Hornet sent three attack waves against the two damaged cruisers, which found them by means of the oil trail. Mogami took a bomb on the seaplane deck and started a serious fire, killing a number of crewmen, including many wounded in the sick bay. In contrast to her sister ship Mikuma, Mogami had earlier decided to throw her torpedoes overboard, something Mikuma decided against. In hindsight it was one of the critical differences that led to Mogami's successful escape from battle and Mikuma's sinking. She continued to operate in the Japanese navy until the Leyte Campaign in Nov 1944 when she was damaged by American battleship gunfire and scuttled by Akebono.

ww2dbaseSources: Imperial Japanese Navy Page, Midway Dauntless Victory, Shattered Fleet, Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Nov 2008

Heavy Cruiser Mogami Interactive Map

Photographs

Japanese cruiser Mogami running trials off Sukumo Bay, Japan, 20 Mar 1935

Cruisers in Ise Bay, Japan, summer 1938; from front to back: Mogami, Mikuma, and Kumano

Mogami with damaged bow, Pacific Ocean, 6 Jun 1942; note Japanese national flag on top of turret (which helped identify Mogami in this photograph) and tanker Nichiei Maru in background

See all 8 photographs of Heavy Cruiser Mogami

Mogami Operational Timeline

28 Jul 1935	Mogami was commissioned into service.
1 Mar 1942	HMS Encounter, HMS Exeter, and USS Pope were sunk at the Second Battle of the Java Sea; the ships suffered 7, 54, and 1 killed, respectively. Meanwhile, at the Battle of Sunda Strait, Allied cruisers USS Houston and HMAS Perth intercepted a Japanese invasion force but were both sunk as they attacked; four Japanese transports and a minesweepers were sunk, but two of the transports were later refloated. Also on this date, Japanese troops landed on Java and immediately began marching for Batavia, with the Japanese 2nd Division capturing Serang and the 230th Infantry Regiment capturing Kalidjati airfield at Soebang en route. Finally, Japanese air raids at Surabaya damaged destroyer USS Stewart and Dutch destroyer Witte de With.
1 Apr 1942	Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Malaya Force, Second Expeditionary Fleet, departs Mergui, Burma and steams into the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean Raids to attack merchant shipping. The force includes light carrier Ryujo and cruisers Chokai, Suzuya, Kumano, Mikuma, Mogami, and Yura.
5 Apr 1942	Following Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s force’s attack on the British naval base at Colombo, Ceylon, the force is split creating a Northern Group commanded by Rear Admiral Takeo Kurita consisting of cruisers Kumano and Suzuya; the Center Group consisting of the carrier Ryujo and cruisers Chokai and Yura under Ozawa; and the Southern Group comprised of cruisers Mogami, and Mikuma under Captain Shakao Sakiyama for the purposes of smaller raids against merchant shipping.
6 Apr 1942	Sakiyama's Southern Group of Mogami, Mikuma and destroyer Amagiri sank four merchantmen totaling 19,000 tons with two of them finished off with torpedoes from Amagiri.
11 Apr 1942	Ozawa's Force arrived at Singapore to conclude a successful sortie into the Indian Ocean.
5 Jun 1942	Japanese cruiser Kumano was leading a column of sister Mogami-class cruisers Suzuya, Mikuma, and Mogami withdrawing from Midway. Kumano spotted the surfaced American submarine USS Tambor and ordered an emergency 45-degree turn to starboard, but Mikuma mistakenly made a 90-degree turn. Mogami rammed Mikuma on the portside below the bridge crumpling 40-feet of Mogami’s bow and piercing Mikuma’s fuel tanks, causing her to leak oil uncontrollably. This trailing oil slick led to Mikuma’s demise the following day.
5 Nov 1943	During the US raid on Rabaul, New Britain, Mogami was hit on the main deck between No. 1 and No. 2 turrets, killing 19; skilled flooding of the forward magazine prevented detonation.
6 Nov 1943	Mogami departed Rabaul, New Britain for Truk, Caroline Islands to receive temporary repairs.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Jorge Salinas says:
2 Oct 2007 11:59:35 AM

Excelente testimonio visual del pasado de la SGM

2. Anonymous says:
15 Aug 2015 12:49:16 PM

I think these are the best heavy cruisers of wwii.

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