Haguro (羽黒) was a Myōkō-class heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after Mount Haguro in Yamagata Prefecture. Commissioned in 1929, Haguro saw significant service during World War II, participating in nine naval engagements between 1942 and 1945. As a heavy cruiser, she was better armed and armored than most surface vessels, and had multiple battles during her combat career. In the early part of the war, she engaged in vigorous shore bombardment duties to support the Japanese invasions of the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, and saw arguably the highlight of her career serving as the MVP of the destruction of the allied cruiser force defending the Dutch East Indies at the battle of the Java Sea from February 27 to March 1, 1942. With torpedo hits, Haguro sank the allied flagship, the light cruiser De Ruyter, and the destroyer Kortenaer, and with gunfire scored primary credit for sinking the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, and was not damaged during the entire battle.
Myōkō (妙高) was the lead ship of the four-member Myōkō class of heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), which were active in World War II. She was named after Mount Myōkō in Niigata Prefecture. The other ships of the class were Nachi, Ashigara, and Haguro.
Takao (高雄) was the lead vessel in the Takao-class heavy cruisers, active in World War II with the Imperial Japanese Navy. These were the largest cruisers in the Japanese fleet, and were intended to form the backbone of a multipurpose long-range strike force. Her sister ships were Atago, Maya and Chōkai. Takao was the only ship of her class to survive the war. She was surrendered to British forces at Singapore in September 1945, then sunk as a target ship in 1946.
Naka (那珂) was a Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), named after the Naka River in the Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures of eastern Japan. Naka was the third vessel completed in the Sendai class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.
The Battle of the Malacca Strait, sometimes called the Sinking of Haguro, and in Japanese sources as the Battle off Penang (ペナン沖海戦), was a naval battle that resulted from the British search-and-destroy operation in May 1945, called Operation Dukedom, that resulted in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Haguro. Haguro had been operating as a supply ship for Japanese garrisons in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal since 9 April 1945.
Asagumo was the fifth of ten Asashio-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the mid-1930s under the Circle Two Supplementary Naval Expansion Program.
Sendai was a Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after the Sendai River in southern Kyūshū. Sendai was the lead ship of the three vessels completed in her class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla.
HMS Saumarez was an S-class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class. She continued the tradition of flotilla leaders being named after prominent British seamen, in her case Vice-Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
HMS Venus was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, of Govan, Scotland and launched on 23 February 1943.
HMS Vigilant was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II.
HMS Virago was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that served in World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F76.
HMS Volage was a V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy, commissioned on 26 May 1944, that served in the Arctic and the Indian Oceans during World War II. She was the fifth Royal Naval ship to bear the name.
Shintarō Hashimoto was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
HMS Storm was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the third group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 18 May 1943. So far, she is the only RN ship to bear the name Storm.
Prior to World War II, the Indian Ocean was an important maritime trade route between European nations and their colonial territories in East Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, British India, Indochina, the East Indies (Indonesia), and Australia for a long time. Naval presence was dominated by the Royal Navy Eastern Fleet and the Royal Australian Navy as World War II began, with a major portion of the Royal Netherlands Navy operating in the Dutch East Indies and the Red Sea Flotilla of the Italian Regia Marina operating from Massawa.
The Japanese destroyerKamikaze was the lead ship of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. At the beginning of the Pacific War in December 1941, the ship was assigned to the Ōminato Guard District. She remained in northern Japanese waters until mid-1942 when she participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign. Kamikaze continued to patrol northern Japanese waters until early 1945 when she was transferred to the Singapore area.
The action of 8 June 1945, sometimes called the Sinking of Ashigara was a naval action that resulted in the sinking of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) heavy cruiser Ashigara by the British submarine HMS Trenchant. Ashigara was transporting Japanese troops from the Dutch East Indies for the defence of Singapore and its loss caused many casualties.
The Eastern Fleet, later called the East Indies Fleet, was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1941 and 1952.
Operation Stab was a British naval deception during the Second World War to distract Japanese units for the forthcoming Guadalcanal campaign by the US armed forces.
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