Zuikaku was the second and last Shōkaku-class aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. Zuikaku was one of the most capable Japanese aircraft carriers of the entire war.
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.
The Type 93 was a 610 mm (24 in)-diameter torpedo of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), launched from surface ships. It is commonly referred to as the Long Lance by most modern English-language naval historians, a nickname given to it after the war by Samuel Eliot Morison, the chief historian of the U.S. Navy, who spent much of the war in the Pacific Theater. In Japanese references, the term Sanso gyorai is also used, in reference to its propulsion system. It was the most advanced naval torpedo in the world at the time.
The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War.
Chikuma (筑摩) was the second and last vessel in the Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture. Entering service in 1939, Chikuma saw battle during World War II in the Pacific, hunting small allied ships in the Indian Ocean and serving in many escorting missions throughout many large-scale aircraft carrier battles between Japan and the United States. On the 25 of October 1944, she served in the Battle off Samar where she possibly sank the escort carrier USS Gambier Bay and damaged the destroyer USS Heermann, before being crippled by gunfire from the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts and sunk by air attacks.
Yukikaze was a Kagerō-class destroyer in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war, and did so without suffering any major damage. She participated in the battles of Java Sea, Midway, and Santa Cruz, and saw her first major surface action at the Naval battle of Guadalcanal, sinking the destroyer USS Laffey and helping to sink the destroyer USS Cushing. She survived the devastating naval defeat that was the Battle of the Bismarck Sea undamaged, and led a Japanese counter attack at the Battle of Kolombangara, where she (probably) directly torpedoed the light cruiser HMNZS Leander, and took part in a mass torpedo spread that sank the destroyer USS Gwin and torpedoed the light cruisers USS Honolulu and USS Saint Louis.
USS Guest (DD-472), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Commodore John Guest (1822–1879).
The Takao-class cruiser (高雄型) was a class of four heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) launched between May 1930 and April 1931. All served during World War II.
USS Patterson (DD-392), a Bagley-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Daniel Todd Patterson, an officer of the US Navy who served in the Quasi-War with France, First Barbary War, and the War of 1812.
The Type B1 submarine, also called I-15-class submarine was the first group of boats of the Type B cruiser submarines built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1940s. In total 20 were built, starting with I-15, which gave the series their alternative name.
Imperial Japanese Navy submarines originated with the purchase of five Holland type submarines from the United States in 1904. Japanese submarine forces progressively built up strength and expertise, becoming by the beginning of World War II one of the world's most varied and powerful submarine fleets.
USS Porterfield (DD-682) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1943, she served in several Pacific campaigns during World War II, earning ten battle stars. She was decommissioned immediately after the end of the war but reactivated in 1951 for the Korean War, earning four more battle stars, and then served continuously until 1969. She was sunk as a target in 1982.
Nagara (長良) was the lead ship of her class of light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after the Nagara River in the Chūbu region of Japan.
Isuzu (五十鈴) was the second of six vessels in the Nagara class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a destroyer flotilla. She was named after the Isuzu River, near Ise Shrine in the Chūbu region of Japan. She saw action during World War II in the Battle of Hong Kong and in the Solomon Islands campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf before being sunk by American submarines in the Netherlands East Indies in April 1945.
Nowaki was a Kagerō-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
I-58 was a Japanese B3 type cruiser submarine that served in the final year of World War II. Her only significant wartime success came with a conventional torpedo attack upon USS Indianapolis on 30 July 1945. She was modified to carry Kaiten manned torpedoes, making several attacks that inflicted minor damage in exchange for every Kaiten launched being sunk. The submarine surrendered in September 1945, and was later scuttled by the United States Navy.
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.
