World War II Database

Mogami 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.

Mogami Operational Timeline

Photographs

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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

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