World War II Database

Sakawa was assigned to the Combined Fleet in late 1944, and on 15 Jan 1945 she became the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 11. On 1 Apr, she was assigned to Operation Ten Go for the defense of Okinawa, Japan along with her sister ship Yahagi, but there was no fuel available for Destroyer Squadron 11, thus she was spared what might had been her last cruise. When the war ended in Sep, she was at Maizuru, having never participated in any combat action. After the war, she was used to transport Japanese servicemen from various Pacific Islands back to Japan, including the evacuation of 1,339 men of the Japanese Army from small garrisons in the Palau Islands; she remained in this role until Feb 1946. On 19 Mar 1946, she departed with an American crew from Yokosuka, Japan toward Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. En route, battleship Nagato broke down thus requiring Sakawa to tow her, but Sakawa soon ran out of fuel, and oil tanker Nickajack Trail had to be sent to deliver fuel, which then hit a reef in bad weather and was lost. Nagato and Sakawa were finally towed to Eniwetok on 1 Apr. At Eniwetok, five disgruntled US Navy sailors sabotaged the ship by pouring sand into oil and water pumps, smashing gauges, smashing tachometers, and cutting pressure steam lines; the five American sailors were brought up on charges for damaging Sakawa. In May, after emergency repairs, she reached Bikini Atoll, where she was to participate in Operation Crossroads as a subject to atomic blasts. On 1 Jul 1946, she was exposed to the "Able" explosion, destroying her superstructure and damaging her hull, and then she burned fiercely for the subsequent 24 hours. On the next day, 2 Jul, tugboat USS Achowani attempted to tow Sakawa away to prevent sinking, but failed. Achowani's sailors cut the tow cables to prevent being dragged down by the sinking cruiser.

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