World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseLight cruiser Sendai was the lead ship of her class. Shortly upon completion in 1924, she was assigned to Yangtze River patrol in China. In 1937, she participated in the Second Battle of Shanghai, then sailed south to support further landings in southern China. On 20 Nov 1941, she became the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 3 under Rear Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto. When the Pacific War began, she escorted troop ships for the invasion of Malaya; the convoy was attacked by British and Dutch aircraft twice, but Sendai emerged unscathed after each attack. She made four more troop convoy escort runs to Malaya in Dec 1941 and in Jan 1942. On the fourth run, she was spotted by American submarine Seadragon on 10 Jan 1942, which fired two torpedoes at her, both missing. On the fifth run, on 26 Jan, the convoy was attacked by destroyers HMS Thanet and HMAS Vampire north of Singapore, resulting in the Battle of Endau; the Allied torpedoes missed, and the Japanese force sank Thanet with gunfire. Between Feb and Mar, she operated in the region, supporting the landings at Sumatra and the Andaman Islands, and patrolled the waters near Singapore. On 29 May 1942, upon completing repairs at Sasebo, Japan, she saied with the Main Body of the Combined Fleet for Midway Atoll in the Central pacific; she returned to Kure, Japan on 14 Jun without seeing any combat. On 15 Jul, Sendai was assigned to cover operations in Burma, but at the end of the month she was hurriedly reassigned to the South Pacific to counter American advances in the Solomon Islands. On 8 Sep, she shelled American targets at Tulagi Island, and on 12 Sep she bombarded henderson Field on Guadalcanal. In Nov 1942, she participated in the naval battles of Guadalcanal. On 25 Feb 1943, she was reassigned to the 8th Fleet, based at Rabaul, New Britain. In May, she returned to Sasebo for repairs and modifications; her No. 5 140-millimeter gun was removed for two triple-mount 25-millimeter anti-aircraft guns and a Type 21 radar. On 5 Jul, she made port call at Truk, Caroline Islands. On 18 Jul, off Kolombangara, her force was attacked by Guadalcanal-based United States Marine Corps TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, and two days later attacked by B-25 Mitchell bombers, but she did not receive damage. On 2 Nov 1943, at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, her force was intercepted by the Americans; during the battle, Sendai was the target of accurate American radar-aided fire from four Allied cruisers, heavily damaging her in the opening moments of the battle. She sank on the following day, killing 185 men, including Captain Kiichiro Shoji who went down with the ship. 236 men were rescued by destroyers and submarine RO-104.

Photographs

Sendai Operational Timeline