World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAt the start of the Pacific War, the fast and heavily armed Atago was the flagship of Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo's Cruiser Division 4. She sailed with the Japanese fleets that supported the invasion of Malaya and the Philippines in Dec 1941, then sailed to the South Pacific and became involved in the Battle of the Java Sea and the attack on Darwin. In Apr 1942, she unsuccessfully gave chase to William Halsey's task force that launched the Doolittle raiders. In Jun 1942, she participated in the Battle of Midway. In late 1942, she operated in the South Pacific, participating in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, and the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal during which she shared the credit of damaging the American battleship South Dakota. She later helped the evacuation of Guadalcanal. On 5 Nov 1943, while refueling in Rabaul, she was attacked by American aircraft from carriers Saratoga and Princeton. Atago sustained three near misses by 500-lb bombs, losing 22 men including commanding officer Captain Nakaoka. On 10 Feb 1944 and 6 Apr 1944, she was unsuccessfully attacked by American submarines Permit and Dace, respectively. On 13 Jun 1944, she participated in the Battle of the Philippines Sea. Like Midway, it was a battle that dramatically damaged Japanese naval aviation strength, but again like Midway Atago emerged unscathed. In Oct 1944, she left Lingga Roads near Singapore as the flagship of Admiral Takeo Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force, sailing to join the Leyte campaign. On 23 Oct 1944, she was attacked by American submarines Darter and Dace in the Palawan Passage. Atago capsized and sank at 0553, killing 360. Kurita was forced to transfer his flag first to a destroyer than again to the battleship Yamato. While the sinking of the fleet's flagship did not dramatically affect, the loss of communications personnel did cause minor consequences later on in the operation.

Heavy Cruiser Atago Interactive Map

Photographs

Maps

Atago Operational Timeline

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments