On 16 November 1944, following a U.S. air raid on Brunei, the Kongo along with the battleships Yamato and Nagato and the rest of the First Fleet, departed from Brunei bound for the Kure Naval base in preparation for a major reorganization of what remained of the once-mighty Japanese fleet.
On 20 November, they entered the Formosa Strait. Shortly after midnight on 21 November, the American submarine Sealion made radar contact with the fleet at 44,000 yards. Maneuvering into position at 02:45, the Sealion fired six torpedoes at the Kongo, followed by three stern torpedoes at the Nagato fifteen minutes later.
One minute after the first salvo was launched, two torpedoes were seen to hit the Kongo on the port side, while a third sank the destroyer Urakaze with all hands. The two torpedoes that hit the Kongo flooded two of the ship's boiler rooms, but she was still able to make 16 knots.
But, by 05:00, she had slowed to 11 knots and was given permission to break off from the fleet and to head for port in Keelung in Formosa along with the destroyers Hamakaze and Isokaze as escort.
--GreGen
No comments:
Post a Comment