Nagato (Japanese: 長門, named after Nagato province) was a battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the lead ship of her class. She was the first battleship in the world to mount 16 inch (406 mm) guns, and her armour protection and speed made her one of the most powerful capital ships at the time of her commissioning.
She was the flagship of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku during the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the war she saw action only once, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, due to the Japanese Navy's strategy of keeping major units in reserve for a decisive battle.
She underwent a major refit in 1936, removing her coal-burning boilers and upgrading her armour and anti-aircraft guns.
长门号在1936年进行了大规模的改装,更换烧煤锅炉为新式重油锅炉。增加装甲和防空火炮.
At the outbreak of World War II, Nagato, under the command of Captain Yano Hideo, and her sister ship Mutsu formed Battle Division 1. Nagato was the flagship of the Combined Fleet, flying the flag of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku. On 2 December 1941 Nagato sent the signal Niitakayama nobore 1208 "Climb Mount Niitaka on 12/08 (Japanese Time)" that committed the Carrier Strike Force to the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan to the Pacific War.
On 12 February 1942 Admiral Yamamoto transferred his flag to the new battleship Yamato. Nagato sailed with the Yamato, Mutsu, Hosho, Sendai, nine destroyers and four auxiliary ships as Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's Main Body during the Battle of Midway in June 1942 but saw no action. She returned the survivors of Kaga to Japan.
In 1943, under the command of Captain Hayakawa Mikio, Nagato was based at Truk in the Caroline Islands. After the evacuation of Truk in February 1944, she was based at Lingga near Singapore.
In June 1944 she took part in Operation A-Go, an attack on Allied forces in the Mariana Islands. In the battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 June 1944 she came under air attack but was not damaged.
In October 1944 she took part in Operation Shō-1, an attack on the Allied landings on Leyte. On 24 October 1944 in the battle of the Sibuyan Sea Nagato was attacked by several waves of American dive-bombers. At 14:16 she was hit by two bombs dropped by planes from Franklin and Cabot. The first bomb disabled a number of guns and damaged the air intake to the No. 1 boiler room, stopping one shaft for 25 minutes until the air intake was cleared. The second bomb hit the canteen and forward radio room, killing 52 and wounding 106. On 25 October the Central Force passed the San Bernardino Strait and headed for Leyte Gulf. In the battle off Samar, Nagato engaged the escort carrier and destroyers of the US Task Group 77.4.3. At 06:01 she opened fire on St. Lo, the first time she fired her guns at an enemy ship, but missed. At 06:54 the destroyer Heermann fired a spread of torpedoes at Haruna; the torpedoes missed Haruna and headed for Yamato and Nagato on parallel courses. The two battleships were forced to turn away from the action to the north for 10 miles (16 km) until the torpedoes ran out of fuel. After returning to the action, Nagato continued to engage the American carriers, firing 45 16 inch (406 mm) shells and 92 5.5 inch (140 mm) shells.
At 09:10 Admiral Takeo Kurita ordered the fleet to break off the engagement and head north. At 10:20 he ordered the fleet south again, but as the fleet came under increasingly severe air attack he ordered a retreat again at 12:36. At 12:43 Nagato was hit on her bow by two bombs but the damage was not severe.
As it retreated on 26 October the Japanese fleet came under continuous air attack. Nagato was attacked by dive-bombers from Hornet and hit by four bombs, suffering 38 killed and 105 wounded. In the course of the day she fired 99 16 inch (406 mm) shells and 653 5.5 inch (140 mm) shells.
1944年10月参加捷一号作战,去攻击在莱特岛登陆的美军。在10月24日锡布延海海战中,受到美军多架俯冲轰炸机的攻击。于14:16被航空母舰富兰克林(USS Franklin CV-13)及卡伯特(USS Cabot, CVL-28)的攻撃机的2枚炸彈击中。一发破坏了多座机枪和第一锅炉舱送风机,令其被迫熄火25分钟只能以三轴运转。另一发则破坏了无线电室及餐厅附近。令52名乘员死亡、106名负伤。10月25日中央主力舰队穿过San Bernardino海峡,目标为莱特湾海峡。在萨马岛海战中,长门号被任命攻击美军的 77.4.3.运输船队,其主要任务为攻击美军的护航航母。在06:01向美军航空母舰圣洛(USS St. Lo, CVE-63)进行炮击未取得战果(这次是它第一次向敌人开炮)。06:54美军驱逐舰赫尔曼(USS Heermann, DD-532)向榛名战列舰发射鱼雷,该鱼雷偏离榛名而航向大和与长门,大和两舷被鱼雷夹著且限制著回避空间,迫使两舰向北回避航行约16公里直到鱼雷燃料用尽。在返回航线后,长门的主炮及副炮继续向美军航空母舰进行炮击,共发射了45发16英寸(406mm)炮弹和92发5.5英寸(140mm)炮弹。
On 25 November 1944 Nagato arrived at Yokosuka, Japan for repairs. Lack of fuel and materials meant that she could not be brought back into service, and in February 1945 she was reassigned as a coastal defence ship. In June 1945 her secondary and anti-aircraft armament were moved ashore. On 18 July 1945 she was attacked at Yokusuka by fighter bombers and torpedo bombers from Essex, Randolph, Bennington, Shangri-La and Belleau Wood and hit by three bombs, one hitting the bridge and killing her commanding officer, Rear Admiral Otsuka Miki.
On 30 August 1945, following the Japanese surrender, Nagato, the last active Japanese battleship, was boarded and secured by American sailors from the ship USS Horace A. Bass (LPR-124).
In March 1946 she was taken to Bikini Atoll for Operation Crossroads, a series of atomic bomb tests. On this, her last voyage, she was commanded by Captain W. J. Whipple with a United States Navy crew of about 180 men. She was in such poor repair that on the way she had to be towed to Eniwetok Atoll for emergency repairs.
(Japanese battleship Nagato after the Baker blast. Arthur Beaumont, Watercolor, 1946.)
(美国画家阿瑟·贝蒙特用水彩绘出1946年战舰长门遭十字路行动试爆的最后凄凉场面。)
In the first test (ABLE, an airburst) on 1 July 1946 she was 1,640 yards from ground zero and was not severely damaged. In the second test (BAKER, an underwater explosion) on 25 July 1946 she was severely damaged, and capsized and sank five days later.
Laid down: August 28, 1917 Launched: November 9, 1919 Commissioned: November 15, 1920 Struck: 15 September 1945 Status: Sunk during the second Operation Crossroads Bikini nuclear test, 25 July 1946.
Displacement: 42,850 tons Length: 221.03 m (725 ft 2 in) Beam: 34.59 m (113 ft 6 in) Draught: 9.50 m (31 ft 2 in) Propulsion: Geared turbines, 4 shafts, 80000 hp (60 MW) Speed: 27 knots (50 km/h) Range: 5,500 nautical miles at 16 knots (10,200 km at 30 km/h) Complement: 1,368 Armament: Eight 16 inch (406 mm) guns Twenty (later eighteen) 5.5 inch (140 mm) guns Eight 5 inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft guns Up to 98 25 mm AA guns Aircraft carried: 3