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aidorumeister:

IJN Heavy Cruiser Myouko-class Haguro.

Haguro was laid down at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki on 16 March 1925, launched and named on 24 March 1928, and was commissioned into the Imperial Navy on 25 April 1929. Her service in World War II started in the Dutch East Indies, where she engaged the enemy off Makassar on 8 February 1942.

Haguro played a key role in the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942, and was involved in the sinking of HMS Exeter and the Dutch flag ship Hr Ms De Ruyter, and of HMS Encounter in another action off south Borneo on 1 March 1942.

On 7 May 1942, she participated in the battle of the Coral Sea, moving on to the Solomon Islands where she took part in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942, the evacuation from Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943, and took light damage in the battle of Empress Augusta Bay on 2 November 1943. On 19 June 1944, she survived the battle of the Philippine Sea, and from 23-25 October 1944 she took light damage in the battle of Leyte Gulf.

In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British “Operation Dukedom" and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Flotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze just after midnight on 16 May 1945, and began the attack. During the battle, Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX Torpedoes. She soon began to slow down and took a 30-degrees list to port.

At 02:32, Haguro began to go down stern first in the Malacca Strait, 55 mi (48 nmi; 89 km) off Penang; Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors, but 900 men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Sugiura, perished with her. Rear Admiral Sugiura was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously on May 16. The Haguro was the last major Japanese warship to be sunk during the war.Haguro was stricken from the navy list on June 20, 1945. The wreck was discovered in 2003, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles.

(from Wikipedia)