Career
Ordered:	1939
Laid down:	14 February 1941
Launched:	2 April 1942
Commissioned:	28 February 1943
Fate:	Sunk during attack on Kure Naval Base by US Task Force 38
Sunk:	28 July 1945
Struck:	20 November 1945
General Characteristics
Displacement:	8,164 tons (standard); 11,433 tons (full load)
Length:	630 ft 0 in (192.02 m)
Beam:	51 ft 5 in (15.67 m)
Draught:	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines, 4 shafts, 6 Kampon boilers: 110,000 hp (82 MW)
Speed:	35 knots (64 km/h)
Range:	10,600 nautical miles (19,610 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement:	unknown
Armament:	6 x 6.1 in (155 mm) 60 cal 3rd Year Type guns (3 x 2) 8 x 3.9 in (100 mm) 65 cal Type 98 anti-aircraft guns (4x2) 12 x 25 mm 60 cal Type 96 AA guns
Aircraft:	designed for 6, operationally carried 2

Oyodo (Japanese:大淀, named after a river in Japan, literally means "big stagnant water") was a light cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the only ship of her class. Her design was basically an improved version of the Agano-class cruisers, though while the same general hull form as Agano was adopted, with flush deck and bulbous bow, the armament differed both in layout and weapons, and the armour protection scheme was reduced. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (840x280, 28 KB)Japanese cruiser Oyodo in 1943. ... Download high resolution version (900x600, 46 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 2 April is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. ... Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ...

Design

The Oyodo design was approved under the 1939 4th Replenishment Programme. However, out of the 2 ships authorised, only one (Oyodo) was laid down — immediately after she was completed all available shipbuilding resources at that yard were used to build more aircraft carriers. In line with contemporary Japanese submarine tactics, the Oyodo class were to be the flagships of scouting submarine flotillas. To this end, the Oyodo class was to operate up to six of the upcoming Kawanishi E15K1 Shiun floatplanes; however, the requirements for these planes were issued only in mid-1939. An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... A DeHavilland Single Otter floatplane in Harbour Air livery A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land on water. ...

Oyodo's main armament comprised six 6.1-inch (155 mm) 60 caliber 3rd Year Type guns in two triple-gun turrets arranged in conventional superfiring fashion. This gun was originally developed as a dual purpose (anti-surface and anti-aircraft) weapon for the Mogami-class cruisers; when those ships underwent reconstruction in the 1930s and had their triple 6.1-inch (155 mm) turrets replaced with 8-inch (203 mm) twin turrets, the now surplus triple 6.1-inch (155 mm) turrets were simply mounted on Oyodo (as well as the Yamato-class battleships). Their slow rate of fire (about 5 to 6 rounds per minute) and limited elevation (up to only 55 degrees) made them unsuitable for the anti-aircraft role, but they were excellent anti-ship weapons. American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ... Categories: Stub | Ship classes ... HMS Victory in 1884 In naval warfare, battleships were the most heavily armed and armored warships afloat. ...

The main armament was all located forward of the superstructure, much like the British Nelson-class battleships, French Dunkerque and Richelieu class and the Japanese navy's own Tone-class heavy cruisers. Like the Tone class, the Oyodo-class ships were intended to be scouting cruisers and hence the entire deck of the ship aft of the superstructure was devoted to aircraft facilities. Indeed, again in view of their intended role, no torpedo tubes were fitted, making the Oyodo class the sole class of cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy without them. The weight thus saved was invested instead in increased floatplane capacity (up to six) and a heavy-duty 45 m catapult that was necessary for the new E15K1 floatplane. // Sociological concept In social sciences, superstructure is the set of socio-psychological feedback loops that maintain a coherent and meaningful structure in a given society, or part thereof. ... HMS Nelson The Nelson class were battleships of the British Royal Navy built shortly following the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922. ... The Dunkerque was the first of a new type of warship of the French Navy, labeled as fast battleship. Larger and more powerful than a mere battlecruiser, yet not a full battleship, they were designed to counter the threat of the German Pocket battleships. ... The Richelieu was a French battleship of World War II named for the seventeenth century statesman Cardinal Richelieu. ... A modern torpedo, historically called a self-propelled torpedo, is a self-propelled guided projectile that (after being launched above or below the water surface) operates underwater and is designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target. ...

Oyodo's heavy AA battery comprised eight 3.9-inch (100 mm) 65 caliber Type 98 guns in four twin mounts. These guns are the same as that carried by the Akizuki-class destroyers and the never-built B64 class cruisers. Their performance was superb, and is considered to be the best Japanese heavy AA gun of the war. Their only fault was a rather short service life, the result of high muzzle velocity (1,000 m/s) and a fast rate of fire (15–20 rounds per minute). USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). ...

The remaining AA armament consisted of the ubiquitous (in the Japanese Navy) 25 mm 60 caliber Type 96 AA gun, which was based on a French Hotchkiss design but was a very mediocre AA weapon with low effective rate of fire, slow elevation and training and lack of effective remote power control. Hotchkiss may refer to one of several articles in Wikipedia: Hotchkiss (auto), a French auto manufacturer Hotchkiss, Colorado, a town in the USA, or Hotchkiss School, a preparatory school in Connecticut, USA Hotchkiss is also the generic name for office staplers in Japan and Korea, probably deriving from the brand...

The E15K1 'Shiun' (Japanese for "violet cloud") floatplane (Allied codename "Norm") was intended to perform reconnaissance for the submarine flotilla in areas where the enemy had air superiority, and hence was to be able to take on land-based fighters. To achieve this, the plane was designed with two underwing stabilising floats that could be retracted, and a large central float that could be jettisoned, to increase performance during combat.

However, while incorporating this and several other innovations, the plane never really worked as designed and its troubled development resulted in only four aircraft entering service by 1942, and only fifteen were completed in total. Six were sent to Palau where Oyodo was operating for operational testing. Despite a more powerful engine, the performance of the E15K1's (being about 500 kg heavier than the more common Aichi E13A1 "Jake") was poor and they were quickly lost to attacking fighters. As a result production of the aircraft, which had barely begun, was stopped and the entire E15K1 program shelved in early 1944. Oyodo hence never operated more than two aircraft, particularly after her refit later in which her large hangar was converted to other uses.

As this class was larger had greater displacement than Agano, the installed powerplant was of an uprated design, producing 110,000 shp to achieve the same speed (35 knots) as the Agano class. Oyodo's designed radius of action was also very large, at 10,500 nautical miles (18,500 km). The horsepower (hp) is the name of several non-metric units of power. ...

Career

After her working up period, on 26 July 1943 Oyodo joined the fleet at Truk, which was the Japanese Navy's main fleet base in the Pacific. In December 1943, she participated in an operation to reinforce the garrisons at Rabaul and Kavieng. At that time she had just become the flagship of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Third Fleet. While returning to Truk on 1 January 1944 she was slightly damaged by US aircraft of Task Group 50.2. The following month, Japanese radio intelligence learned of an impending massive US strike on Truk, and all heavy surface units (including Oyodo) were quickly withdrawn from the base. Oyodo transferred to Palau in the Western Caroline Islands. In March that base too became threatened, and Oyodo withdrew to Singapore. During this movement the cruiser was one of the escorts of the battleship Musashi when the latter was torpedoed and damaged by the US submarine Tunny. July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... A view of Chuuk Chuuk is an island group that comprises one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along with Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Yap. ... For other meanings of Pacific, see Pacific (disambiguation). ... Space Radar Image of Rabaul Volcano Rabaul was the capital of East New Britain province, on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea until 1994. ... Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. ... Jisaburo Ozawa (小沢治三郎 Ozawa Jisaburō, October 2, 1886 – November 9, 1966) was a Japanese admiral during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Sunset at Colonia on Yap The Caroline Islands form a large archipelago of widely scattered islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. ... Musashi (武蔵), named after the ancient Japanese Musashi Province, was a battleship belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was the second and final ship of the Yamato class to be completed as a battleship. ... USS Tunny (SS/SSG/APSS/LPSS-282), a Gato-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy to be named for the tunny, any of several oceanic fishes resembling the mackerel. ...

By 1944, it was recognised from the progress of the war and the failure of the floatplane programme that Oyodo would not be able to fulfill her design role. Hence she returned to Yokosuka naval base in March of that year and had the heavy-duty catapult exchanged for the shorter (18m), standard type (and took on two of the standard Aichi E13A1 floatplanes) and the hangar converted to accommodate Fleet Headquarters staff - she was to become a Combined Fleet flagship. During this refit six Type 96 triple-mount and 11 single-mount 25 mm AA guns were also installed, bringing the Oyodo's 25 mm AA suite to a total of 47 barrels. A Type 22 surface-search radar was also fitted. Categories: Cities in Kanagawa Prefecture | Japan geography stubs ...

On 25 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Oyodo comes alongside the damaged Zuikaku (from which this photo was taken) so that Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa can transfer his flag.

The refit/conversion work was completed at the end of March 1944, and after shuttling between a few ports in Japan, Oyodo departed Yashima anchorage on 20 October 1944 towards the Philippines as part of Operation Sho-Ichi-Go ("Victory number 1") — what was to become the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The objective of the operation was to repel the American invasion of the Philippines. Oyodo was part of Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Northern Mobile ("Decoy") Force, which was to bait the American aircraft carrier strike force away from the main Japanese strike force. The decoy force included several old carriers (by now bereft of aircraft), cruisers and destroyers. Oyodo was the only warship in Ozawa's force that had reconnaissance floatplanes, and both E13A1's performed reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols over the fleet. Image File history File links Oyodo_alongside_Zuikaku. ... Image File history File links Oyodo_alongside_Zuikaku. ... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 67 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought in the seas around the island of Leyte in the Philippines from 23 October to 26 October 1944. ... Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴, meaning fortunate crane) was a Shokaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... Jisaburo Ozawa (小沢治三郎 Ozawa Jisaburō, October 2, 1886 – November 9, 1966) was a Japanese admiral during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Battle of Leyte Gulf was a naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, fought in the seas around the island of Leyte in the Philippines from 23 October to 26 October 1944. ... Jisaburo Ozawa (小沢治三郎 Ozawa Jisaburō, October 2, 1886 – November 9, 1966) was a Japanese admiral during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet. ... Anti-submarine warfare is a term referring to warfare directed against submarines. ...

On 25 October 1944, off Cape Engaño, the Northern Mobile Force was attacked by Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 38 carrier planes in a massive strike consisting 527 sorties in five strikes. During the first strike, Oyodo suffered two near-misses and at 08:48 she was hit by a bomb that damaged her No. 4 boiler room. At 10:54, Vice Admiral Ozawa left the sinking carrier Zuikaku and transferred his flag to Oyodo. Ozawa then ordered his force to retire northward. Later that day Oyodo was hit by two rockets from F6F Hellcat fighter-bombers and damaged by the near-miss of a bomb. Oyodo and the surviving ships arrived at Sakawa Bay, Amami-Oshima the next day. A few days later Oyodo was sent to Manila on a transport run, arriving on 1 November 1944. Throughout the remainder of the year, Oyodo was actively involved in numerous operations around Brunei, Camranh and the Philippines, attacking US convoys, bombarding landing sites and engaging US naval forces in the area. Although other ships with her were either damaged or sunk during the sorties, Oyodo emerged unscathed. October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 67 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cape Engaño is a cape at the northeasternmost point of the island of Luzon in the Philippines. ... Admiral Marc A. Mitscher Marc Andrew Pete Mitscher, (26 January 1887 - 3 February 1947) was an admiral in the United States Navy, notable as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the latter half of World War II in the Pacific. ... Zuikaku (Japanese: 瑞鶴, meaning fortunate crane) was a Shokaku-class aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ... The Grumman F6F Hellcat started development as an improved F4F Wildcat, but turned into a completely new design sharing a family resemblance to the Wildcat but with practically no shared parts. ... REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES City of Manila Region: National Capital Region Province: — Dates: Founded—June 24, 1571 Cityhood—June 10, 1574 Population: 2000 census—1,581,082 Density—41,014 per km² Area: 38. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cam Ranh Bay is a deep-water seaport in Vietnam. ... A convoy is a group of vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support. ...

By January 1945 Oyodo had arrived at Singapore, where she took on 300 tons of rubber, zinc, mercury, tin and petrol. Other ships in her unit were similarly loaded with critical supplies bound for Japan. On 11 February 1945 Oyodo's unit — the "Completion Force" — left Singapore for Japan, and along the way escaped pursuit and dodged attacks by twenty-three Allied submarines. The Force arrived at the Kure naval base in Japan on 20 February 1945. Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ... General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Atomic mass 65. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 200. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Atomic mass 118. ... Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol, in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Oyodo sunk in shallow waters near Kure.

Oyodo remained at Kure for the remainder of the war, and on 19 March 1945 Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58 carriers made the first carrier attack on the Kure Naval Arsenal. More than 240 aircraft (SB2C Helldiver dive bombers, F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcat fighter-bombers) attacked the Japanese fleet. Three 500-pound bombs hit Oyodo; she started to flood, but was towed to Etajima and beached. Image File history File links OyodoSunkJul45. ... Image File history File links OyodoSunkJul45. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was an aircraft carrier-based dive bomber produced for the United States Navy during World War II. It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless in US Navy service, and was initially strongly disliked by aircrews because it was much bigger and heavier than the SBD, and had... A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy. ... Chance Vought F4U Corsair The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a fighter aircraft that saw service in World War II and the Korean War. ... The Grumman F6F Hellcat started development as an improved F4F Wildcat, but turned into a completely new design sharing a family resemblance to the Wildcat but with practically no shared parts. ... It consists Etajima, floats in the Hiroshima bay of the Hiroshima prefecture southwest. ...

On 24 July 1945 US Task Force 38 launched a massive all-day-long attack to destroy any and all remaining units of the Japanese Navy. Oyodo was strafed and hit by four 500-pound bombs and many near misses that left her listing to starboard. Four days later, another all-day-long attack was launched by the US carrier fleet. Oyodo was hit by four more bombs and at 10:00, hits near the bridge caused extensive flooding and Oyodo took on a heavy list to starboard. At 12:00, she capsized to starboard in shallow water. About 300 crewmen were killed, while her remaining crew abandoned ship that afternoon. Oyodo was removed from the Navy List on 20 November 1945. July 24 is the 205th day (206th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 160 days remaining. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com