Wreck of HIJMS Yasoshima (八十島)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, cruiser

Laid down in 1931 as the Chinese Light Cruiser Ping Hai (平海) and commissioning as the Flagship of the Republic of China Navy in 1936 after a long-troubled construction period, the Ping Hai and her sistership Ning Hai were in service for less than a year before war broke out with Japanese Empire. As the Capital ships of the ROC Navy, both vessels were the subject of much attention from the attacking Japanese naval aviators throughout much of 1937 as they attempted to secure the waters Chinese Coast and rivers from the formidable Imperial Japanese Navy.

As the frontlines encroached on Nanking, the Ping Hai and her sister Ning Hai were ordered to the defense of the city. Both ships were subject to massive aerial attack culminating on the 23rd of September, when aircraft from the Japanese Carrier Kaga succeeded in sinking the Ping Hai in the shallow waters of the Yangtze River. After Nanking fell to the Japanese, the hulk of the Ping Hai was deemed worthy of salvage and refloated in 1938 for use as a floating barracks for Japanese Sailors at Sasebo, renamed Mishima.

Spending the next six years uneventfully moored at Sasebo, the staggering loss of escort craft suffered by the Imperial Japanese Navy led to the Mishima being made ready for service as a convoy escort ship. After extensive refit at Kure in 1944, the again-renamed Yasoshima emerged from the yard in June 1944 as a 2nd Class Light Cruiser, fitted with numerous anti-aircraft guns. For the next few months, the Yasoshima escorted merchant convoys between mainland Japan and the Volcano Islands as a member of Transport Squadron 1.

Rapidly changing tides in the war during late 1944 forced the Japanese to order a massive counterattack against American forces in the Philippines, and in October 1944 the Yasoshima was reassigned to the Southwest Area Fleet and made Flagship of Transport Squadron 1. Following her conversion and a short yard period, the Yasoshima sailed from Sasebo as an escort for a large troopship convoy on November 15th, bound for Manila. Arriving in the Philippines shortly after the disastrous Japanese naval defeat at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Yasoshima and her convoy were justifiably wary of American planes and submarines known to be freely prowling the area following the withdrawal of the Combined Fleet.

Steaming Southward and only a few hours out of Manila Harbor, the Yasoshima and her crew passed the battered Cruiser Kumano, heavily damaged from the Battle of Leyte Gulf and under major repair off Santa Cruz just before 1400hrs on November 25th. Radar operators on the Yasoshima started picking up signals that several dozen planes were approaching from the East, and the order to battle stations was flashed across the convoy. At 1400hrs, the first American planes appeared above the clouds and began their attack. Despite every gun aboard her putting up AA fire, a single TBF Avenger flying from the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) weaved its way through the flak and dropped a torpedo into the path of the Yasoshima.

Despite last second evasive maneuvers, the Yasoshima was struck on in her stern by the torpedo, which blew a massive hole into her repaired hull plating and knocked out her screws and rudders. Slowing to a halt and beginning to settle rapidly by the Stern, the Yasoshima was quickly ordered abandoned when it became clear that the damage she sustained was fatal. Most of her crew of 361 were still trying to make their way topside when the Yashoshima suddenly plunged Stern-first into the waters off Dasol Bay, taking 261 men with her to the bottom.

www.combinedfleet.com/yasojima_t.htm