Wreck of HIJMS Ume (梅)

 Second World War 1939-1945, navy, shipwreck, destroyer (ship)

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Laid down in January 1944 as the third member of the Matsu Class of Destroyers, HIJMS Ume commissioned into active service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in June 1944 and joined with Escort Squadron 31 IJN Fifth Fleet.

Japan's tenuous hold over the seas around her island in the latter half of 1944 meant the services of Ume and her crew as escorts would be in high demand, and within days of her commissioning she was escorting merchant vessels around the home waters to serve as de-facto training for her crew. October 1944 and the hostilities in the Philippines saw the Ume escorting Capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to and from the Philippine Islands as they lent their support to Japanese forces ashore.

Damaged by a bomb to her bow in early December 1944, the Ume was forced to withdraw to Hong Kong where permanent repairs could be effected, leaving her out of the fight for over a month before she was able to put to sea again. Emerging from the yard in mid-January, the Ume was ordered back to the Philippines but her role now was to oversee the withdrawal of troops rather than their landing and advancement. After joining with fellow Destroyers HIJMS Kaede and HIJMS Shiokaze at Takao in Formosa (present day Kaohsiung, Taiwan), the three ships set a course for Manila where they were to evacuate aircrews from the area for redeployment.

Just one day out of port, the three vessels were sighted by American patrol aircraft which reported their speed, course and position to US Army Air Force planes operating in the Philippines. Shortly before noon on the 31st of January, the ships came under heavy air attack from several B-25 bombers and P-38 fighters which overwhelmed the gunners on the ships. Within 20 minutes despite the best efforts of her crew, the Ume was struck three times by bombs along her hull from Bow to Stern and knocked out of the fight.

The young Destroyer was severely damaged from the battering she took and was listing heavily and afire when the word was passed to abandon ship as American planes continued to pepper the vessel with machine gun fire. As her crew continued to scramble off the ship, she rolled onto her Starboard side and sank at this location, taking 77 of her men with her. After the skies cleared of enemy planes, survivors of the sinking were picked up by the Kaede and Shiokaze and returned to Takao.

www.combinedfleet.com/ume_t.htm