Wreck of HIJMS Awaji (淡路)

 Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck

Laid down in June 1943 as the third member of the Mikura Class of Escort Ships, HIJMS Awaji commissioned into Imperial Japanese Navy service in February 1944 and was assigned to the First Surface Escort Division based at Takao, Formosa.

Promptly beginning her work as a convoy escort, the Awaji operated along the convoy routes between Takao and Singapore, Borneo, Manila and mainland Japan screening vitally important merchant ships as they supplied Japanese civilian and military personnel. This once mundane role was made increasingly hazardous bu the growing number of American Submarines operating in the Far East, using more and more sophisticated means to target and destroy Japanese convoys in an effort to cut off mainland Japan from the rest of the world. In the face of this threat, the Awaji and her crew saw several convoys to and from their destinations safely and by May 1944 had only lost one ship under their guard.

Arriving at Sasebo on May 25th, 1944 after escorting convoy MI-02 safely to harbor, the Awaji and her crew were ordered to escort a large convoy of Japanese Navy ships and oilers as well as cargo ships all bound for the Philippines. The movement of such a large convoy, which included the Aircraft Carrier Shinyo, did not go unnoticed by American Codebreakers, and along the convoy's potential route several submarines were ordered to take up station to attack it. One such submarine was the USS Guitarro (SS-363) which began patrolling the Bashi Strait shortly after word was received that the Japanese convoy departed Sasebo on May 29th.

Four days out of Sasebo, the Awaji and her crew were on their station on the East side of the convoy acting as an anti-submarine screen. As night fell the watch changed with no contacts to report and much of the crew retired for a meal below decks. Lookouts aboard ship were aided by clear skies and a full moon which gave them a clear view of the surrounding waters, which were apparently clear of enemy surface ships. However, the same moonlit night provided the submerged USS Guitarro with a similar advantage as her Captain was able to clearly make out the large Japanese Convoy as he made his approach. Targeting the nearest convoy escort ship to his position, the Guitarro lined up her shot and sent a spread of two torpedoes into the path of the Awaji.

With the moon's reflection on the water concealing the telltale streaks of bubbles left by the approaching torpedoes, lookouts and crew on the Awaji likely never knew they were under attack until it was too late. Both torpedoes found their mark and impacted the Awaji just aft of her superstructure where their combined force blew out the Escort ship's engine room and broke her keel. Fellow escort ships raced to chase the US Sub away with depth charges but by the time other ships arrived to render assistance to the stricken Awaji she had broken in two and sank at this location. 75 of her crew went down with the ship and several more died of their wounds after rescue.

www.combinedfleet.com/Awaji_t.htm