Wreck of HIJMS Manazuru (真鶴)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, draw only border

HIJMS Manazuru was the second member of the Chidori Class of Torpedo Boats built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, laid down at the Fujinagata Shipbuilding Yard in December 1931 and commissioned in January 1934. Not operational until the fall of that year due to design alterations stemming from the capsizing of her sistership HIJMS Tomozuru due to her top-heavy gun armament, the Manazuru and her crew eventually joined Torpedo Flotilla 21 and began regular operations and training with the Japanese Fleet.

Seeing her first combat at the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, the Manazuru and her sisters screened Japanese Invasion Forces as they landed at Liuhe, Wusong and Chuanshakou before resuming her normal routine as ground forces moved steadily inland and secured the Chinese city. Assigned to the 21st Torpedo Boat Division, 2nd Base Force in the IJN Third Fleet at the outbreak of War with the United States, the Manazuru and her three sisters began their part in the conflict escorting the ships of the Bataan Island Invasion Force from Takao, Formosa to their destination from December 6th-8th 1941, and remained heavily involved with the Philippine Island Campaign through mid-January. Reassigned for duty in the former Dutch East Indies, the Manazuru and her crew participated in the invasions of Tarakan and Balikpapan in Borneo before engine troubles sidelined the ship until mid-March 1942. By the time she was back in fighting trim, much of the Dutch East Indies lay in Japanese hands, and Manazuru was reassigned to the 23rd Special Base Force, 2nd Southern Expeditionary Fleet IJN Southwest Area Fleet and began convoy escort work out of Makassar, Celebes.

Convoy escort work became the routine for the Manazuru and her crew for the duration of the war, alternating her base of operations from Osaka, Yura, Kushimoto, Yokosuka, Manila, Takao and finally Okinawa, where she arrived in April 1944 to begin operations as a member of the 4th Surface Escort Division. Heavily active screening both merchant and naval convoys between Japan, Okinawa and points South as Japanese forces moved to shore up their positions against steady American advances, the Manazuru and her crew were kept very busy into early 1945. By this point, American aircraft and submarines were taking a heavy toll on Japanese merchant shipping and by consequence the Japanese war industry, making the work performed by Manazuru and her crew much more vital and dangerous as the war wore on. After the fall of Iwo Jima put mainland Japan and the Ryuku Islands within range of American aircraft, the Manazuru and her crew stepped up their patrol and escort work out of Okinawa, which was receiving regular munitions and supply shipments to bolster its garrison against a likely American Invasion.

Arriving at Naha on February 28th after safely escorting a supply convoy from Kagoshima, the Manazuru dropped anchor off Cheebishi Atoll and waited for her next convoy assignment. Shortly after dawn the following morning as her crew set about their daily routine, air raid sirens began blaring around Okinawa and lookouts were soon to spot several waves of American aircraft approaching the island. As her engineers frantically worked to bring up steam to get her underway, Manazuru’s gunners took to their stations and sent up anti-aircraft fire on the planes of Task Force 38’s Carriers as they began attacking land and sea targets on the island. Still unable to move as dive bombers, fighters and torpedo bombers swept over her, the Manazuru and her crew were quickly overwhelmed by their attackers and in short order she had been struck with several bombs, rockets and strafed repeatedly. Left mortally damaged but afloat after the first wave of attackers departed, the Manazuru was in no shape to repel further attacks and by sundown on March 1st, 1945 she had been sent to the bottom at this location.

www.combinedfleet.com/manazu_t.htm