Wreck of HIJMS Shirataka (白鷹)

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

HIJMS Shirataka was laid down at the Tōkyō Ishikawajima Shipyard in November 1927 as the only ship of her class and at the time of her commissioning in April 1929 she was the first purpose-built anti-submarine Netlayer in service with any navy worldwide. Designed to also perform Minelaying duties, the Shirataka entered service with the Kure Naval District where she remained until mounting tensions between Japan and China brought her first long-distance deployment in early 1937.

Patrolling the Chinese coast when open hostilities commenced between the two nations in July 1937, the Shirataka began intensive duty along the Central and Southern Chinese coast, conducting patrols, escorting convoys and mining both disputed and recently captured Chinese harbors. Operating primarily out of Shanghai as the conflict moved steadily inland, the Shirataka returned to Japan in 1940 where she underwent a major reconstruction that converted her into a dedicated convoy escort vessel at the cost of much of her original Minelaying and Netlaying equipment. Reassigned to Takao, Formosa as part of the IJN 3rd Fleet, Shirataka and her crew began escorting large convoys of troopships and transports to staging locations around Formosa in preparation for the upcoming war with the United States, and on the eve of the Attack on Pearl Harbor Shirataka was at sea escorting the ships of the Northern Philippines Invasion Force, codenamed Operation "M".

After screening her charges as they landed troops on at Appari, Lingayen Gulf and several other locations around Luzon, Shirataka returned to her escort duties out of Takao as occupation forces and invasion forces continually passed through the area. After taking part in the Invasion of the Dutch East Indies in February 1942, the Shirataka was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet and began escort operations out of Rabaul and Wewak in New Guinea which lasted into early 1944. Returning to Japan for a much-needed period of overhaul and upgrade, the Shirataka returned to the fray in March 1944 as a member of the Escort Fleet equipped with fully modernized radar and sonar systems as well as upgraded anti-aircraft armament to deal with the dual-edged threat posed by American Submarines and aircraft as they made steady inroads into once Japanese-held territory.

Operating once again in the waters around Formosa, Shirataka and her crew found themselves to be on the front lines of the American Submarine war as they escorted convoys between Japan, Singapore and the Philippines through the summer of 1944. Joined in her effort by newer and more capable escort vessels fresh from Japanese shipyards, the elderly Shirataka continued to perform her highly dangerous duty with redoubled efforts following reports that American forces were intending to invade the Philippine Islands in the fall of 1944. Kept busy by the dozens of convoys shuttling men and material to and from the Philippines, Shirataka returned to Moji in early August and was assigned to escort Convoy Mi-15’s ten merchant ships from Moji to Borneo, something of a break from her normal routing. Departing in convoy on August 19th with her a fellow minesweeper and three Destroyers as escorts, the crew of Shirataka settled in for the long voyage and began their routine of anti-submarine watches.

After stopping at Takao on August 25th for refueling, the Shirataka’s convoy was reformed and redirected to Manila before continuing onward to Borneo, something which likely did not sit well with the Veteran crew aboard Shirataka who knew all too well the danger posed by American Subs operating off the Philippines. The addition of two more freighters to the convoy and the swapping out of two Destroyers for smaller Destroyer Escorts increased the workload of Shirataka’s crew for the upcoming leg of their voyage, but despite the challenges the formation put to sea on at 1500hrs August 30th, hoping to run the distance between Formosa and Luzon under the cover of darkness. Early the following morning all illusions of a safe transit were dispelled when torpedoes began impacting ships in Shirataka’s convoy shortly after 0200hrs.

Over the next five hours Shirataka’s crew engaged in a violent fight against five American Submarines which were simultaneously attacking the convoy from separate directions, however the efforts of ship and crew were unable to prevent the loss of three merchant ships by sunrise on the 31st. Daybreak brought a brief reprieve in the action, but shortly after 0700hrs lookouts aboard Shirataka sighted an American Submarine, USS Sealion (SS-315), running surfaced in the distance, prompting her bow gun crew to open fire as the ship turned to run down the enemy sub. Sending depth charge crews to their posts as the American Sub disappeared from the surface, Shirataka’s sonar crew quickly identified the diving sub and were providing vectors to intercept when the unmistakable sounds of torpedoes were picked up on the ships hydrophones.

Ordering the ship into evasive maneuvers, Shirataka’s Captain joined his lookouts in an effort to sight the inbound torpedoes, but by the time they were sighted closing in on the ships Starboard side it was too late to avoid them. Struck first directly beneath her bridge and again just aft of her funnel, Shirataka took heavy damage and an immediate list, with most of her bridge crew killed by the concussive force and shrapnel created by the first blast and dozens of men in her engine room either killed or wounded by the second. Wallowing to a halt, Shirataka began to slowly sink by the bow as her remaining crew made their way topside and abandoned the mortally wounded ship. With the majority of her crew able to get clear of the foundering ship thanks to her stout construction, HIJMS Shirataka finally gave out and sank bow-first at this location at 1130hrs on August 31st, 1944.

www.combinedfleet.com/Shirataka_t.htm