Wreck of HIJMS Chikuma (筑摩)

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

Laid down in October 1935 as the second and final member of the Tone Class of Heavy Cruisers, HIJMS Chikuma commissioned into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in May 1939 as a member of Cruiser Division 6, IJN 2nd Fleet. Designed on the hull of the preceding Mogami Class of Heavy Cruisers, Chikuma and her sistership Tone were given a radically different appearance by having all four of her main gun turrets mounted forward of her bridge to make room for a large seaplane hangar and catapult system on her Stern to better serve her intended role as a long range scout plane platform needed for Japanese Aircraft Carrier forces.

Spending much of the first two years of service engaged in training and battle exercises with the Second Fleet, the outbreak of war with the United States and her Allies found Chikuma operating with her sistership in Cruiser Division 8 screening the Aircraft Carriers of the Pearl Harbor Strike Force and lending their seaplanes to reconnaissance efforts off the Hawaiian Islands. Following the highly successful raid on the US Pacific Fleet, Chikuma shaped a course for combat which would see her taking part in the Invasions of Wake Island, Rabaul, Lae, Salamaua, Java, the Carrier Raids on Darwin and the Indian Ocean raids before she returned to Japan in May 1942. Following a hasty refit, Chikuma stood out to sea escorting Japanese Carriers towards Midway Atoll, where her long-range seaplanes played a major part in the Battle of Midway by sighting and guiding Japanese aircraft and Submarines to the USS Yorktown, resulting in its sinking two days after the battle. Shifting to the Aleutian Islands to briefly support Japanese Ground Forces, Chikuma and her crew were given their next shot at American forces when word came of the Invasion of Guadalcanal and the formation of a Japanese offensive and reinforcement task force. Fighting to defeat once again with American Carrier forces at the Battle of Santa Cruz in late October 1942, Chikuma was attacked and severely damaged by American dive-bombers and suffered over 250 casualties to her crew and enough damage to keep her out of action and under repair until February 1943.

Ordered to Truk following her yard period, Chikuma began duty as both an escort and transport in the “Tokyo Express”, running troops and supplies from the Japanese base to numerous locations throughout the Solomon Islands through the end of 1943. Returning to Japan for an overhaul that included a large increase to her anti-aircraft armament, Chikuma took up station at Singapore and participated in both the 1944 Indian Ocean Raids and the Japanese defeat at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Joining much of the remaining Japanese surface fleet at Singapore in July 1944, Chikuma and her crew were placed into the IJN Mobile Fleet and began intensive battle training and exercises for their next clash with American forces which was expected to come somewhere around the Philippine Islands and offer the Imperial Japanese Navy with its final chance for the “Decisive Battle” they felt would guarantee their success in the war.

Ordered to Brunei on October 18th, 1944 Chikuma joined her sistership and three other Battleships, eight Heavy Cruisers and fifteen Destroyers as the “Center Force” of a three-part Japanese Naval Assault on the American beachhead at Leyte. Standing out for battle on October 22nd, Chikuma took her position in the formation as it sped at 27 knots along the coast of Palawan towards the Sibuyan Sea and the San Bernardino Strait beyond. Almost from the start, the secrecy surrounding the Center Force and its mission was betrayed as it ran straight into an American Submarine picket line which claimed three Heavy Cruisers on the 23rd, followed by heavy air attacks the following day in the Sibuyan Sea which knocked another Heavy Cruiser out of action, sank the SuperBattleship HIJMS Musashi and forced the entire formation back Westward to regroup. Following strident efforts across the formation by damage control teams to patch up damage from American aircraft, Chikuma and the Center Force reversed course at 1715hrs and under the cover of darkness went into single-file formation and entered the San Bernardino Strait at 2330hrs.

Exiting into open waters on the East coast of the Philippines at 0030hrs, Chikuma and the Center Force continued due East until 0300hrs when they made a Southward turn towards the American beachhead at Leyte Gulf. With the rising sun illuminating the area as the Japanese ships sped towards their target, lookouts across the Center Force called out their sightings of what they took to be a large force of Cruisers, Destroyers and Fleet Carriers lying dead ahead at 0545hrs. At nearly the same time, a single aircraft from the USS St. Lo (CVE-63) spotted the Japanese ships and reported the terrifying sight to the ships of Task Force Taffy 3, consisting of six Escort Carriers, Three Destroyers and six Destroyer Escorts, whose combined weight was less than the Japanese Flagship HIJMS Yamato alone. Eager to exploit the advantage of total surprise, Japanese Vice Admiral Kurita ordered all ships to engage and aboard Chikuma all four of her forward turrets swung into action as her engine room crews brought up steam to get the 15,500 ton ship to flank speed.

Opening her role in the Battle of Samar by loosing a salvo of eight-inch fire towards the formation of American Carriers at 0605hrs, Chikuma broke formation and bent on 35 knots as she closed in on the fleeing American flattops, eventually catching USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in her sights and pummeling the slow-moving Jeep Carrier with armor-piercing rounds. Despite scoring several hits on the enemy ship with her main battery, the Gambier Bay remained under power and executing evasive maneuvers, which signaled to gun crews aboard Chikuma that her armor piercing shells were having little effect and likely passing through the lightly armored ship. Switching to high explosive rounds midway through the running battle, Chikuma’s main battery quickly laid waste to the Gambier Bay as she closed to the point-blank distance of five miles and proceeded to shell the ship until it was a flaming wreck. As she left the American Carrier in her wake and continued Southwards towards Leyte, Chikuma’s good fortune suddenly changed as the Destroyer USS Heerman (DD-532) charged her and began peppering the lumbering Cruiser with 5-inch rounds along her entire length. As her secondary battery began swapping fire with and heavily damaging the Heerman, a flight of four torpedo bombers swept down out of the low cloud cover and attacked, and despite last minute evasive maneuvers a single Mark 13 Torpedo slammed into Chikuma’s Port Stern, severing a large porting of her hull from the ship and destroyed her inner portside screw and rudders. Forced into wide Starboard circles by the loss of propulsion and steerage, Chikuma’s speed dropped to 18 knots then to 9 knots as her outer Port screw wrenched itself off the ship.

American flyers were quick to pounce on the slow moving Chikuma as she lost control, with two more torpedoes slamming into the ship at 1105hrs and flooding every one of her engine rooms and leaving her dead in the water. Requesting assistance with the last of the ship’s remaining power, Chikuma’s Captain orchestrated damage control efforts as the remnants of the Center Force withdrew back to the North, with the exception of the Destroyer HIJMS Nowaki which was detached to assist Chikuma. As the afternoon progressed damage control teams aboard ship were unable to dewater the Chikuma’s engine or boiler rooms or restore her severely damaged steering system, leaving the ship very much exposed to further attack. As Chikuma’s Captain conferred with his counterpart aboard Nowaki by radio about the possibility of towing his stricken ship when the Destroyer arrived, another flight of American planes were sighted closing in on the largely defenseless ship. With few of her AA mounts operational, the Veteran Cruiser was all but powerless to stop another three torpedoes from slamming into her battered Portside hull at 1415hrs and sealing her fate. Taking a heavy list to Port as the American planes withdrew, Chikuma was ordered abandoned and left to her fate only moments after the arrival of the Nowaki. After taking aboard all surviving crew from the sinking Cruiser, the Nowaki sent two more torpedoes into Chikuma’s hull and withdrew with the balance of the Center Force, leaving HIJMS Chikuma to capsize to Port and sink by the Stern at this location at 1430hrs on October 25th, 1944.

While an unknown number of Chikuma’s 874 crew survived her loss in the Battle off Samar, all but one of her crew survived the loss of HIJMS Nowaki with all hands on October 26th after she was sunk by American carrier aircraft.

www.combinedfleet.com/chikuma_t.htm