Wreck of HIJMS Kirishima

The HIJMS Kirishima was a Kongo Class Battleship in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War, and by November 1942 had already seen heavy action against Allied forces, taking part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Indian Ocean Raids, the Battle of Java Sea, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

In the early hours of November 13th, 1942 the Kirishima took part in the close quarters melee later known as the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, wherein she, her sistership HIJMS Hiei and a task force of one Cruiser and twelve Destroyers were intercepted by US warships en route to bombard Henderson Field and US transports on Guadalcanal. During the short but intense battle, the Japanese fleet inflicted a heavy toll on the US ships, causing the loss of five Destroyers and two Cruisers, for the loss of the Japanese Battleship Hiei and three Destroyers. After withdrawing from the battle area the Kirishima was ordered to proceed to sea at once to refuel, rearm and link up with a Japanese Heavy Cruiser force inbound from Truk to complete the original shore bombardment mission, which they completed on the evening of November 13th, though the shelling caused minor damage to the US base.

The morning of November 14th found the Kirishima and her task force North of Guadalcanal attempting to link up with a troop and cargo convoy headed to reinforce Japanese troops on Guadalcanal when they came under concentrated air attack from US aircraft based at Henderson Field. The resulting action saw the Japanese lose two Cruisers and six troopships, forcing the remaining warships to regroup and attempt another shore bombardment mission of the US Airfield.

Splitting into three groups, the Japanese forces re-entered Ironbottom Sound after sunset on November 14th, with the Kirishima leading the shore bombardment force consisting of two heavy and two light Cruisers and two Destroyers. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, at 22:55hrs (10:25PM) they were picked up by the radar systems of the USS South Dakota and the USS Washington, two brand new US Battleships which had arrived at Guadalcanal earlier in the evening escorted by four Destroyers. The first members of the Japanese forces came into contact with the four US Destroyers at 23:22hrs (11:22PM) and assuming the ships to be another powerful US force, the entire Japanese force broke formation to attack. The four US Destroyers were decimated in the following action, two were sunk and two were severely damaged and put out of action. Believing they had defeated the entire US naval force, the Kirishima and her bombardment force reformed their line and proceeded towards the Guadalcanal coast, switching ammunition from anti-ship armor piercing shells to fragmentation artillery shells.

Steaming astern of a small group of Destroyers, the crew on the Kirishima were totally unaware that their battlegroup was heading straight for the two US Battleships, which were tracking them on radar and had loaded armor piercing shells into their 16-inch main batteries. Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared to the Southeast, followed by the distinctive thunder of heavy guns and the Japanese Destroyer Anayami, steaming ahead of Kirishima burst into flame as shells from the American Battleships rained down from the sky. The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was underway. The Japanese ships were taken totally by surprise and raced to reform battle formation as shells from the lead US battleship quickly reduced the lead Japanese Destroyer to a burning hulk.

At precisely midnight on November 15th, 1942 the USS Washington opened fire on the HIJMS Kirishima, initiating one of history's last Battleship vs. Battleship conflicts. Aboard the Kirishima, gunners strained to target their attackers and using the searchlights aboard the escorting Cruisers to illuminate the night, found the USS South Dakota, which was steaming astern of the USS Washington and had just fired its first salvo into the Kirishima. Shortly after opening fire a computer failure on the South Dakota shut down the Battleships' radar and gunnery systems, leaving her gunners to rely on eyesight target the ship's weapons. The entire Japanese force concentrated their fire on the helpless South Dakota, peppering it with 8 & 14 inch shells as the ship withdrew. The Kirishima continued to fire on the retreating American ship, trying to close distance to move in for the kill when another flash lit up the night, followed by a similar rumble, this one only 9,000 yards off her Starboard side. The USS Washington had managed to remain totally undetected by the Japanese force and had used the gun flashes from the Kirishima to target the ship, and commenced firing. Over the next ten minutes, the Kirishima was struck with nine 16-inch shells and over forty 5-inch shells from point blank range, with several other 16-inch shells near-missing the Kirishima's decks but punching through her hull below the waterline causing massive flooding. One such round penetrated her steering gear room and disabled her rudder control systems leaving the ship only able to make Port (left) circles. The USS Washington ceased fire at 00:10hrs (12:10AM) and quickly made maneuvers to the Southwest, drawing Japanese Destroyers and Cruisers after her and leaving the Kirishima heavily damaged and burning furiously.

The Japanese force was ordered to withdraw from the area at 01:04hrs, and after damage control efforts were unsuccessful to repair the Kirishima's steering system or check the flooding of her Starboard side, the Veteran Japanese Battleship was scuttled by her crew at 03:25hrs on November 15th, 1942.

Her wreck was discovered in 1993 by Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic and the German Battleship Bismarck, lying broken in half and upside down on the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound, in 4000 feet of water at 9°5'S, 159°42E.

www.combinedfleet.com/Kirishima.htm
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