WL336 IJN CRUISER ASHIGARA

The Ashigara was a Japanese heavy cruiser the keel of which was laid in 1925, launched in April 1928, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in August 1929. The ship was 204 m long, 19 m wide, and the actual full displacement was 13,500 tons. The maximum speed of the cruiser Ashigara was 36 knots. At the outbreak of World War II, the main armament was 10 203 mm guns in five twin turrets, and the additional armament included: 8 127 mm guns and 12 610 mm torpedo tubes. Ashigara was the fourth and final Myoko-class cruiser. Cruisers of this type were officially built to meet the requirements of the Washington Disarmament Treaty signed by the authorities in Tokyo in 1922, but in fact significantly exceeded its displacement and armament limits. Undoubtedly, the Myoko-type units were very successful: at the time of launching, they had clearly more powerful artillery weapons than their Royal Navy or US Navy counterparts, and also had very high speed. The cruiser Ashigara's combat trail in World War II began in December 1941 with support for Japanese landing operations in the Philippines. Ashigara also took an active part in the victorious Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, where he contributed decisively to the sinking of the cruiser HMS "Exeter" and the destroyer HMS "Encounter". In the period 1942-1944, despite its considerable combat potential, it was assigned to cover convoys and transports of troops. The next, more serious action by Ashigar was the Battle of Leyte Bay in October 1944. In December of that year, he continued to fight in Philippine waters, where he was damaged by an aerial bomb. The cruiser Ashigara was sunk on June 8, 1945 as a result of torpedoing by Allied submarines during a cruise from Batavia to Singapore.