Japanese battleship Kirishima

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Template:Nihongo was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy which saw service during World War I and World War II. Designed by British naval engineer George Thurston, she was the third launched of the four Template:Sclasss. Laid down in 1912 at the Mitsubishi Shipyards in Nagasaki, Kirishima was formally commissioned in 1915 on the same day as her sister ship, Template:Ship. Kirishima patrolled on occasion off the Chinese coast during World War I, and helped with rescue efforts following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.

Starting in 1927, KirishimaTemplate:'s first reconstruction rebuilt her as a battleship, strengthening her armor and improving her speed. From 1934, a second reconstruction completely rebuilt her superstructure, upgraded her engine plant, and equipped her with launch catapults for floatplanes. Now fast enough to accompany Japan's growing carrier fleet, she was reclassified as a fast battleship. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Kirishima acted primarily as a support vessel and troop transport, moving army troops to mainland China. On the eve of World War II, she sailed as part of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Kido Butai as an escort for the six carriers that attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

As part of the Third Battleship Division, Kirishima participated in many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's early actions in 1942, providing support for the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and in the Indian Ocean raid from February to April 1942, during which she helped to sink the destroyer USS Edsall and the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman. During the Battle of Midway, she provided escort to Nagumo's four carriers, before redeploying to the Solomon Islands during the Battle of Guadalcanal. She escorted Japanese carrier fleets during the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Islands, before sailing as part of a bombardment force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

On the evening of 13 November 1942, Kirishima engaged American cruisers and destroyers alongside her sister ship Template:Ship. On the night of 14/15 November, in one of only two battleship duels of the Pacific War, Kirishima attacked and badly damaged the American battleship Template:USS before being fatally wounded in turn by 16-inch (406 mm) gunfire from the battleship Template:USS under the command of Rear Admiral Willis Augustus Lee Jr and then Captain Glenn B. Davis. Kirishima capsized and sank in the early morning on 15 November 1942 in Ironbottom Sound.

Kirishima being launched, 1 December 1913

Design and construction

Kirishima under construction at a Mitsubishi dockyard in Nagasaki, 1914

Kirishima was the third of the Imperial Japanese Navy's Template:Sclasss, a group of capital ships designed by the British naval engineer George Thurston.<ref name=kongoclass>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The class was ordered in 1910 in the Japanese Emergency Naval Expansion Bill after the commissioning of Template:HMS in 1908.<ref name=cfrecord>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The four battlecruisers of the Kongō class were designed to match the naval capabilities of the other major powers at the time; they have been called the battlecruiser version of the British (formerly Turkish) battleship Template:HMS.<ref name="Conway's">Gardiner and Gray (1980), p. 234</ref><ref name="jackson-08-27">Jackson (2008), p. 27</ref> With their heavy armament and armor protection (which took up 23.3% of their approximately 30,000 ton displacement),<ref name="Conway's"/> Kirishima and her sister ships were vastly superior to any other Japanese capital ship afloat at the time.<ref name="jackson-08-27"/>

The keel of Kirishima was laid down at the Nagasaki shipyards of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries on 17 March 1912, with most of the parts used in her construction manufactured in Japan.<ref name="Conway's"/><ref name=cfrecord/> Due to a shortage of available slipways, Kirishima and her sister ship Template:Ship were the first two capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy to be built in private Japanese shipyards.<ref name="Conway's"/> After her launch on 1 December 1913, KirishimaTemplate:'s fitting-out began later that month.<ref name="jackson-08-27"/> On 15 December 1914, Captain Kamaya Rokuro was assigned as her chief equipping officer,<ref name=cfrecord/> and she was completed on 19 April 1915.<ref name="Conway's"/>

Armament

KirishimaTemplate:'s main battery consisted of eight Template:Convert heavy-caliber main guns in four twin turrets (two forward, two aft).<ref name=kongoclass/> The turrets were noted by the US Office of Naval Intelligence to be "similar to the British 15-inch turrets",<ref name=NW-14/> with improvements made in flash-tightness. Each of her main guns could fire high-explosive or armor-piercing shells a maximum distance of Template:Convert at a firing rate of two shells per minute.<ref name="14/45">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The ship's magazines could accommodate ninety rounds of ammunition for each of the main guns, which had an approximate barrel life of 250–280 shots.<ref name=NW-14>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1941, dyes were introduced for the armor-piercing shells of the four Kongō-class battleships, with KirishimaTemplate:'s shells using blue dye.<ref name=NW-14/>

Her secondary battery was originally sixteen Template:Convert 50-caliber medium guns in single casemates (all located amidships),<ref name="jackson-08-27"/> eight Template:Convert anti-aircraft guns, and eight submerged Template:Convert torpedo tubes.<ref name=kongoclass/><ref name="stille17"/> The sixteen 6-inch/50 caliber guns were capable of firing 5–6 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 500 rounds.<ref name=NW6>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 6-inch/50 caliber gun was capable of firing both antiaircraft and antiship shells, though the positioning of the guns on Kirishima made antiaircraft firing impractical.<ref name="jackson-08-27"/> During her second reconstruction, the 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight Template:Convert guns. These guns could fire between 8 and 14 rounds per minute, with a barrel life of 800–1500 rounds.<ref name=NW5>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Designed to fire antiaircraft, antiship, and illumination shells, the 5-inch/40 caliber had the widest variety of shot type of KirishimaTemplate:'s guns.<ref name=NW5/> During her second reconstruction, Kirishima was also fitted with a small number of [[Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun|Template:Convert Type 96 antiaircraft autocannons]].

Service

1914–1927: Battlecruiser

Kirishima moored at Sasebo in December 1915

Kirishima was formally commissioned on 19 April 1915, and along with Template:Ship was assigned to the 1st Battleship Division of the First Fleet.<ref name=cfrecord/> After seven months of trials, she was reassigned to the 3rd Battleship Division of the Second Fleet, with Captain Shima Takeshi in overall command of the ship. In April 1916, Kirishima and Haruna departed Sasebo Naval Base to patrol the East China Sea for ten days. She remained in Sasebo until April 1917, when she again deployed to the Chinese coast with her sister ships Haruna and Template:Ship. Her last patrol operation of World War I was off the Chinese and Korean coast in April 1918. In July 1918, Kirishima acted as the transport of Prince Arthur of Connaught for his extended cruise to Canada, before returning to Japan.<ref name=cfrecord/>

Following the end of World War I, the Japanese Empire gained control of former German possessions in the central Pacific per the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.<ref>Willmott, p. 22</ref> Due to Japan's warm relations with the British Empire and the United States at the time, Kirishima and other Japanese warships became significantly less active than during the war. On 1 December 1920, she was reassigned to the Third Division of the Second Fleet. Other than a patrol alongside Kongō and Template:Ship off the Chinese coast in August 1921, Kirishima remained in Sasebo.<ref name=cfrecord/> On 10 September 1922, she collided with the destroyer Template:Ship during fleet maneuvers, with both ships sustaining minor damage. Following the Great Kantō earthquake of September 1923, the capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy assisted in rescue work until the end of the month. She was placed in reserve in December 1923.<ref name=cfrecord/>

With the conclusion of World War I and the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the size of the Imperial Japanese Navy was significantly lessened, with a ratio of 5:5:3 required between the capital ships of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan.<ref name=jackson-00-67>Jackson (2000), p. 67</ref> The treaty also banned Japan from building any new capital ships until 1931, with no capital ship permitted to exceed 35,000 tons.<ref name=jackson-00-68>Jackson (2000), p. 68</ref> Provided that new additions did not exceed 3,000 tons, existing capital ships were permitted to be upgraded with improved torpedo bulges and deck armor.<ref name=jackson-00-68/> By the time the Washington Treaty had been fully implemented in Japan, only three classes of World War I-era capital ships—the Template:Sclass and Template:Sclass battleships, and the Kongō-class battlecruisers—remained active.<ref>Jackson (2000), p. 69</ref>

1927–1934: Battleship

Kirishima anchored off Beppu following her first reconstruction, October 1932

Stripped of the ability to construct new capital ships, the Imperial Japanese Navy instead opted to significantly upgrade and reconfigure their existing battleships and battlecruisers.<ref>Willmott, p. 45</ref> Kirishima was placed in Third Reserve in December 1926, before beginning her first reconstruction in early 1927. Horizontal armor over the ammunition magazines was strengthened, and she was also fitted with anti-torpedo bulges, as permitted by the Washington Treaty.<ref name=cfrecord/> To upgrade KirishimaTemplate:'s speed, the 36 coal-fired Yarrow boilers were removed and replaced with ten new mixed-firing Kampon boilers.<ref>Whitley, pp. 178, 180</ref> To allow for more equipment to be installed on board, her forward superstructure was reconstructed in the Pagoda mast style, requiring removal of one of her three funnels.<ref name=cfrecord/> The reconstruction of the Kongō-class battlecruisers added an additional 4,000 tons of armor to the ships, directly violating the terms of the Washington Treaty.<ref name=jackson-08-27>Jackson (2008), p. 27</ref> On 16 April 1930, the reconstruction was declared complete.<ref group="N">Sources disagree on the exact dates of the reconstruction. While Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships gives a beginning date of March 1927 and an end date of 31 March 1930, KirishimaTemplate:'s Combined Fleet Tabular Record of Movement states that it was from May 1927 to 16 April 1930.<ref name="Conway's"/><ref name=cfrecord/></ref>

Six days after KirishimaTemplate:'s reconstruction was completed, Japan pledged to scrap several battleships and signed the London Naval Treaty, which placed further bans on capital ship construction until 1937.<ref name=jackson-00-72/> From August to October 1930, she was outfitted with the equipment necessary to equip reconnaissance seaplanes. Kirishima patrolled the coast of China near Shanghai in April 1932, before she was again placed in the Third Reserve.<ref name=cfrecord/>

In September 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria. On 25 February 1933, based on a report by the Lytton Commission, the League of Nations agreed that Japan had violated Chinese sovereignty in its invasion of Manchuria.<ref name=jackson-00-72>Jackson (2000), p. 72</ref> Refusing to accept the organization's judgment, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations the same day.<ref name=jackson-00-72/> Immediately following, Japan also withdrew from the Washington and London Naval Treaties, thus removing all restrictions on the number and size of her capital ships.<ref name="willmott35"/>

1934–1941: Fast battleship

Kirishima and Kongō anchored off Qingdao, 26 March 1938

On 18 November 1934, Kirishima was drydocked in Sasebo Naval Arsenal in preparation for her second reconstruction, which would enable her to function alongside Japan's growing fleet of fast carriers. Her stern was lengthened by Template:Convert, while her superstructure was rebuilt to allow for new fire-control mechanisms.<ref name=cfrecord/> Her boilers were removed and replaced with eight new oil-fired Kampon Boilers, and she received newer geared turbines.<ref name=jackson-08-27/> The elevation of her main and secondary battery was increased, and she was equipped with two Nakajima E8N "Dave" and Kawanishi E7K "Alf" reconnaissance floatplanes. To this end, aircraft catapults and launch-rails were also refitted.<ref name=cfrecord/> Her older 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with eight 5-inch dual-purpose guns. She was also outfitted with twenty Type 96 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin turrets, while two of her 6-inch guns and her remaining torpedo tubes were removed.<ref name=stille17>Stille, p. 17</ref>

Kirishima, the aircraft carrier Akagi, and destroyer division 8 anchored in Sukumo Bay, April 1939

KirishimaTemplate:'s armor was also extensively upgraded. Her main belt was strengthened to a uniform thickness of 8 inches (as opposed to varying thicknesses of 6–8 inches before the upgrades), while diagonal bulkheads of a depth ranging from Template:Convert reinforced the main armored belt.<ref name=mccurtie185>McCurtie, p. 185</ref> The turret armor was strengthened to Template:Convert, while Template:Convert were added to portions of the deck armor.<ref name=mccurtie185/> The armor around her ammunition magazines was also strengthened over the course of the refit. The reconstruction was declared complete on 8 June 1936. Capable of speeds of up to Template:Convert, Kirishima was reclassified as a fast battleship.<ref name=willmott35>Willmott, p. 35</ref>

In August 1936, Kirishima departed Sasebo alongside Template:Ship to patrol the Chinese coast off Amoy. From March 1937 to April 1939, she was frequently deployed as a support vessel and troop transport during the Second Sino-Japanese War. In November 1938, Kirishima was designated the command vessel of the Third Battleship Division, and was under the command of Rear Admiral Chuichi Nagumo. In November 1939, she was placed in reserve and fitted with additional armor on the front faces of her turrets and barbettes.<ref name=cfrecord/>

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Kirishima, Kaga, and Hiei (L to R) anchored in Hitokappu Bay, 23 November 1941

Start of Pacific war

File:Akagi Hiei Kirishima Pearl Harbor.jpg
Kirishima, Hiei, and Akagi (R to L) underway shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, 6 December 1941

On 11 November 1941, after a series of transfers between Japanese naval bases, Kirishima was outfitted in preparation for coming hostilities and assigned—alongside her sister ships—to the Third Battleship Division. On the 17th, Kirishima along with Hiei departed Sasebo naval base for the destination of Hitokappu Bay, Kurile Islands, where she arrived on the 22nd. Kirishima and Hiei gathered in port with the six Japanese aircraft carriers of the First Air Fleet Striking Force, also known as the Kido Butai, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, Template:Ship, and Template:Ship, alongside two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and nine destroyers, with a secret mission known only to the command staff of each ship. It was only after Kirishima and the rest of the fleet departed Hitokappu Bay on 26 November that her crew learned of the mission's intent, a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that would begin the Pacific war and result in Japan and American entering WW2. Kirishima would escort the aircraft carriers to their destination until the 7th of December saw the attack commence and air attacks ravage the naval base, before Kirshima escorted the carriers back to Japan where she arrived at Kure on 24 December. Three days later Kirishima was drydocked for maintenance and was undocked another three days later and departed Kure for Hashirajima.<ref>Willmott, p. 50-51</ref>

1942

On 8 January 1942, Kirishima departed Japan for Truk Naval Base in the Caroline Islands alongside the Carrier Strike Force. She provided escort during the invasion of New Britain on 17 January before returning to Truk. She sortied again in response to American carrier raids in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands at the start of February, before spending the next three weeks transiting between naval ports with her sister ships. On 21 February, Kirishima arrived at Staring Bay along with Kongō and Hiei to join the Kido Butai and their escorts for operations off Java in the Dutch East Indies, departing 4 days later.<ref name="cfrecord" />

Sinking of USS Edsall

File:USS Edsall (DD-219) under fire and sinking on 1 March 1942 (80-G-178997).jpg
The sinking USS Edsall being lifted out of the water by a salvo from Kirishima, photographed from Tone

On 1 March 1942, one of KirishimaTemplate:'s floatplanes attempted to bomb an enemy merchant vessel. However, South of Java, the Japanese fleet was surprised by the appearance of the destroyer Template:USS which was attempting to escape the Dutch East Indies for safety in Australia. Initially mistaking Edsall for an Omaha class light cruiser, Kirishima joined Hiei and the heavy cruisers Tone and Chikuma in chasing the destroyer, but did not join Hiei and Chikuma in opening fire at 27,900 yards, which achieved several straddles but not a direct hit. However, dive bombers from Akagi, Sōryū, and Hiryū disabled Edsall and set her on fire with one hit and one near miss. Now correctly identifying Edsall as a destroyer, Kirishima finally opened fire with both her main and secondary battery at 19,400 yards shortly joined by Hiei, then Tone and Chikuma, and 13 minutes later Edsall succumbed to a hail of 14-inch (356 mm), 8-inch (203 mm), and 6-inch (152 mm) gunfire and sank with the loss of 196 men. During a 90 second film reel taken by Tone of Edsall sinking, a 14-inch (356 mm) shell hit from Kirishima lifted the destroyer out of the water.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref group="N">USS Edsall (DD-219) under fire and sinking, March 1, 1942 -Footage / 砲撃を受け沈没するUSSエドサル 1942年3月1日 A propaganda video showing 60 seconds of the footage of Edsall sinking. The famous still shot is not seen in this cut down version of the reel. </ref>

On 5 March, Kirishima and Hiei were still patrolling off Java when they stumbled upon the Dutch patrol ship Hoofdinspecteur Zeeman, which had already been damaged by an air raid the previous day. Kirishima and Hiei opened fire and sank the patrol ship with ease. After another week of escorting the carrier fleet, during which the Dutch East Indies surrendered to Japan, Kirishima returned to Staring Bay on the 11th.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref>Womack (2015) p 63</ref>

In April 1942, Kirishima and the Third Battleship division joined five fleet carriers and two cruisers in an attack against British naval bases in the Indian Ocean. On 5 April—Easter Sunday—the Japanese fleet attacked the harbor at Colombo in Ceylon, sinking the destroyer HMS Tenedos and the armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector, while seaplanes from the Template:Ship spotted the heavy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire, both of which were later sunk by aerial attack.<ref>Jackson (2000), p. 119</ref> A floatplane from Kirishima also strafed a withdrawing oil tanker.<ref name=cfrecord/> On 8 April, Japanese carrier aircraft attacked the Royal Navy base at Trincomalee in Ceylon, only to find that all of Admiral James Somerville's remaining warships had withdrawn the previous night; they still sank the cargo ship SS Sagaing. Returning from the attack, a floatplane from KirishimaTemplate:'s sister ship Haruna spotted the aircraft carrier Template:HMS and escorting destroyer Template:HMAS, which were quickly sunk by a massive aerial attack.<ref>Jackson (2000), p. 120</ref><ref>'Scrap Iron Flotilla' (1976), p. 148-149</ref> Upon returning to Japan, Kirishima was drydocked and her secondary armament configuration modified with the addition of 25 mm antiaircraft guns in twin mounts.<ref name=cfrecord/><ref>Stille, p. 18</ref>

Battle of Midway

On 27 May 1942, Kirishima departed Hashirajima to escort Admiral Nagumo's Carrier Strike Force for what became the Battle of Midway, providing escort for Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū alongside Haruna. The battle began on the 4th of June as the carriers attacked Midway Island, and at 7:10, Kirishima was operating abreast of Akagi when the group was attacked by US air-force B-26 bombers. Kirishima would assist Japanese fighters with her AA complement - including firing type 3 AA shells from her 14-inch (356 mm) guns - and helped to shoot down two bombers, one of which attempted to crash into Akagi's bridge before missing.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name="stille19">Stille, p. 19</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At 8:25, Kirishima continued to escort the carriers, sailing alongside the light cruiser Nagara and the destroyers Nowaki and Arashi, when the four ships were spotted by the periscope of the submarine USS Nautilus. At 4,500 yards, Nautilus fired two torpedoes from her bow, and her target was Kirishima, but luckily for the battleship one torpedo malfunctioned, while the other torpedo came close to Kirishima but missed. Kirishima then noticed the periscope of Nautilus and rained fire with her starboard secondary battery, which forced Nautilus to dive but failed to inflict noticeable damage. Nautilus was then depth charged first by Nagara, before Arashi closed in to finish the job as Kirishima, Nagara, and Nowaki sailed away at 25 knots to keep up pace with the aircraft carriers. After failing to sink Nautilus, Arashi would be trailed back to the main fleet as she sailed to rejoin the carriers by two squadrons of aircraft from USS Enterprise, and waves of carrier aircraft would soon attack the formation. The initial attacks by USS Hornet were thwarted, but between 10:22 to 10:30, dive bombers from Enterprise fatally wounded Akagi and Kaga, while dive bombers from USS Yorktown mangled Sōryū, leading to the scuttling of all three carriers after the battle.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Over the rest of the day, Hiryū would cripple the Yorktown with three bomb and two torpedo hits, enabling the aircraft carrier to be finished off, and the destroyer USS Hammann sunk, by a spread of torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-168, but in turn waves of aircraft from Enterprise would succeed in bombing Hiryū beyond saving, and result in the last Japanese aircraft carrier being scuttled like her fallen companions. When attempts to save Hiryū were being undertaken, Kirishima was ordered to sail to her location and tow the crippled aircraft carrier. When arriving to Hiryū's position, the burning carrier illuminated Kirishima and put her at threat of submarine attacks, which contributed to the decision to finally abandon Hiryū. Kirishima would instead only take on many of Hiryū's over 900 survivors from destroyer division 10's Yūgumo, Makigumo, and Kazagumo. With the battle concluded in a tide changing American victory, sinking four of Japan's six experienced aircraft carriers and the heavy cruiser Mikuma, Kirishima returned to Hashirajima on 14 June.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name=":1" />

Guadalcanal Campaign

Kirishima sailed to Kure on 9 July where she received AA upgrades and new floatplanes, before escorting Shōkaku and Zuikaku to Truk, but on the 20th the route was cancelled as the fleet refueled from oilers before sailing to Guadalcanal to counterattack American carrier operations. This would culminate in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August in which Shōkaku and Zuikaku dueled the aircraft carriers Enterprise and USS Saratoga. They crippled Enterprise with three bomb hits but in turn Saratoga aircraft sank the detached light carrier Ryūjō while land-based aircraft sank the destroyer Mutsuki and the troop transport Kinryu Maru. The main fleet came under light attacks first by a scout plane from Enterprise then by B-17 bombers, lightly damaging Shōkaku with near misses but achieving nothing else, with Kirishima seeing little action during the engagement.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name="stille19" /> A four-day journey saw Kirishima travel with the fleet to Truk, where Kirishima remained on guard duty outside the naval base for another two days until being allowed to retire, refueling from the fleet oiler Tatekawa Maru. From 10-23 September, Kirishima joined Kongō and Haruna to escort the fleet on patrol duty in the Solomon Islands, then underwent maintenance and guard duty.<ref name="cfrecord" />

On 11 October, Kirishima departed Truk as part of the escort for the aircraft carriers Shōkaku, Zuikaku, and Junyō and the light carrier Zuihō on another attempt to lure American carriers into battle and sink them. From the 12th to 15th, Kirishima and Hiei took a detour as distant cover for Kongō and Haruna's bombardment of Henderson field, then the bombardment conducted by the heavy cruisers Chōkai and Kinugasa, before returning to the main fleet; during their absence planes from Zuikaku sank the destroyer USS Meredith. On the 25th, a Catalina flying boat spotted the Japanese fleet, and Kirishima's floatplane badly damaged the American aircraft and chased it off, and later that day a flight of six B-17s attacked Kirishima but failed to inflict damage. The next day saw the aircraft carriers Enterprise and Hornet face the Japanese ships, badly damaging the Shōkaku and the heavy cruiser Chikuma with bomb hits but failing to score any sinkings as Kirishima let loose with her AA defense against the American planes. Kirishima was attacked by three SDB dive bombers but not hit. In turn, Japanese aircraft left Hornet bordering on the line of sinking - and finished off 12 hours later by the destroyers Akigumo and Makigumo - and sank the destroyer USS Porter, alongside badly damaging several other American ships, ending the battle in a Japanese victory as Kirishima returned to Truk on 30 October.<ref name="cfrecord" />

Main Article: Naval battle of Guadalcanal

On 9 November 1942, Kirishima departed Truk alongside Hiei and eleven destroyers in preparation for a second bombardment mission on Henderson Field, a former Japanese air base which had been captured by the Americans and used against Japanese shipping to great effect. The previous bombardment by Kongō and Haruna is considered the most successful Japanese battleship action of the war but was not enough to capture the airfield just yet, so Kirishima and Hiei were to enact the same plan yet again. They would sail with the light cruiser Nagara and 11 destroyers as escorts. They sailed smoothly for the first days of their journey, but rain squalls broke up the destroyer formation and left them operating in small clusters. However, by 1:25 on the 13th, signs of enemy ships began to appear. As it turned out, the force was spotted by US Navy reconnaissance aircraft several days in advance. The US deployed a force of 2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers and 8 destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan to meet the Japanese force in Ironbottom Sound, and at the exact moment the Japanese spotted the American ships, the light cruiser USS Helena located the Japanese ships on radar at 27,000 yards. Over the next 25 minutes, both fleets closed to point blank range. At 1:50, Hiei and the destroyer Akatsuki ignited their searchlights and illuminated the light cruiser USS Atlanta. American ships then sank Akatsuki with a hail of gunfire while Hiei bombarded Atlanta with her 14-inch (356 mm) guns before the cruiser was torpedoed by the destroyer Ikazuchi and sank hours later, opening up the first naval battle of Guadalcanal. However, Kirishima and Hiei were loaded with type 3 AA shells in their main guns, which carried limited effectiveness in damaging enemy ships; handicapping them for the duration of the battle.<ref>Hammel, pp. 99–107</ref><ref name=":2">Hara (1961) Chapter 20</ref><ref>Hornfischer (2011), Chapter 29</ref>

Just before 2:00, Kirishima and Hiei trained their guns on the allied flagship, the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, and entered a gunnery duel at 2,500 yards. Kirishima was only hit by one 8-inch (203 mm) shell as the cruiser focused most of her fire on Hiei, but they crippled San Francisco with at least twelve 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits, alongside nearly 40 5-inch (127 mm) and 6-inch (152 mm) shell hits from their secondary batteries and escorting destroyers. The damage destroyed or disabled all of her guns besides 5-inch (127 mm) mount number 8, wrecked her steering and engine control, destroyed all communication equipment, set San Francisco ablaze, and deformed the ship so badly she was not even recognizable as an enemy cruiser to the crew of the destroyer Amatsukaze until her searchlights were ignited. A 14-inch (356 mm) hit to the navigation bridge in particular succeeded in killing Admiral Callaghan, Captain Cassin Young, and most of the ship's command staff, with 86 sailors killed in total. San Francisco limped away from the battle while still being pestered by gunfire from the destroyer Amatsukaze as Kirishima ceased fire. Had Kirishima and Hiei been loaded with proper anti-shipping rounds for their main guns instead of type 3 shells, they probably would have sank San Francisco. Instead, the mangled San Francisco was out of commission until February of 1943 when she resumed service.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":3">Stille, pp. 19–20</ref><ref>Morison, p. 247</ref><ref>Hornfischer (2011) Chapter 30</ref>

The Helena soon came to San Francisco's defense, which resulted in Kirishima turning her guns on her. Kirishima hit the light cruiser with five 14-inch (356 mm) shells that caused negligible damage and killed one sailor. Just after 2:00, Kirishima has been credited with a pair of 14-inch (356 mm) shell hits to the destroyer USS Laffey, although Hiei is generally credited for these hits. One hit the bridge and the other hit the amidships superstructure, inflicting minimal damage as Laffey was shortly torpedoed by the destroyer Yukikaze and sunk. Kirishima then more verifiably attacked the destroyer USS Aaron Ward and landed three 14-inch (356 mm) shells, two 6-inch (152 mm) shells, and four 5-inch (127 mm) shells to Aaron Ward above the waterline that destroyed her gunnery director, disabled steering control, and caused her to lose speed until going dead in the water at 2:35, killing 15 men and wounding 57.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Hornfishcher (2011) Chapter 31</ref><ref name=":4">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

However, during the gunfight with San Francisco Hiei was hit by seventeen 8-inch (203 mm) shells, two of which hit and disabled her steering gear and crippled the battleship. Kirishima and escorting destroyers would attempt to assist the crippled Hiei - Kirishima in particular attempting to take her sister ship under tow - but the fleet by daybreak was attacked by aircraft from Henderson Field and the Enterprise, and Hiei was hit by 8 bombs and 6 torpedoes and fatally wounded, prompting the destroyers Yukikaze and Teruzuki of Abe's force and the nearby destroyers Shigure, Ariake, and Yūgure to evacuate Hiei's crew before leaving her to sink.<ref name="cfrecord" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name="stille20">Stille, p. 20</ref><ref>Schom, p. 417</ref>

Second naval battle of Guadalcanal

File:KondoKirishimaNov14.jpg
Kirishima following the heavy cruisers Takao and Atago in-between the first and second naval battles of Guadalcanal, 14 November 1942

On the evening of 13 November, Kirishima and her escorting destroyers were joined by the Fourth Cruiser Division and prepared to reenter Savo Sound, the Solomon Islands - "Ironbottom Sound" under the command of Admiral Nobutake Kondō. In the early morning of 14 November, three Japanese heavy cruisers bombarded Guadalcanal before withdrawing.<ref name=cfrecord/> Aware of the damage suffered by his ships the previous night, Admiral William Halsey reinforced the American naval units with the new battleships Template:USS and Template:USS.<ref name=stille20/> The two fleets made contact on 14 November at 23:01. They exchanged gunfire and torpedoes, with four American destroyers disabled (three would later sink), while the destroyer Template:Ship was crippled by Washington and South Dakota.<ref>Frank, p. 478</ref>

Kirishima and the heavy cruiser Template:Ship illuminated South Dakota with searchlights, and almost all of Kondō's force opened fire on her.<ref name=schom424/> Kirishima achieved hits on South Dakota with at least three 14-inch salvos,<ref group="N">Lundgren and Okun's analysis of South DakotaTemplate:'s battle damage using modern computational modeling techniques indicate that South Dakota was struck by three different types of 14-inch projectiles, indicating hits from at least three salvos.<ref name= "Lundgren and Okun">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}p.158</ref></ref> which failed to penetrate her armor, and several salvos from her secondary battery, which knocked out the battleship's fire control systems and communications. At 23:40, South Dakota suffered a series of electrical failures, crippling her radar, radios and gun batteries.<ref name=schom424>Schom, p. 424</ref>

Washington, undetected, started firing at midnight on Kirishima from Template:Convert, point-blank range for WashingtonTemplate:'s 16-inch/45-caliber guns, which were easily capable of penetrating KirishimaTemplate:'s armor at their maximum range.<ref name=schom424/><ref>Garzke and Dulin, p. 44</ref> Kirishima was hit by at least twenty primary and seventeen secondary battery projectiles, penetrating the magazines for her forward 14-inch turrets (the magazines were flooded before they detonated), destroying the hydraulic pumps that powered her rear 14-inch turrets and steering, setting her superstructure afire, and causing flooding that led to an 18 degree list to starboard.<ref group="N">The number of actual hits is a matter of conjecture. USS Washington observed eight main battery hits, while the US Strategic Bombing Survey estimated nine major caliber and 40 secondary battery hits based on one postwar interview with a junior officer. KirishimaTemplate:'s damage control officer identified twenty main battery hits and 17 5-inch hits on a schematic drawing, including several underwater hits which would have been invisible to Washington, and examination of the wreck has confirmed the location of three of these underwater hits, lending credence to his account.<ref name=Lundgren>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}pp.5-8</ref></ref> Initially, the light cruiser Template:Ship attempted to tow her out of Ironbottom Sound. When it became clear she could not be salvaged, the surviving Japanese destroyers evacuated Captain Iwabuchi and the remaining survivors.<ref name=cfrecord/> Kirishima capsized and sank at 03:25 on the morning of 15 November 1942, with 212 crewmen lost.<ref name=stille20/>

Wreck

KirishimaTemplate:'s wreck was discovered by Robert Ballard during an expedition to map the wrecks from the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1992. She lies upside down, with her bow section missing from the bridge forward due to a magazine explosion. Her anchor chain is wrapped around her stern section. Ballard's investigation of the wreck unfortunately was aborted due to a technical emergency, resulting in the dive only lasting some nine minutes. This severely limited any information or images obtained. A further expedition to the wreck by Paul Allen's Template:Ship in January 2019 provided detailed information on both the damage received during the battle and confirms the subsequent detonation of her forward main magazines during the sinking process.

Notes

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References

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