Japanese destroyer Murasame (1935)

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Murasame.

Murasame (村雨, "Passing Shower") was the third of ten Shiratsuyu-class destroyers, and was built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the "Circle One" Program (Maru Ichi Keikaku). This vessel should not be confused with the earlier Russo-Japanese War-period Harusame-class torpedo boat destroyer with the same name.

Murasame at Yangtze River, China, 1937
History
Empire of Japan
Name	Murasame
Ordered	1931 FY
Builder	Fujinagata Shipyards
Laid down	1 February 1934
Launched	20 June 1935
Commissioned	7 January 1937
Stricken	1 April 1943
Fate	Sunk by USS Waller, 5 March 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	Shiratsuyu-class destroyer
Displacement	1,685 long tons (1,712 t)
Length	103.5 m (340 ft) pp 107.5 m (352 ft 8 in) waterline
Beam	9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Draft	3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft Kampon geared turbines 3 boilers, 42,000 hp (31,000 kW)
Speed	34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 18 kn (33 km/h)
Complement	226
Armament	5 × 12.7 cm/50 Type 3 naval guns (2×2, 1×1) 2 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns 8 × 24 in (610 mm) torpedo tubes 16 × Depth charges
Service record
Operations:	Battle of Tarakan (1942) Battle of the Java Sea (1942) Battle of Midway (1942) Battle of the Eastern Solomons (1942) Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands (1942) First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (1942) Battle of Blackett Strait (1943)

History

The Shiratsuyu-class destroyers were modified versions of the Hatsuharu class, and were designed to accompany the Japanese main striking force and to conduct both day and night torpedo attacks against the United States Navy as it advanced across the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese naval strategic projections. Despite being one of the most powerful classes of destroyers in the world at the time of their completion, none survived the Pacific War. Murasame, built at the Fujinagata Shipyards in Osaka was laid down on 1 February 1934, launched on 20 June 1935 and commissioned on 7 January 1937.

Operational history

At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Murasame was assigned to Destroyer Division 2 of Destroyer Squadron 4 of the IJN 2nd Fleet, and had sortied from Mako Guard District as part of the "Operation M" (the invasion of the Philippines, covering landings at Vigan and Lingayen Gulf). On 26 December, she collided with minesweeper W-20 off of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, suffering minor damage.

From January 1942, Murasame participated in operations in the Netherlands East Indies, including the invasions of Tarakan Island, Balikpapan and eastern Java. During the Battle of the Java Sea, Murasame engaged a group of Allied cruisers and destroyers with her torpedo battery, but missed all of them. However, in the aftermath of the battle, Murasame was sweeping for enemy ships when she, along with other ships noticed the hospital ship SS Op Ten Noort rescuing survivors from several sunken allied warships. Murasame's guns helped to stop Op Ten Noort in her tracks, and she then escorted Op Ten Noort to Singapore, where she was converted into a Japanese prisoner of war ship.

In March and April, Murasame was based at Subic Bay, from which she assisted in the invasion of Cebu and the blockade of Manila Bay in the Philippines. In May, she returned to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for repairs.

During the Battle of Midway on 4–6 June, Murasame was part of the aborted Midway Occupation Force under Admiral Nobutake Kondō. In late July, she transferred to Mergui via Singapore to join the Indian Ocean raiding force, but the operation was cancelled due to developments at Guadalcanal, and she returned to Truk on 21 August. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August, she was part of the escort for the battleship Mutsu, and during most of September, she was an escort for the seaplane tender Kunikawa Maru, exploring the Solomon Islands and Santa Cruz Islands for potential base locations.

In early October, Murasame participated in two "Tokyo Express" high speed transport runs to Guadalcanal or Lae, suffering from minor damage on 5 October in an air attack near Shortland Islands, which necessitated a return to Truk for repairs. In late October through the end of November, Murasame made an additional nine "Tokyo Express" runs. On 25 October 1942 she assisted in rescuing the crew of the cruiser Japanese cruiser Yura, heavily damaged by aircraft attacks, and the next day took part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as an aircraft carrier escort under Admiral Takeo Kurita.

Naval battle of Guadalcanal

Main Article: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

On November 9, Murasame departed alongside a large Japanese task force. With a goal of conducting another major bombardment on Henderson Field, a former Japanese air base which was captured by US forces and being used against Japanese shipping to great effect, the main ships of the force consisted of the battleships Hiei and Kirishima, each armed with eight 356 mm (14 in) guns and a variety of smaller guns. Hiei served as Admiral Abe's flagship. Escorting the force came the light cruiser Nagara, and a total of eleven destroyers, including Murasame. While the destroyers initially operated in a standard formation, heavy rain squalls had managed to break up the formation and leave the destroyers operating in small clusters, which left Murasame in the back left of the formation alongside the destroyers Asagumo and Samidare. This proved crucial in the night of the early morning of the 13th, when the force was attacked by a US task force of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and eight destroyers. Murasame was in the back of the formation and was required to close the range to accurately engage the enemy, missing out on the initial action of the battle.

At 2:04, Murasame, along with Asagumo and Samidare finally joined the battle, and noticed the destroyer Amatsukaze under fire from the light cruiser USS Helena, prompting the group to engage Helena and distract her, allowing Amatsukaze to hide behind a smokescreen and withdraw. Opening fire, they damaged Helena with five 12.7 cm (5 in) shell hits. Firing her torpedoes, Murasame claimed to torpedo and sink Helena, who would in fact survive the battle with relatively little damage. In the process, Murasame was hit by a 6-inch (152 mm) shell that knocked out her forward boiler. After allegedly sinking Helena, she illuminated another opponent with star shells, the destroyer USS Monssen. Murasame, Asagumo, and Samidare opened fire and blasted Monssen at point blank range to the port side, while Hiei flanked Monssen to starboard. Within just a few minutes, Monssen took at least 39 naval shell hits, including three 356 mm (14 in) shells from Hiei, and sank 20 minutes later.

Due to the shell hit to her boiler, Murasame was forced to withdraw from the battle after the main surface action was over, forced to cruise at 21 knots, and was docked in Truk for repairs by the 18th. These repairs were completed by November 29, and Murasame took part in patrol duty around Truk for the rest of the year.

In February 1943, Murasame returned to Truk escorting the aircraft carrier Chūyō, and continued on to Rabaul to resume transport operations to Kolombangara. On the night of 4 March, Murasame and the destroyer Minegumo are believed to have sunk the submarine USS Grampus. However, that same night they were detected by radar-equipped American ships in Kula Gulf off Vila, after delivering supplies to the Japanese base there. In a short action, known as the Battle of Blackett Strait, both Japanese ships were sunk; Murasame broke in two from an "extremely violent" explosion after being hit by gunfire and torpedoes from the destroyer USS Waller at position 08°03′S 157°13′E. Of her crew, 128 were killed, but 53 survivors, including her captain, Lieutenant Commander Tanegashima, and squadron commander Captain Masao Tachibana later reached Japanese territory. She was removed from the navy list on 1 April 1943.

A memorial monument to the crew of Murasame exists at Kannonzaki, in Yokosuka, Japan.

See also

• Murasame-class destroyer (1958)
• Murasame-class destroyer (1994)

Readings

• D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
• Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
• Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
• Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
• Hara, Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York & Toronto: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-27894-1.
• Lengerer, Hans (2007). The Japanese Destroyers of the Hatsuharu Class. Warship 2007. London: Conway. pp. 91–110. ISBN 978-1-84486-041-8.OCLC 77257764
• Kilpatrick, C. W. (1987). Naval Night Battles of the Solomons. Exposition Press. ISBN 0-682-40333-4.
• Nelson, Andrew N. (1967). Japanese–English Character Dictionary. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-0408-7.
• Watts, Anthony J (1967). Japanese Warships of World War II. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-3850-9189-3.
• Whitley, M J (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
• Hara, Tameichi (1961). Japanese Destroyer Captain. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-02522-9.

External links

• Nevitt, Allyn D. (1997). "IJN Murasame: Tabular Record of Movement". Long Lancers. Combinedfleet.com.
• Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Shiratsuyu class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2010-01-24.
• Naval Historical Center entry on the Murasame