Akizuki (destroyer, 1941)

The hull of the ship was laid July 30, 1940 on the stocks of the Marine Arsenal in Maizuru . Launched on July 2, 1941, entered service on June 11, 1942. The first representative of this series of destroyers and its first subtype ("Akizuki").

Akizuki during the B-17 raid

After the entry into operation of the Akizuki, on June 15, 1942, he made his first trip, escorting the aircraft carrier Zuikaku to the Aleutian Islands . From June 29 to July 18, the destroyer escorted the Kamakura Maru transport from Yokosuki to Makassar and vice versa. On August 13-21, he also carried the Naruto Maru transport from Yokosuki to Rabaul with a call to Kavieng .

In the battle of the eastern Solomon Islands on August 24–25, the Akizuki was part of Admiral Nagumo’s aircraft carrier formation, providing it with air defense. The destroyer spent September, based on Truk and going out to sea to patrol along with the rest of the fleet. September 27-29, he moved to Shortland , having successfully survived the attack of B-17 bombers on the way.

On October 3–11, the Akizuki escorted the Nissin and Chitose hydro-aircraft carriers on the way from Shortland to Guadalcanal. On October 7, the ship, along with the Terudzuki of the same type, was credited to the newly formed 61st division of destroyers.

On October 12-16, the Akizuki (flag of Admiral Tamotsu Takama), along with the destroyers of the 2nd and 27th divisions ( Asagumo , Natsugumo , Murakumo, Shirayuki) escorted a group of 6 military transports from Shortland to Guadalcanal and vice versa (at the same time 3 of them were lost). The destroyers were recalled from their next exit to the sea on October 17 to better prepare the operation to help the ground forces on Guadalcanal, which began on October 25. During it, the Akizuki entered the strike part of the compound aimed at capturing the Henderson Field airfield, conducting artillery fire on American ships, and later removing the crew from the sinking light cruiser Yura. During the battle, the ship sustained moderate damage due to the close explosion of an aerial bomb from a B-17 bomber, to correct which it arrived on October 27 in Rabaul and was moored at the Hakkai Maru repair base before the 31st. On November 1-6, the destroyer escorted the Shokaku and Tikuma aircraft carriers from Truk to Japan and got up for repairs in Yokosuka, which lasted until mid-December.

From December 31, 1942 to January 4, 1943, the Akizuki, together with the Hatsukaze and Tokitsukaze , escorted the aircraft carrier Zuikaku from Yokosuki to Truk. On January 6-11, he crossed over to Shortland with a call to Rabaul, and on January 14 made a transport flight to Guadalcanal. On January 19, the destroyer came to the aid of the Myho-Maru torpedo transport, but was itself attacked by the American Nautilus submarine, which hit it with two torpedoes, one of which did not explode ^{[approx. 1]} . As a result, the right engine room was flooded, 14 crew members were killed, and 63 were injured (including Rear Admiral Kimura, the commander of the 10th destroyer division on board). The Akizuki maintained its 20-knot move and returned safely to Shortland. On February 2, he switched to Truk, where until March 11 he stood, moored at the Akashi floating workshop, while the damage was corrected on it.

On March 11, the Akizuki entered the sea, escorting the Tokyo Maru transport. On March 14, on the approach to Saipan , a keel damaged by a torpedo explosion on January 19 burst under the bridge, the destroyer was in critical position due to water, and it was run aground with the help of the gunboat Shoei-Maru. The period from March to June took preparation for the transition to Japan: with the help of the rescue vessel Matsunori-Maru, gun mounts and a bridge were dismantled to maximize lightness of the ship. On June 24, in a tugboat tug of the Sinko-Maru minesweeper, the Akizuki left Saipan, heading for Nagasaki , where he arrived on July 2 and was immediately docked. Repair took four months and was completed only by October 31.

From November 26 to December 1, Akidzuki, along with Shimakaze , Tamanami and Tanikadze , escorted the aircraft carriers Shokaku and Chiyoda from Yokosuki to Truk. On December 9-14, he made a transport flight from Truk to Kwajalein and back. From December 30, 1943 to January 4, 1944, the destroyer escorted the Nosiro and Oedo light cruisers with troops on board from Truk to Kavieng and back, during which he was attacked by American aircraft on January 1 (received no damage), and on January 3 participated in the rescue of the crew of the torpedo transport "Kiyozumi-Maru."

On February 1-3, the Akizuki along with the main forces of the fleet moved from Truk to Palau , and on February 16-21, at the new base in Lingg. Three months later, in connection with the preparations for the general battle for the Philippines, the destroyer, along with the fleet, moved to the base in Tavi Tavi .

During the battle in the Philippine Sea on June 19–20, 1944, the Akizuki, together with the Wakatsuki, Hatsuzuki, and Simotsuki of the same type, was part of Admiral Ozawa’s compound A escort, conducting anti-aircraft fire, and later participating in the crew’s evacuation from heavily damaged Taiho and torpedoing it.

From late June to mid-October, the destroyer was in Japan, leaving only on training trips.

October 20, 1944 "Akizuki" went to sea as part of the Ozawa formation, heading for the site of the new general battle . On the morning of October 25, the compound at Cape Enganyo was attacked by American carrier-based aircraft. Around 09:00 during the attack of the first wave, the Akizuki received a torpedo hit, as a result of which the ammunition of torpedoes and boilers exploded. The entire machine team (78 people) died instantly, the destroyer was de-energized (as a result of which it became impossible to aim and charge the main caliber guns) and began to break into two parts, a huge white column formed of superheated steam above it. In these conditions, the order to leave the ship was immediately given, but not all of the survivors of the explosion were able to escape — the Maki destroyer picked up 148 members of its crew (including captain 1st rank captain Ogat), 4 of whom died during the next American air raid , 1 more was saved by the Americans. In total, 183 people died on the destroyer, 145 survived the battle.

The exact authorship of the hit is currently unknown, it is attributed to one of the Avenger torpedo bombers or the Khalibat submarine.

December 10, 1944 "Akizuki" was removed from the lists of the fleet.

05/02/1942 - 07/26/1943 captain of the 2nd rank (tusa) Yasyuji Koga ( Japanese 古 賀 弥 ​​周 次 );

10/08/1943 - 10/25/1944 captain of the 2nd rank (tusa) ^{[approx. 2]} Tomoe Ogata ( 緒 方 友 兄 ).

• Nevitt, Allyn D. CombinedFleet.com IJN Akizuki : Tabular Record of Movement (neopr.) . Long Lancers . Combinedfleet.com (1998).
• Tully, Anthony P. CombinedFleet.com The Sinking of AKIZUKI - A Sudden but Obscure Fate Unveiled (unspecified) . Combinedfleet.com (2001).
• A.V. Orel. Destroyers of the Akitsuki type. - Moscow: Model designer, 2001. - 32 p. - (Marine collection No. 5 (41) / 2001).