JUNYOKAN!

3 June 1944:
Around the noon, the "Kon" troop movement is detected by a Seventh Fleet B-24 "Liberator" aircraft. USS RASHER (SS-269) also sights CruDiv 5, making 22 knots towards Karakelong Island, but the submarine is unable to close to attack. At 2025, since surprise is lost, the CinC of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Toyoda Soemu (former CO of HYUGA), cancels Operation "Kon". CruDiv 5 retires towards Davao.

4 June 1944:
The Combined Fleet orders CruDiv 5 and FUSO to Palau as a diversion, but that evening the order is cancelled and Operation "Kon" is resumed.

In Tokyo, the CinC, Combined Fleet, Admiral Toyoda Soemu, (former CO of HYUGA), sends out a signal that activates the "A-Go" plan for the Defense of the Marianas.

Vice Admiral Ugaki Matome's (former CO of HYUGA) Operation "Kon" Task Force's arrives at Batjan with BatDiv 1's YAMATO and MUSASHI, DesRon 2's light cruiser NOSHIRO and destroyers OKINAMI and SHIMAKAZE.

At 2200, Ugaki's force departs Batjan to rendezvous with Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo's Mobile Fleet.

15 June 1944:
E of Mindanao. At 1622, Ugaki's Task Force is sighted by USS SEAHORSE (SS-304).

At 1650, Ugaki's Task Force rejoins Ozawa's Force "A": CarDiv 1's TAIHO, ZUIKAKU and SHOKAKU, Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Kimura Susumu's (former CO of HARUNA) DesRon 10's light cruiser YAHAGI, DesDiv 10's ASAGUMO, URAKAZE, ISOKAZE and TANIKAZE, DesDiv 61's WAKATSUKI, HATSUYUKI, AKIZUKI, SHIMOTSUKI and MINAZUKI and Rear Admiral Joshima Takatsugu's (former CO of SHOKAKU) Force "B": CarDiv 2's JUNYO, HIYO and RYUHO, BatDiv 1's NAGATO, CruDiv 7's MOGAMI, DesDiv 2's AKISHIMO, DesDiv 4's MICHISHIO, NOWAKI and YAMAGUMO, DesDiv 27's SHIGURE, SAMIDARE and SHIRATSUYU.

Forces "A" and "B" deploy 100 miles behind Vice Admiral Kurita's Vanguard Force "C": CarDiv 3, BatDivs 1 and 3, CruDivs 4 and 7 and Rear Admiral (Vice Admiral, posthumously) Hayakawa Mikio's (former CO of NAGATO) DesRon 2's light cruiser NOSHIRO with DesDivs 31 and 32.

At 2000, the Mobile Fleet is sighted by USS CAVALLA (SS-244) in the Philippine Sea.

18 June 1944:
At 2100, Ozawa splits the Mobile Fleet. Forces A and B proceeds southward. The Vanguard Force "C" proceeds due east.

19 June 1944:
The Mobile Fleet's aircraft attack Task Force 58, but suffer overwhelming aircraft losses in the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot". MYOKO retires with the Mobile Fleet to Nakagusuku Bay, Okinawa to refuel its destroyers, then to Hashirajima and Kure.

24 June 1944:
Arrives at Kure for refit. Four triple and 16 single 25-mm AA guns are installed, bringing MYOKO's AA suite to a total of 52 barrels. A Type 13 air-search radar and a Type 22 surface-search radar are also fitted.

30 June 1944:
CruDiv 5 departs Kure.

1 July 1944:
CruDiv 5 arrives at Hashirajima. Embarks IJA troops and supplies and departs for Manila with the destroyers AKISHIMO and HAYASHIMO.

4 July 1944:
Arrives at Manila. Disembarks troops and supplies. 3,027-tons of oil are then transferred by lighters from torpedo-damaged oiler ITSUKUSHIMA MARU to MYOKO and oiler HAYASUI.

8 July 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga, Philippines.

8 July 1944:
Departs Zamboanga for Singapore.

13 July 1944:
Departs Singapore for Lingga.

13 July 1944:
Training at Lingga.

1 October 1944:
Lingga anchorage. MYOKO receives fresh provisions replenishment from stores ship KITAKAMI MARU.

18-20 October 1944:
Departs Lingga (near Singapore) with the fleet for Brunei, Borneo.

22 October 1944: Operation "SHO-1-GO"(Victory) - The Battle of Leyte Gulf:
CruDiv 5's MYOKO and HAGURO sortie in Vice Admiral Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force (Center Force) Force "A"'s First Section: BatDiv 1's YAMATO, MUSASHI and NAGATO, CruDiv 4's ATAGO, TAKAO, MAYA and CHOKAI, DesRon 2's light cruiser NOSHIRO with DesDiv 2's HAYASHIMO, AKISHIMO, KIYOSHIMO, DesDiv 31's KISHINAMI, OKINAMI, ASASHIMO and DesDiv 32's FUJINAMI, NAGANAMI, HAMANAMI and destroyer SHIMAKAZE.

The first section is followed by the second section: BatDiv 3's KONGO, HARUNA, Vice Admiral Shiraishi Kazutaka's (former CO of KIRISHIMA) CruDiv 7's KUMANO, SUZUYA, TONE and CHIKUMA, DesRon 10's light cruiser YAHAGI and DesDiv 4's NOWAKI and DesDiv 17's URAKAZE, YUKIKAZE, HAMAKAZE and ISOKAZE.

23 October 1944: The Battle of the Palawan Passage:
At 0633, Force "A" is attacked by Cdr (later Captain) David McClintock's USS DARTER (SS-227) and LtCdr (later Captain) Bladen Clagett's USS DACE (SS-247). Vice Admiral Kurita's flagship ATAGO and MAYA are sunk and TAKAO damaged. Kurita is picked up by destroyer KISHINAMI, but it is not until 1620, that he transfers to YAMATO and resumes command of Force "A" from Vice Admiral Ugaki.

24 October 1944:- The Battle of the Sibuyan Sea:
Force "A" endures eleven raids by over 250 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft from USS ESSEX (CV-9), LEXINGTON (CV-16), INTREPID (CV-11), CABOT, (CVL-28), FRANKLIN (CV-13), ENTERPRISE (CV-6). Battleship MUSASHI is sunk, YAMATO, NAGATO and cruiser TONE are damaged.

At 1029, MYOKO is hit starboard aft by a Mk.13 torpedo from one of INTREPID's "Avengers". The torpedo puts MYOKO's starboard screws out of action, her speed falls off to 15 knots and she drops out of formation. Vice Admiral Hashimoto transfers to the undamaged HAGURO. MYOKO, escorted by KISHINAMI, makes for Coron.

27 October 1944:
Arrives at Coron. KISHINAMI refuels.

29 October 1944:
Arrives at Brunei.

30 October 1944:
MYOKO departs Brunei with KISHINAMI and a minesweeper.

3 November 1944:
Arrives at Singapore. Begins temporary repairs at the Seletar Naval Base.

5 November 1944:
53 USAAF B-29s from Calcutta, India attack Seletar, but MYOKO is not further damaged in this raid. She continues temporary repairs.

12 December 1944:
Departs Singapore for Japan with destroyer USHIO. The warships fall in with convoy HI-82, consisting of tankers OMUROSAN, OTOWASAN, ARITA and PALEMBANG MARUs, escorted by kaibokans ETOROFU, SHONAN, KUME, CD-9 and CD-19.

13 December 1944:
At 2135 hours, en route to Camranh Bay, MYOKO is hit by one of six torpedoes fired by USS BERGALL (SS-320) at 8-10N, 105-31E. She is set afire and goes dead in the water. Towed on one engine by USHIO towards Singapore.

At 2150, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from MYOKO that reads: "At 2140 was hit by torpedo(es) in position 08-09N, 105-40 E." Additional data say she was with Convoy HI-82 and could proceed back to Singapore at 6 knots.

15 December 1944:
Subchasers KAIKO and TATEBE MARUs and two minesweepers of the 21st Special Base Force arrive. TATEBE MARU commences towing MYOKO.

17 December 1944:
Destroyers KASUMI and HATSUSHIMO are ordered from Indochina to assist in towing MYOKO.

18 December 1944:
Vice Admiral Hashimoto departs Singapore in his flagship HAGURO to tow MYOKO back to port. KASUMI and HATSUSHIMO arrive alongside MYOKO and commence towing operations.

20 December 1944:
KASUMI detaches for Saigon and is replaced by kaibokan CHIBURI.

25 December 1944:
Arrives under tow at Singapore.

January 1945:
Deemed unrepairable at Singapore and impossible to tow to Japan. MYOKO and TAKAO are moored in Seletar harbor as floating AA batteries.

15 January 1945:
Captain Onoda Sutejiro (48)(current CO of TAKAO) is appointed the CO of MYOKO as additional duty.

1 February 1945:
Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. MYOKO is anchored in the Johore Strait.

USAAF Twentieth Air Force on Tinian dispatches 113 B-29s (Mission 33) to hit Seletar. Sixty-seven aircraft bomb the Admiralty IX Floating Drydock (and oiler SHIRETOKO berthed in it). Twenty-one aircraft bomb the West Wall area of the base. MYOKO is near-missed astern by bombs.

Early February 1945:
Seletar. MYOKO is drydocked in the King George VI drydock.

4 March 1945:
On that day, the USN Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne, Australia (FRUMEL) provides the following information:
"A heavy cruiser (MYOKO or HAGURO) will be in dry dock at Singapore from 8th-11th April. From 11th-15th April the other one of these cruisers will go into drydock at Singapore."

22 March 1945:
Singapore. Captain Kagayama Hokao (45)(former CO of the hydrographic survey ship HAKUSA) is appointed the CO.

7 April 1945:
On that day, FRUMEL decodes the following message from Tokyo Personnel Bureau, timed 1100 on 1 April:
"Commander 5th Cruiser Division is to arrange for HAGURO and MYOKO to dock for repairs at Singapore Yard as follows:
MYOKO from 8th to 11 April; HAGURO from 11th to 15th April."

26 July 1945: Operation "Struggle":
The British, after taking Rangoon, Burma move towards Singapore. MYOKO and TAKAO's eight-inch guns pose a threat to any forces that may try to cross the causeway from Johore, Malaya to Singapore Island. The cruisers can also wrek havoc with Allied shipping attacking from seaward.

Lt G. C. Clarabut's submarine HMS STYGIAN departs Brunei and tows Lt Ian Fraser's midget submarine HMS XE-3 towards Singapore. HMS SPARK tows HMS XE-1, under Lt Jack E. Smart who is assigned to attack MYOKO.

31 July 1945:
Fraser's XE-3 penetrates the Strait of Johore and sets charges under TAKAO, but Smart's XE-1, delayed by Japanese patrol craft, fails to reach MYOKO moored about two miles east of TAKAO. Lt Smart drops XE-1's side cargo of explosives alongside TAKAO and departs. Hours later, the charges explode and damage TAKAO, but she does not sink. Lt Smart is awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO), a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and the U.S. Legion of Merit.

21 September 1945:
Surrendered at Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. British forces discover that MYOKO has ammunition for her AA guns, but none aboard for her eight-inch main armament.

(MYOKO in camouflage colors at Seletar, postwar)

25 September 1945:
Seletar. Captain (later Admiral Sir) Manley L. Power, RN, (CO 26th Destroyer Flotilla) and victor over MYOKO's sister IJN HAGURO, inspects MYOKO.

 

LEFT: Captain Power (r) inspects damage to MYOKO's stern caused by a torpedo fired by USS BERGALL (SS-320) on 13 Dec 1944.
RIGHT: Power departs MYOKO shown with IJN subs I-501 and I-502)(ex-German U-181 and U-182) tied up starboardside.

2-8 July 1946:
Towed to the Straits of Malacca. Scuttled off Port Swettenham, Malaya (now Port Klang, Malaysia) at 03-05N, 100-40 E near ex-German submarines I-501 and I-502.

10 August 1946:
Removed from the Navy List.

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Authors' Notes:
[1] Mt. Niitaka, located in Formosa (now Taiwan), was the highest point in the Japanese Empire at the time.

[2] On 21 February 2007, a group of divers operating from MV EMPRESS out of Singapore, including Australian photo-journalist Kevin Denlay, locate the wrecks of British heavy cruiser HMS EXETER and destroyer HMS ENCOUNTER in the Java Sea. The two warships were found at a depth of about 60m/200ft, 90 miles north of Bawean Island, about 350 nautical miles from Sunda Strait. EXETER lays on her starboard. Her faithful consort ENCOUNTER rests about two miles away. About 50 of EXETER's crew were killed, while 650 were made prisoners of war. Of these, 152 died in Japanese PoW camps. About eight of ENCOUNTER's crew were killed and 149 were made PoWs, of whom 38 died in captivity.

On 3 March 1942, destroyer INAZUMA returned to the scene and rescued 151 of POPE's crew from life rafts and a lone whaleboat. Only one of POPE's crewmen was lost in the battle. INAZUMA landed the POWs at Makassar, Celebes. Earlier, on 1 March, INAZUMA had rescued 376 of EXETER and ENCOUNTER's crewmen.

In December 2008, the remains of USS POPE (DD-225) was located in the Java Sea in approx 105 feet/32 meters of water by owner/skipper Vidar Skoglie's dive vessel MV EMPRESS operating out of Singapore. The old destroyer appears to have been found earlier by Indonesian salvage divers and very little remains but a rusted iron skeleton. The wreck has been heavily damaged by the salvors using explosive charges.

Special thanks for assistance in researching the IJN officers mentioned in this TROM go to Mr. Jean-François Masson of Canada and to Hans Mcilveen of the Netherlands for info on FRUMEL intercepts. Thanks go to Randy Stone of the USA and "Adm. Gurita" of the Netherlands and to Brian Seward of Canada.

Thanks also go to the late John Whitman and to Fontessa-san of Japan for info about 1937 troop movement and to John Whitman and Gengoro Toda of Japan for info about stores ship KITAKAMI MARU. Thanks also go to Don Kehn, Jr. of Texas for info in Rev 21.

Photo credit of MYOKO at Seletar goes to the British Imperial War Museum via J-air reader "Steve C".

- Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.

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