Mark Allen M wrote:
All of the above photos appear to be of the same ship. The last photo is less clearly part of the same scene. However, the same islet in the center-left of the photo below the airplane wing appears in the previous photos to the right of the larger island. I have moved the third to last photo, the one with the staples, to its current position because it seems to fit there chronologically. Note that in the photo there appears to be no spray from an explosion, yet the stern of the ship appears low(er) in the water, therefore, the photo was likely taken after the torpedo impact, but before the ship sank. (Duh!) In addition, the disturbance in the water astern and starboard of the ship appears to match that of the previous photos. The after action report posted above (below the original post) lists a Katori class cruiser being sunk on this day; the ship in the photos above appears to be a Katori class as well. (
Can't imagine why I became so good at VIDing that class of ship. ) A quick look at
the Wikipedia article for that class tells me that a unit of that class, the
Kashii, was sunk on 12 January 1945 by aircraft. Specifically, from the
Kashii's article on Wikipedia:
The return voyage with convoy HI-86 consisted of ten ships (4 tankers and 6 cargo ships) and the 101st Escort Group's five frigate CD kaibokans, which departed Singapore on 30 December 1944. On 12 January 1945, shortly after departing Qui Nhon Bay, Indochina, bombers from the U.S Task Group 38.3 USS Essex (CV-9), USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), USS Langley (CVL-27) and the USS San Jacinto(CVL-30) attacked convoy HI-86, sinking most of the convoy's ships. Kashii was hit starboard amidships by a torpedo from a TBF Avenger, then a SB2C Helldiver struck with two bombs aft, setting off the depth charge magazine. The Kashii sank stern first at 13°50′N 109°20′E. Of the Kashii's crew, 621 men went down with the ship and only 19 were rescued.
Note that the ship in the above pictures: sinks stern first & was hit on the starboard side by a torpedo. This matches the description in the Wikipedia article. Q.E.D., the ship in the above series of photos is the
Kashii. I would like to point out how quickly the ship in the photos appears to sink - this would coincide with the low percentage of survivors noted in the Wikipedia article.
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