Japanese battleship Hiei
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1911 |
| Laid down: | 4 November 1911 |
| Launched: | 21 November 1912 |
| Commissioned: | 4 August 1914 |
| Fate: | Scuttled at Savo Island on 13 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 36,600 tons |
| Length: | 222 m (728 ft 4 in) |
| Beam: | 31 m (101 ft 8 in) |
| Draught: | 9.7 m (31 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion: | steam turbines, 4 shafts |
| Speed: | 56 km/h (30 kt) |
| Range: | 10,000 nm at 14 kt |
| Complement: | 1,360 |
| Armament: | 8 × 357 mm (14 in) guns, 16 × 152 mm (6 in) guns, 8 × 127 mm (5 in) DP, up to 118 × 25 mm AA |
Hiei (比叡), named for Mount Hiei north-east of Kyoto, was a Kongō-class battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down by the Yokosuka Kaigun Kosho on 4 November 1911, launched on 21 November 1912 and completed on 4 August 1914. Until 1931 she was classified as battlecruiser.
Following World War I, her boilers were upgraded for speed and bulges were added for better defense against torpedoes. Kongō and Hiei were relatively fast for battleships; because they were able to keep up with the carrier battle groups, both ships often accompanied them. However, their old design meant they were not effective against aircraft and both ships lacked air-search radar.
Between 1932 and 1940 Hiei was turned to a gunnery training ship, according to the London Naval Treaty. She was partly disarmed and disarmoured (the aft turret and side armour belt were dismounted), and her speed decreased. After the modernization, in 1940 her armour and armament returned to place and Hiei underwent the same modernization program, as the rest of Kongō class, becoming a battleship again. Hiei was unique from her sisters because during pre-war she had been the chosen favorite for Emperor Hirohito (Showa) to view naval reviews of Combined Fleet. She also carried a more modern superstructure than her sisters' pagoda masts, having been selected to test out the new tower-mast design that would be a distinctive feature of the new Yamato class battleships.[1]
Hiei steamed with the Carrier Striking Force during the attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, helped sink the USS Edsall (DD-219) March 1, 1942, took part in the Indian Ocean raid against the British Eastern Fleet with the Carrier Striking Force in April 1942, screened the invasion fleet during the Battle of Midway in June 1942, participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August 1942, and the Battle of Santa Cruz Island in October 1942.
During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 13 November 1942, the Hiei was lost. Hiei, commanded by Captain Nishida Masao and carrying the flag of Vice Admiral Abe Hiroaki, suffered thirty 203 mm (8 in) shell hits from the cruisers USS San Francisco and Portland, and many 127 mm (5 in) shell hits from anti-aircraft cruisers and destroyers. Her fire control systems for her main and secondary batteries were knocked out, her superstructure set afire and 188 of her crew killed. Most important was damage to her steering gear, making withdrawal that night impossible.
After daybreak she was attacked repeatedly by Marine Grumman Avenger TBF torpedo planes from Henderson Field, TBFs and Douglas Dauntless SBD dive-bombers from the USS Enterprise and B-17 Flying Fortress bombers of the United States Army Air Forces 11th Heavy Bombardment Group from Espiritu Santo and suffered 70 sorties as she attempted to withdraw, and was further damaged with bombs and torpedoes, so the order was given to abandon ship. There is some debate whether her sinking was a result of the air attacks or scuttling by her crew, as no American saw her go under.[2]
[edit] Commanding Officers
Chief Equipping Officer - Capt. Shichitaro Takagi - 20 September 1913 - 4 August 1914
Capt. Shichitaro Takagi - 4 August 1914 - 13 December 1915
Capt. Hiroharu Kato - 13 December 1915 - 1 December 1916
Capt. Terufusa Hori - 1 December 1916 - 16 July 1917
Capt. Masaki Nakamura - 16 July 1917 - 1 December 1917
Capt. Shozo Kuwashima - 1 December 1917 - 1 December 1918
Capt. Yasuhira Yoshikawa - 1 December 1918 - 1 December 1919
Capt. Kumazo Shirane - 1 December 1919 - 12 August 1920
Capt. Kikuo Matsumura - 12 August 1920 - 20 November 1920
Capt. Tanetsugu Sosa - 20 November 1920 - 10 November 1922
Capt. Joji Yokochi - 10 November 1922 - 1 December 1923
Capt. Susumu Nakajima - 1 December 1923 - 1 December 1924
Capt. Teijiro Murase - 1 December 1924 - 16 June 1925
Capt. Meijiro Tachi - 16 June 1925 - 20 August 1926
Capt. Ikuo Okamoto - 20 August 1926 - 1 December 1927
Capt. Hiroshi Ono - 1 December 1927 - 10 December 1928
Capt. Shigetaro Shimada - 10 December 1928 - 30 November 1929
Capt. Jiro Ishii - 30 November 1929 - 1 December 1930
Capt. Senzo Wada - 1 December 1930 - 10 May 1932
Capt. Kunji Tange - 10 May 1932 - 1 December 1932
Capt. Masaichi Maeda - 1 December 1932 - 23 February 1933
Capt. Kenichi Sata - 23 February 1933 - 15 November 1933
Capt. Shigeyoshi Inoue - 15 November 1933 - 1 August 1935
Capt. Denshichi Okawachi - 1 August 1935 - 1 April 1936
Capt. Ayao Inagaki - 1 April 1936 - 1 December 1936
Capt. Kohei Ochi - 1 December 1936 - 1 December 1937
Capt. Muneshige Aoyagi - 1 December 1937 - 15 November 1938
Capt. Kumeichi Hiraoka - 15 November 1938 - 15 November 1939
Capt. Koso Abe - 15 November 1939 - 15 October 1940
Capt. Kaoru Arima - 15 October 1940 - 10 September 1941
Capt. Masao Nishida - 10 September 1941 - 13 November 1942
[edit] External links
- Maritimequest.com: Hiei photo gallery
- Tabular record of movement from combinedfleet.com
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