Japanese destroyer Arashi
Encyclopedia
Arashi was a of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
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The Arashi ship played a vital role in World War II by inadvertently guiding US attack planes to the Japanese carrier fleet at the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
. It had been separated from the fleet during an attack on the USS Nautilus (SS-168)
USS Nautilus (SS-168)
USS Nautilus , a and one of the "V-boats", was the third ship of the United States Navy to officially bear that popular ship's name. She was originally named and designated V-6 , but was redesignated and given hull classification symbol SC-2 on 11 February 1925...
and was steaming to join them. All four IJN carriers were sunk by Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers of the carriers , and , giving the US a decisive victory and therefore the advance in the Pacific War.
Early Operations
On 3 March 1942 Arashi assisted in sinking of the gunboat .Midway
The Japanese Destroyer Arashi is most famous for its involvement in the Battle of Midway in which it stalked . The Destroyer was alerted to the presence of Nautilus when a Japanese Zero Fighter dived and fired machine guns on the Nautilus when it attempted to rise to periscope depth. Arashi spotted the encounter and began to drop depth charges. The Japanese Task force changed course but the Arashi continued to stalk Nautilus. Later in the battle, two squadrons of dive bombers from Enterprise searching for the Japanese Task Force spotted this destroyer making great speed to the north. Having kept Nautilus down long enough that she no longer was a threat, the captain of the Arashi had moved off and was attempting to regain the Japanese carrier force. The ships speed and direction acted as a direction arrow, guiding the squadrons to the Japanese carriers. Meanwhile, Japanese fighter aircraft protecting the carriers had been pulled away as they all attempted to engage an incoming torpedo attack from Hornets VT-6 torpedo squad. At the moment of decision, the Japanese carriers were essentially without air cover. This made for an uncontested approach for the American dive bombers. The Enterprise dive bombers happened to arrive over the Japanese carriers KagaJapanese aircraft carrier Kaga
Kaga was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , named after the former Kaga Province in present-day Ishikawa Prefecture...
and Akagi
Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
Akagi was an aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy , originally begun as an . She was converted while still under construction to an aircraft carrier under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty...
unimpeded, scoring multiple hits on Kaga and a single hit on Akagi that doomed both ships.
During the battle the Arashi is known to have picked up one of the downed airman from the Yorktown. He was Ens. Wesley Osmus, one of the TBD pilots of VT-3. Osmus was flying the last plane in VT-3s formation, and thus was first to be attacked and destroyed as they made their approach. Osmus was picked up later on 4 June and buried 5 June. He was made to provide the Japanese with a general description of the make-up of the force they had been fighting against, the only clear description the Japanese obtained. He was said to have died the day following his recovery and was buried at sea. In truth he had been taken to the stern of Arashi and struck in the back of the neck with a fire axe. He clung briefly to the railing, and then was pushed overboard into the sea. Among other facts learned, the Japanese report indicated the pilot had been from Chicago.
After the war when the fate of Ens. Osmus was learned, an attempt was made to find the captain of the Arashi and try him for war crimes, but it was learned that he had died later in the conflict, and the matter was set aside.
At the Solomon Islands
The Arashi was part of a Japanese convoy that sailed through the Blackett Strait in 1943. It included fellow destroyers Amagiri, Hagikaze, and Shigure. The convoy's lead ship, Amagiri, is famous for being the vessel to ram and sink the American patrol craft PT-109Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109
PT-109 was a PT boat last commanded by Lieutenant, junior grade John F. Kennedy in the Pacific Theater during World War II...
, the PT boat commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, who would survive the war and go on to become the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
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On 7 August 1943, Arashi was again attempting to land reinforcements to the garrison on New Georgia island as part of a four destroyer fast convoy when she was intercepted by a US destroyer force lying in wait between Kolombangara
Kolombangara
Kolombangara is an island in the New Georgia Islands group of the Solomon Islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean...
and Vella Lavella
Vella Lavella
Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Group...
(07°50′S 156°55′E). The US forces struck with complete surprise. The Arashi along with the and were sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire from , and in what became known as the Battle of Vella Gulf
Battle of Vella Gulf
The was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II fought on the night of 6-7 August 1943, in Vella Gulf between Vella Lavella Island and Kolombangara Island in the Solomon Islands of the Southwest Pacific....
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