FUSETSUKAN!

© 2008-2009 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall

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29 March 1938:
Aioi. Laid down at Harima's shipyard.

28 April 1939:
Launched and named HATSUTAKA.

31 October 1939:
Completed and registered in the IJN.

15 October to 15 November 1940:
Reassigned to the First Fleet’s Second Base Force.

15 November 1939:
Captain (Vice Admiral, posthumously) Monzen Tei (42)(former XO of HYUGA) assumes command.

15 October 1940:
An unknown officer assumes command.

April 1941:
Reassigned to the Third Fleet.

31 October 1941:
Reassigned to the Southwest Area Fleet's First Southern Expeditionary Fleet's Ninth Base Force based at Camranh Bay, Indochina.

11 February 1942: Operation "T" - The Invasions of Northern Sumatra and Sabang:
HATSUTAKA departs Camranh escorting 11 transports carrying troops IJA's 229th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 230th Infantry Regiment for the landings at Banka and Palembang, Sumatra.

16 February 1942:
The transports land the troops near Palembang.

10 March 1942: Operation T”- The Invasion of Northern Sumatra:
West Harbor, Singapore. HATSUTAKA departs with subchaser CH-7 and the 1st Section, 44th Minesweeper Division escorting eight transports including NAGOYA MARU carrying the main body of the Imperial Guards Division.

March 1942:
HATSUTAKA is detached and returns to Singapore.

19 March 1942:
HATSUTAKA is assigned to the No. 2 Escort Unit comprised of light cruiser KASHII (F), kaibokan SHIMUSHU, destroyers of DesRon 3 and 5, 9th Base Force's gunboat EIKO MARU, Minesweeper Division 1's W1, W3 and W4 and Special Minesweeper Division 91's CHOKO MARU and SHONAN MARU Nos. 5 and 7.

The No. 2 Escort Unit departs Singapore escorting 32 transports carrying the IJA's 56th Infantry Division.

23 March 1942: Operation "D" - The Invasion of the Andaman Islands:
The No. 2 Escort Unit covers the unopposed landing of one battalion of the IJA 18th Infantry Division at Port Blair.

25 March 1942:
The transports begin landing troops at Rangoon, Burma.

28 March 1942:
Arrives at Penang. HATSUTAKA is detached.

2 April 1942:
KASHII and destroyers SHIKINAMI and HATAKAZE depart Singapore escorting 46 transports carrying the IJA's 18th Infantry Division.

4 April 1942:
The convoy arrives at Penang. Escort duties are taken over by HATSUTAKA and three destroyers of DesRon 5. KASHII is detached from the convoy and returns to Singapore the same day.

15 July 1943:
Andaman Sea. HATSUTAKA makes a rendezvous with German submarine U-511. Vice Admiral Nomura Naokuni (35)(former CO of KAGA), Japan's representative to the Axis Tripartite Commission in Berlin since 1941, and Major Sugita Tamotsu of the IJA Medical Service, both passengers aboard U-511 inbound from France, briefly visit HATSUTAKA for a bath and then return to the U-boat. Thereafter, the minelayer escorts U-511 safely to Penang.

18 October 1943:
At 0730, departs Pulau Telo and arrives at Sirombu at 1400. At 1600, departs Sirombu and at 1800, arrives at Afunu.

19 October 1943:
At 1400, departs Afunu.

20 October 1943:
At 1700, arrives at Sabang.

21 October 1943:
At 1930 arrivesat Penang.

12 January 1944:
HATSUTAKA departs Sabang escorting a convoy to Merak consisting of TEMPEI, ZUISHO, TAICHO MARUs Enroute, HATSUTAKA is detached to Padang and Sibolga.

29 January 1944:
At 1000, departs Sabang.

30 January 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Sinabang.

31 January 1944:
At 1000, departs Sinabang. Arrives at Gunung Sitoli at 1700.

1 February 1944:
At 1000, departs Gunung Sitoli. At 1600, arrives at Telokdalam.

2 February 1944:
At 0900, departs Telokdalam.

3 February 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Padang.

4 February 1944:
At 1930, departs Padang.

5 February 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Sigolap and departs same day at 1400.

6 February 1944:
At 1600, arrives at Balimbing and departs at 1900.

7 February 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Bencoolen and departs at 1900.

8 February 1944:
At 1000, arrives at Padang.

9 February 1944:
At 1100, departs Padang.

10 February 1944:
At 0930, arrives at Sibolga.

11 February 1944:
At 1900, arrives at Medan.

12 February 1944:
At 1000, departs Medan. At 1900, arrives at Belawan and departs later that evening.

13 February 1944:
At 1500 arrives at Kota Raja.

14 February 1944:
At 1500, departs Kota Raja. Arrives at Sabang at 2330.

17 April 1944:
HATSUTAKA departs Sabang for Penang escorting KUNITSU MARU.

19 April 1944: Allied Operation "Cockpit":
Sumatra, Indian Ocean. In the first combined operation between Admiral James Somerville's, (Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Fleet) British Pacific Fleet and the USN Pacific Fleet, carrier aircraft from HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and USS SARATOGA (CV-3) attack Sabang, NEI. Forty-six bombers (17 British, 29 American) and 37 fighters (13 British, 24 American) damage HATSUTAKA and sink transports HARUNO and KUNITSU MARUs. Thirty Japanese aircraft are destroyed at nearby Lho Nga airfield.

At 1646, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from HATSUTAKA that reads: “Scheduled to arrive Penang at 1230, 20th. Request arrangements be made for the following: 1. Necessary repairs to the following damage: (lists damage to transmitter, searchlights, and holes in hull ----). 2. Killed in action 3, Patients 5. 3. ---.”

April 1944:
HATSUTAKA arrives at Singapore and probably undergoes repairs.

28 April 1944:
At 1200, HATSUTAKA and auxiliary minesweeper KEINAN MARU depart Singapore for Port Blair, Andaman Islands escorting AMAGI MARU carrying 600 men of the 36th Independent Brigade.

1 May 1944:
Off the coast of Malaya. That evening, an enemy submarine's periscope is spotted a mere 30 m off AMAGIRI MARU's starboard flank. AMAGI MARU opens fire and the escorts drop two DCs. Two torpedo tracks are sighted, but AMAGI MARU successfully evades them.

2 May 1944:
Auxiliary minesweeper KYO MARU No. 1 joins the convoy and replaces KEINAN MARU No. 5 that is detached. At 2240, AMAGI MARU is hit in her No. 2 hold by one of three torpedoes fired by LtCdr (later Vice Admiral, Sir) Hugh S. Mackenzie's submarine HMS TANTULUS. Four soldiers are KIA. At 2330, KYO MARU No. 1 takes off passengers and later transfers them to HATSUTAKA.

3 May 1944:
Off Lesser Andaman Islands, 40 nms S of Port Blair. At about 0200, it is decided to attempt to tow AMAGI MARU, but at 0220 she is hit by a second torpedo and sinks immediately at 10-52N, 93-12E.

14 July 1944:
HATSUTAKA departs St Jacques with subchaser CH-19 escorting convoy SASHI-29B consisting of an unidentified merchant ship.

17 July 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.

27 July 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.

3 August 1944:
Near Singapore. HATSUTAKA hits a mine and suffers minor damage.

October 1944:
LtCdr Ozaki Sakan assumes command.

2 May 1945:
At 2155, Cdr Benjamin C. Jarvis' USS BAYA (SS-318) and Cdr Frank D. Latta’s (former CO of NARWHAL (SS-167) USS LAGARTO (SS-371) SJ radar pick up four targets at 15,000 yards; a tanker, and unidentified ship and two escorts one of which is later mis-identified as a SHIRETAKA-type minelayer. That evening, BAYA attacks on the surface unsucessfully. At 2333, Jarvis informs Latta that he was driven off by the escorts' gunfire.

3/4 May 1945:
Gulf of Siam (Thailand). After midnight, BAYA again attacks the tanker unsucessfully and is again driven off by the escorts. That same night, HATSUTAKA detects, depth-charges and sinks LAGARTO with all 86 crewmen in the Gulf's shallow waters at 07-55N, 102-00E. Early in the morning, BAYA attempts to contact LAGARTO with no success. [2]

13 May 1945:
At 1600, HATSUTAKA departs Ha-Tien, SW Indochina for Singapore escorting cargo ship TOTTORI MARU.

14 May 1945:
Gulf of Siam. At 0737, LtCdr Albert L. Becker's USS COBIA (SS-245) fires five torpedoes at a minelayer Becker misidentifies as "YAEYAMA", but two broach and HATSUTAKA combs the remaining tracks. At 1150, HATSUTAKA attacks COBIA not ceasing until after 1320. COBIA notes that HATSUTAKA apparently had two echo ranging devices, evidenced by alternate high and low note pings. At 1430, LtCdr Frank M. Smith's USS HAMMERHEAD (SS-364) attacks TOTTORI MARU at 10-58N, 102-24E, but she evades three torpedoes.

That same day, HATSUTAKA catches COBIA in shallow water and attacks with depth charges. Becker takes COBIA to the bottom at only about 120 feet, but COBIA gets mired in about 20 feet of mud. COBIA takes a beating and is heaviy damaged by the depth charges. After HATSUTAKA departs, Becker rocks the submarine with his electric motors and breaks free.

15 May 1945:
At 0020, lookouts aboard TOTTORI MARU spot a surfaced submarine (HAMMERHEAD). In high seas and poor visibility, TOTTORI MARU opens fire with her forward deck gun, followed by HATSUTAKA, scoring several near misses. At 0127, TOTTORI MARU is hit on the bow by a torpedo from HAMMERHEAD. At 0132, she sinks bow first at 09-58N, 101-05E. HATSUTAKA turns back towards Singapore.

16 May 1945:
Off the E coast of Malaya. At 0525, LtCdr Francis W. Scanland's USS HAWKBILL (SS-366) fires six torpedoes and gets two hits that damage HATSUTAKA. A sea truck takes her under tow stern first towards the mainland, but Scanland attacks and fires three more torpedoes at her from over 4,600 yards. HATSUTAKA is hit, breaks in two and sinks at 04-49N, 103-31E. Her surviving crewmen refuse rescue. LtCdr Ozaki is KIA. He is promoted Cdr, posthumously.

23 May 1945:
At 1525, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message from the CO of HATSUTAKA that reads: “At and after 0530 on the 16th of May, 3 torpedoes were fired (one direct hit in the engine room, navigation impossible). At 1100 we received a second torpedo attack and sank six miles off Zungun --. ” At 1625, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt another message from HATSUTAKA that reads: “HATSUTAKA action summary. ----- Between 0020 and 0215 on the 15th engaged 6 submarines. Kept down two of them and inflicted considerable damage, but TOTTORI MARU was sunk by the others -----.”

10 August 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.

3 April 2008:
NW of Pulao Tenngol, Malaya. A team of divers from Davy Jones' Locker Co. of Koh Tao, Thailand, locates the wreck of HATSUTAKA. The wreck was found N of Dungun, about one kilometer off shore. The bow section is lying on its port side, measuring about 45m in length. This forward section lies on a roughly N-S orientation. The stern sits upright, about 25m off the bow section, extending west, towards the mainland.

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Author's Notes:
[1] General note: HATSUTAKA was used as a fast transport in the Indian Ocean area for much of her career

[2] On 19 May 2005, LAGARTO was located in the Gulf of Thailand by Wreck Research Vessel MV TRIDENT based at Koh Tao, Thailand. The wreck is mostly intact and sitting upright in about 70 m/225 ft of water. The stern is shrouded in Thai fishing nets. Forward starboard torpedo door No. 4 is partially open and empty that suggests LAGARTO went down fighting and fired a torpedo during her last moments. Also visible forward of the conning tower port quarter is massive damage. A hole about 18 feet high and 8 to 9 feet wide is on the port side, near the forward torpedo room.

Clearly, LAGARTO sustained a direct hit from a depth charge that completely destroyed her external steel plating. The sub's external control planes are juxta-positioned; the foreword planes are set to the ‘dive’ position whereas the stern planes are set to ‘surface’. The rudder is positioned at hard right. All of LAGARTO's hatches are closed.

Watch a video on LAGARTO on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP_0-AU671U

Thanks go to Matthew Jones of Tennessee for assistance with COs. Thanks also go to John Whitman of the USA for info on CNO intercepts of Japanese messages.

-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.

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