page_title: Japanese cruiser Yahagi (1942)
section_title: Battles in the Philippines
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese cruiser Yahagi (1942) / Service career / Battles in the Philippines
caption_attribution_description: English: Operation "Ten-Go", 7 April 1945: The Japanese light cruiser Yahagi under attack by U.S. planes. She is listing heavily to port. Four attacking planes are visible on the left. The photo was taken at 1345 hrs by a plane from the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10). Yahagi sank 20 minutes later.
context_page_description: Yahagi was an Agano-class cruiser which served with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
context_section_description: The Battle of the Philippine Sea began on 19 June 1944. The "First Carrier Striking Force" attacked USN Task Force 58, but suffered overwhelming aircraft losses in what was later nicknamed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". Yahagi escaped the battle unharmed, and together with Urakaze rescued 570 crewmen from the carrier Shōkaku after it was torpedoed by USS Cavalla (SS-244).
  After dry dock and refitting at Kure Naval Arsenal from late June to early July 1944, Yahagi was fitted with two additional triple-mount Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun mounts amidships (bringing its total to 48 barrels) and a Type 13 air-search and a Type 22 surface-search radar set. On 8 July 1944, Yahagi departed Kure with troops, and numerous battleships, cruisers and destroyers and returned to Singapore via Manila.
  On 22 October 1944, Yahagi was in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Second Section of Force "A" of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force: (Center Force), commanding DesRon 10's DesDiv 2's Kiyoshimo, DesDiv 4's Nowaki and DesDiv 17's Urakaze, Yukikaze, Hamakaze and Isokaze. She was accompanied by battleships Kongō and Haruna and cruisers Tone, Chikuma,  Kumano and Suzuya. During the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October 1944, the fleet endured 11 raids by over 250 Task Force 38 carrier aircraft from the USS Enterprise, Essex, Intrepid, Franklin, Lexington and Cabot. Although the battleship Musashi was sunk and Yamato and Nagato were hit, Yahagi was unscathed.
  Likewise in the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944, Yahagi fought her way through the battle without damage. On 26 October 1944, Force A was attacked by 80 carrier aircraft off Panay, followed by 30 USAAF B-24 Liberator heavy bombers and an additional 60 carrier-based aircraft. Throughout these attacks Yahagi was not hit and returned to Brunei safely.
caption: Yahagi sinking
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