page_title: Nagato-class battleship
section_title: Nagato
hierarchical_section_title: Nagato-class battleship / Construction and service / World War II / Nagato
caption_attribution_description: 3 view drawing of IJN Battleship Nagato in her mid-1944 configuration.
context_page_description: The Nagato-class battleships were a pair of dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I, although they were not completed until after the end of the war. The last of Japan's pre-Treaty capital ships, they were the first class to carry 41 cm guns, the largest afloat and the first bigger than 15 inches. Nagato, the lead ship of the class, frequently served as a flagship. Both ships carried supplies for the survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake in 1923. They were modernized in 1933–1936 with improvements to their armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nagato and her sister ship Mutsu briefly participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and Nagato was the flagship of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 that began the Pacific War.
  The sisters participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942, although they did not see any combat. Mutsu saw more active service than her sister because she was not a flagship and participated in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in August before returning to Japan in early 1943.
context_section_description: Nagato transferred to Truk in the Caroline Islands in August 1943. Together with the bulk of the 1st Fleet, she sortied in September and October in unsuccessful searches for American carriers. On 1 February 1944, Nagato departed Truk to avoid an American air raid, and arrived at Palau three days later. The ship arrived on 21 February at Lingga Island, near Singapore, and she became the flagship of Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, commander of Battleship Division 1, on 25 February until he transferred his flag to Yamato on 5 May. Nagato remained at Lingga until 11 May when she was transferred to Tawitawi on 12 May, and assigned to the 1st Mobile Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa.
  Battleship Division 1 rendezvoused with Ozawa's main force on 16 June near the Mariana Islands, and Nagato escorted three aircraft carriers during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. She was only lightly engaged during the battle, was not damaged, and suffered no casualties. After the battle, the ship returned to Japan where she was refitted with additional radars and light AA guns. Nagato loaded a regiment of the 28th Infantry Division and delivered them at Okinawa on 11 July before continuing on to Lingga.
  In October 1944, the ship took part in "Operation Sho-1", an attack on the Allied landings on Leyte. Assigned to Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's 1st Diversion Force (also known as the Center Force), Nagato was attacked by multiple waves of American dive bombers and fighters during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea on 24 October en route to Leyte Gulf. She was struck twice by bombs that killed 52 crewmen, but was not seriously damaged.
  The next morning, the 1st Diversion Force attacked the American forces supporting the invasion in the Battle off Samar. Nagato engaged the escort carriers and destroyers of Task Group 77.4.3, codenamed "Taffy 3". She opened fire on three escort carriers, the first time she had fired her guns at an enemy ship, but missed. One of the defending destroyers fired a spread of torpedoes that missed their intended target and headed for Yamato and Nagato which were on a parallel course. The two battleships were forced to turn away north to avoid the torpedoes, and were 10 miles (16 km) away from the engagement before the torpedoes ran out of fuel. Turning back, Nagato engaged the American ships, claiming damage to one cruiser. Later in the day, Nagato was hit in the bow by two bombs, but the damage was not severe.
  The ship returned to Japan for repairs in mid-November. Lack of fuel and materials meant that she could not be brought back into service and she was turned into a floating anti-aircraft battery. Her funnel and mainmast were removed to improve the arcs of fire of her AA guns, which were increased by two Type 89 mounts and nine triple 25 mm gun mounts. Her forward secondary guns were removed in compensation. A coal-burning donkey boiler was installed on the pier for heating and cooking purposes and a converted submarine chaser was moored alongside to provide steam and electricity; her anti-aircraft guns lacked full power and were only partially operational. On 20 April Nagato was reduced to reserve. In June 1945, all of her secondary guns and about half of her anti-aircraft armament was moved ashore, together with her rangefinders and searchlights. Her crew was therefore reduced to less than 1,000 officers and enlisted men. On 18 July 1945, the heavily camouflaged ship was attacked by carrier-based fighter bombers and torpedo bombers. Nagato was hit by two bombs and a rocket that killed 35 men and damaged four 25 mm guns. On 30 August, a few days before the formal surrender, American sailors took control of the ship.
caption: Drawing of Nagato as she appeared in 1944
exif: {}