page_title: Japanese battleship Yamashiro
section_title: Battle of Surigao Strait
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese battleship Yamashiro / Construction and service / World War II / Battle of Surigao Strait
context_page_description: Yamashiro was the second of two Fusō-class dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Launched in 1915 and commissioned in 1917, she initially patrolled off the coast of China, playing no part in World War I. In 1923, she assisted survivors of the Great Kantō earthquake.
  Yamashiro was modernized between 1930 and 1935, with improvements to her armor and machinery and a rebuilt superstructure in the pagoda mast style. Nevertheless, with only 14-inch guns, she was outclassed by other Japanese battleships at the beginning of World War II, and played auxiliary roles for most of the war.
  By 1944, though, she was forced into front-line duty, serving as the flagship of Vice-Admiral Shōji Nishimura's Southern Force at the Battle of Surigao Strait, the southernmost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During fierce night fighting in the early hours of 25 October against a superior American force, Yamashiro was sunk by torpedoes and naval gunfire. Nishimura went down with his ship, and only 10 crewmembers survived.
context_section_description: As flagship of Nishimura's Southern Force, Yamashiro left Brunei at 15:30 on 22 October 1944, heading east into the Sulu Sea and then to the northeast into the Mindanao Sea. Intending to join Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's force in Leyte Gulf, they passed west of Mindanao Island into Surigao Strait, where they met a large force of battleships and cruisers lying in wait. The Battle of Surigao Strait would become the southernmost action in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
  At 09:08 on 24 October, Yamashiro, Fusō and the heavy cruiser Mogami were spotted by a group of  27 planes, including Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers escorted by Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, coming from the carrier Enterprise. Around 20 sailors on Yamashiro were killed by strafing and rocket attacks, and the ship listed by almost 15 degrees after a bomb's near miss damaged the hull and flooded the starboard bilge, until counter-flooding in the port bilge righted the ship.
  Nishimura issued a telegram to Admiral Soemu Toyoda at 20:13: "It is my plan to charge into Leyte Gulf to [reach] a point off Dulag at 04:00 hours on the 25th." At 22:52, his force opened fire, damaging PT 130 and PT 152 and forcing them to retreat before they could launch their torpedoes. Three American destroyers launched torpedoes at 03:00 that morning, hitting Fusō at 03:08 and forcing her to fall out of formation. Yamashiro opened fire with her secondary battery seven minutes later. Around 03:11, the destroyers Monssen and Killen fired their torpedoes, one or two of which hit Yamashiro amidships. The resulting damage temporarily slowed the ship down, gave her a list to port and forced the flooding of the magazines for the two aft turrets. Yamashiro may have been hit a third time near the bow at 03:40.
  At 03:52, the battleship was attacked by a large formation to the north commanded by Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf. First came 6- and 8-inch (200 mm) shells from three heavy cruisers, Louisville, Portland, and Minneapolis, and four light cruisers, Denver, Columbia, Phoenix and Boise. Six battleships formed a battle line; the Pearl Harbor veteran West Virginia was the first to open fire a minute later, scoring at least one hit with 16-inch (410 mm) shells in the first 20,800-meter (22,700 yd) salvo, followed by Tennessee and California. Hampered by older radar equipment, Maryland joined the fight late, Pennsylvania never fired, and Mississippi managed to fire exactly one salvo—the last of the engagement. The Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire also had radar problems and did not begin firing until 03:56.
  The main bombardment lasted 18 minutes, and Yamashiro was the only target for seven of them. The first rounds hit the forecastle and pagoda mast, and soon the entire battleship appeared to be ablaze. Yamashiro's two forward turrets targeted her assailants, and the secondary armament targeted the American destroyers plaguing Mogami and the destroyer Asagumo. The ship continued firing in all directions, but was not able to target the battleships with the other four operable 14-inch guns of her amidships turrets until almost 04:00, after turning west. There was a big explosion at 04:04, possibly from one of the middle turrets. Yamashiro increased her firing rate between 04:03 and 04:09, despite the widespread fires and damage, and was hit during this time near the starboard engine room by a torpedo. By 04:09, her speed was back up to 12 knots, and Nishimura wired to Kurita: "We proceed till totally annihilated. I have definitely accomplished my mission as pre-arranged. Please rest assured." At the same time, Oldendorf issued a brief cease-fire order to the entire formation after hearing that the destroyer Albert W. Grant was taking friendly fire, and the Japanese ships also ceased fire.
  Yamashiro increased speed to 15 knots in an attempt to escape the trap, but she had already been hit by two to four torpedoes, and after two more torpedo hits near the starboard engine room, she was listing 45 degrees to port. Shinoda gave the command to abandon ship, 
caption: The Battle of Surigao Strait
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