Light Cruiser Jintsū

Jintsū (神通) was the second vessel of the Sendai-class light cruisers, laid down on 4 August 1922 at Kawasaki Shipyard in Kobe, launched on 8 December 1923, and commissioned on 31 July 1925. Named after the Jinzū River in Toyama and Gifu prefectures.

Jintsū served as flagship of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron and was renowned for her aggressive night combat tactics. She was a practitioner of the Imperial Japanese Navy's doctrine of using searchlight illumination to blind opponents and guide torpedo attacks — a tactic that proved both devastating and suicidal.

During World War II, Jintsū participated in the invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of the Java Sea, and the Guadalcanal campaign. At the Battle of the Java Sea (27 February 1942), she helped coordinate the devastating Japanese torpedo attacks that sank multiple Allied ships.

On the night of 12-13 July 1943, Jintsū served as flagship of Rear Admiral Shunji Izaki's reinforcement force heading to Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands. In a bold move characteristic of Japanese night fighting doctrine, Jintsū turned on her searchlight to illuminate the approaching Allied force of three light cruisers (two American and the New Zealand HMNZS Leander) and ten destroyers under Rear Admiral Walden Ainsworth. While this revealed the Allied ships to Japanese torpedo-armed destroyers, it also made Jintsū the primary target. Radar-directed 6-inch gunfire from the Allied cruisers, led by USS Honolulu, devastated Jintsū, with shells striking the bridge and killing Admiral Izaki. Jintsū broke in two and sank, but her sacrifice allowed Japanese destroyers to launch torpedoes that heavily damaged all three Allied cruisers.