Training Cruiser Katori

Katori was the lead ship of the Katori-class training cruisers, laid down at Mitsubishi Yokohama Shipyard, launched 17 June 1939, and commissioned 20 April 1940. Displacing 5,890 tons standard, the class was purpose-built to provide at-sea training for cadets from the Naval Academy, with accommodation for 375 officer trainees in addition to her regular crew of 315. Her armament was moderate — four 140mm guns, two 127mm AA guns, and two twin 533mm torpedo mounts — prioritizing space for training facilities over combat power. From November 1940 Katori served as flagship of the 6th Fleet (submarine force), operating from Kwajalein and later from Truk Atoll, the Imperial Japanese Navy's main Pacific base. On 17–18 February 1944, the United States launched Operation Hailstone, a devastating carrier raid on Truk that caught the Japanese by surprise. Katori had just left the lagoon in a convoy bound for Japan when the attack began. She was struck multiple times by aircraft, reducing her speed. She was then caught about 40 miles northwest of Truk by a surface group built around the battleships USS New Jersey (BB-62) and USS Iowa (BB-61), with two heavy cruisers and destroyers; Iowa took her under fire. Overwhelmed by battleship shellfire, Katori sank at approximately 7°45′N 151°20′E. Operation Hailstone effectively destroyed Truk as a major Japanese base, sinking approximately 40 ships and destroying or badly damaging about 300 aircraft.