Light Cruiser Sendai

Sendai (川内) was the lead ship of the three-ship Sendai-class light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was laid down on 16 February 1922 at the Mitsubishi shipyard in Nagasaki, launched on 30 October 1923, and commissioned on 29 April 1924. Named after the Sendai River in Kagoshima Prefecture (not the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture).

Sendai was designed as a destroyer flotilla flagship, capable of leading fast torpedo attacks. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s she served in various fleet exercises, honing the Imperial Japanese Navy's famed night battle tactics that would prove devastating in the early Pacific War.

During World War II, Sendai served as flagship of the 3rd Destroyer Squadron under Rear Admiral Shintaro Hashimoto. She participated in numerous operations including the invasion of Malaya, the invasion of northern Sumatra, and the Guadalcanal campaign. At the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (14–15 November 1942), Sendai led the sweeping unit of destroyers that engaged the US battleship force in a night action.

On the night of 1-2 November 1943, Sendai was part of a Japanese force attempting to intercept American landings at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville. In the ensuing battle, Sendai was hit repeatedly by gunfire from Task Force 39 (Rear Admiral Merrill), including cruisers USS Montpelier, Cleveland, Columbia, and Denver. Burning fiercely, Sendai was abandoned and sank at about 04:30 on 2 November. Captain Shoji and 184 of her crew were lost; 236 men were rescued by destroyers, and Rear Admiral Ijuin also survived.