Destroyer Naganami

Naganami was laid down at Fujinagata Shipyard on 5 April 1941, launched 5 March 1942, and commissioned 30 June 1942. She achieved lasting fame at the Battle of Tassafaronga on 30 November 1942. Leading a force of eight destroyers on a Tokyo Express supply run, Rear Admiral Raizō Tanaka's flagship Naganami — while the picket destroyer Takanami drew the American fire and was sunk — unleashed a devastating Long Lance torpedo attack against the waiting U.S. Task Force 67. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Japanese destroyers sank USS Northampton (CA-26) and heavily damaged USS Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Pensacola. It was one of the most tactically brilliant destroyer actions of the Pacific War. Naganami continued to serve through 1943–44 in convoy escort and combat operations. On 11 November 1944, while in Ormoc Bay supporting Japanese reinforcement of Leyte, she was caught by aircraft of U.S. Task Force 38 and sunk; an explosion amidships broke her in two and 156 of her crew were lost. Her wreck was found in Ormoc Bay by the research vessel Petrel in 2017.