Katori-class Light Cruiser

Katori-class Light Cruiser

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This article refers to the entire Katori-class; it is not about an individual vessel.

ww2dbaseThe Katori-class light cruisers were designed as training ships, authorized with the 1937 and 1939 Supplementary Naval budget. All three ships built were moved into combat roles during the Pacific War, with two of them sunk by the end of the war.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Jan 2008

Katori-class Light Cruiser Interactive Map

Katori-class Light Cruiser Operational Timeline

24 Aug 1938	The keel of Cruiser No. 72 was laid down by Mitsubishi Yokohama shipyards in Japan.
31 Mar 1939	Cruiser No. 72, under construction at Mitsubishi Yokohama shipyards in Japan, was officially named Katori.
17 Jun 1939	Katori was launched at Mitsubishi Yokohama shipyards in Japan.
1 Jul 1939	Captain Shutoku Miyazato was made the chief equipping officer of Katori.
25 Sep 1939	Captain Shutoku Miyazato was made the chief equipping officer of both Katori and Kashima.
1 Nov 1939	Captain Hisashi Ichioka was made the chief equipping officer of Katori and Kashima, relieving Shutoku Miyazato.
20 Apr 1940	Katori was commissioned into service and was attached to the Yokosuka Naval District as a special service vessel. Captain Hisashi Ichioka, previously the Chief Equipping Officer, was named her first commanding officer.
28 Jul 1940	Katori and Kashima began the last Japanese Navy midshipmen cruise before the Pacific War. They would make port calls at Etajima and Mutsu in Japan, and Dalian and Shanghai in China.
15 Oct 1940	Captain Hisashi Mito was made the commanding officer of Katori, relieving Hisashi Ichioka.
15 Nov 1940	Katori was made the flagship of Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu of Japanese Sixth Fleet.
6 Jan 1941	Captain Noboru Owada was made the commanding officer of Katori, relieving Hisashi Mito.
15 Jul 1941	Kashii was commissioned into service.
11 Nov 1941	At Yokosuka, Japan, Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu held a briefing for Japanese Sixth Fleet officers aboard Katori on the Pearl Harbor raid.
24 Nov 1941	Katori departed Yokosuka, Japan for Truk, Caroline Islands.
28 Nov 1941	Katori observed an American convoy of five transports escorted by a Brooklyn-class cruiser 160 miles east of Saipan, Mariana Islands at about 1700 hours.
1 Dec 1941	Katori arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands.
2 Dec 1941	Katori departed Truk, Caroline Islands for Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
5 Dec 1941	Katori arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
3 Jan 1942	While at Truk, Caroline Islands, Katori, flagship of the Japanese Sixth Fleet, hosted a briefing by fleet commanding officer Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu on the invasion of Rabaul, New Britain and Kavieng, New Ireland.
1 Feb 1942	The United States launched its first air offensive against the Marshall Islands as SBD and TBD aircraft from carriers USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise struck Japanese bases in the island group. Cruisers USS Northampton, USS Chester, and USS Salt Lake City also bombarded atolls in the Marshall Islands, sinking gunboat Toyotsu Maru and transport Bordeaux Maru and damaging cruiser Katori, submarine I-23, submarine depot ship Yasukuni Maru, minelayer Tokiwa, and several others. Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu was wounded aboard Katori. USS Chester sustained damage from a Japanese dive bomber during the attack; 8 were killed, 21 were wounded.
9 Feb 1942	Katori departed Kwajalein, Marshall Islands for Yokosuka, Japan.
16 Feb 1942	Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan.
21 Feb 1942	Katori entered the drydocks at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan for repairs.
5 Mar 1942	Katori exited the drydocks at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan.
18 Mar 1942	Katori departed Yokosuka, Japan.
20 Mar 1942	Katori arrived at Kure, Japan.
23 Mar 1942	Katori arrived at the fleet anchorage east of Iseko Jima in Hiroshima Bay, Japan, near Hashirajima. Vice Admiral Marquis Teruhisa Komatsu, the new commanding officer of Japanese Sixth Fleet as of 16 Mar 1942, disembarked from Katori to attend a meeting with Isoroku Yamamoto aboard battleship Yamato.
16 Apr 1942	Later in the day, after Vice Admiral Marquis Teruhisa Komatsu returned from his meeting with Isoroku Yamamoto, Katori departed Hiroshima Bay for Truk, Caroline Islands.
20 Apr 1942	Katori arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands.
30 Apr 1942	Katori departed Truk, Caroline Islands.
3 May 1942	Katori arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
4 May 1942	Katori arrived at Roi, Marshall Islands.
6 May 1942	Katori departed Roi, Marshall Islands.
7 May 1942	Katori arrived at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
1 Jul 1942	Captain Nobuki Nakaoka was made the commanding officer of Katori, relieving Noboru Owada, at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
1 Aug 1942	Katori departed Kwajalein, Marshall Islands.
8 Aug 1942	Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan and was drydocked at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal.
17 Aug 1942	Katori exited the drydocks at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan.
18 Aug 1942	Katori departed Yokosuka, Japan.
24 Aug 1942	Katori arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands.
8 Sep 1942	Katori's floatplane was transferred ashore to Truk, Caroline Islands.
28 Nov 1942	Captain Takeji Miyazaki was made the commanding officer of Katori while at Truk, Caroline Islands, relieving Nobuki Nakaoka.
21 Mar 1943	Katori departed Truk, Caroline Islands.
26 Mar 1943	Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan.
27 Mar 1943	Katori arrived at Yokosuka, Japan.
16 Apr 1943	Katori entered the drydocks at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan for a scheduled refit.
30 Apr 1943	Katori exited the drydocks at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal in Japan after completing a scheduled refit.
5 May 1943	Katori departed Yokosuka, Japan.
11 May 1943	Katori arrived Truk, Caroline Islands.
11 May 1943	Katori arrived at Truk, Caroline Islands.
21 Jun 1943	Katori was made the flagship of Vice Admiral Takeo Takagi, the new commanding officer of the Japanese Sixth Fleet.
20 Jul 1943	Captain Hyoe Minakuchi was made the commanding officer of Katori, relieving Takeji Miyazaki.
15 Oct 1943	Captain Tamekiyo Oda was made the commanding officer of Katori, relieving Hyoe Minakuchi.
15 Feb 1944	Katori was assigned to the General Escort Command.
19 Feb 1944	Armed merchant cruiser Akagi Maru, cruiser Katori, destroyer Maikaze, destroyer Nowaki, and minesweeping trawler Shonan Maru No. 15 departed Truk, Caroline Islands at 0430 hours for Yokosuka, Japan. After 0500 hours, Truk came under attack by many US carrier aircraft. A number of aircraft spotted the group and attacked, sinking Akagi Maru and damaging Katori and Maikaze; at least one US F6F fighter was shot down during the attack on this group. Battleship New Jersey, battleship Iowa, cruiser Minneapolos, cruiser New Orleans, destroyer Bradford, and destroyer Burns then approached at about 1300 hours about 64 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Truk. Maikaze fired a spread of torpedoes, which missed the two battleships. Gunfire from Minneapolis and New Orleans started a fire on Maikaze, causing an explosion, and leading to her sinking at 1343 hours; all aboard were lost. Then, New Jersey sank Shonan Maru No. 15 with her port side 5-inch battery. Next, Iowa opened fire on Katori, straddling Katori with the first salvo. Katori fired torpedoes, but all of them missed. Iowa's gunfire eventually overwhelmed and sank Katori; Captain Tamekiyo Oda was among those killed. Nowaki alone escaped the attack.
31 Mar 1944	Katori was stricken from the Japanese Navy list.
21 Jul 1944	Kashii arrived at Manila, Philippine Islands.
12 Jan 1945	Kashii, sailing in convoy off Indochina, was sunk by American SB2C Helldiver dive bombers and TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. Only 19 out of her complement of 640 survived.
1 Jan 1947	Kashima was decommissioned from service.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. LRDG says:
3 Dec 2013 11:02:47 PM

Kashima was used as a Repat Ship ferrying Japanese Troops back to Japan after the War and decommissioned in 1947.

2. LRDG says:
3 Dec 2013 11:06:55 PM

Katori and Kashii sunk during the War. Kashima survived and later used as a Repat Ship to ferry Japanese troops from Pacific outposts back to Japan. She was decommissioned in 1947 and scrapped.

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Katori-class Light Cruiser