Onami
Country | Japan |
Ship Class | Yugumo-class Destroyer |
Commissioned | 29 Dec 1942 |
Sunk | 26 Nov 1943 |
Displacement | 2,520 tons standard |
Length | 391 feet |
Beam | 35 feet |
Draft | 12 feet |
Speed | 35 knots |
Crew | 228 |
Armament | 6x127mm dual purpose guns, up to 28x25mm AA, up to 4x13mm AA, 8x610mm Type 93 torpedo tubes, 36 depth charges |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseOnami was completed at Osaka, Japan in late 1942, with Commander Kiyoshi Kikkawa in command. On 20 Jan 1943, she was assigned to the Destroyer Division 31 of Destroyer Squadron 2 of the Japanese Navy 2nd Fleet. Two weeks later, she was named as the flagship of the destroyer division's commanding officer Captain Kiyoto Kagawa. She escorted ships between Japan and islands of Central and South Pacific Ocean, and then participated in two successful "Tokyo Express" runs to Bougainville and Buka in Nov 1943. On 25 Nov 1943, Onami led four other destroyer-transports on another "Tokyo Express" run from Rabaul to Buka, with three of the group's ships laden with troops. After successfully delivering their cargo, they encountered six American destroyers, engaging in what was to be known as the Battle of Cape St. George. Aided by radar, American destroyers Charles Ausburne and Claxton silently closed in and launched torpedoes, sinking Onami with the loss of all hands, including both Kagawa and Kikkawa. No realized it at the time, but this "Tokyo Express" run led by Onami was to be the last of the Pacific War.
ww2dbaseSource: Imperial Japanese Navy Page.
Last Major Revision: Sep 2007
Onami Operational Timeline
29 Dec 1942 | Onami was commissioned into service. |
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George Patton, 31 May 1944
22 Apr 2024 04:43:52 PM
Her sinking reminded me of the Battle of Blackett Strait (Her sister-ship Makinami was sunk in the same action as her, just like Murasame and Minegumo earlier that year)