Nowaki. Completed 28th April 1941, Sunk 26th November 1944 by gunfire 65 miles SSE of Luzon.
She scuttled the carrier Akagi, assisted by the destroyers Arashi and Hagikaze on June 5th, 1942 at Midway.
The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
That's her.
The "big foes" she met are Iowa and New Jersey.
The first time was during operation Hailstone - she was sighted at long range by the two BBs which were on an anti-shipping sweep off Truk. They opened fire at 35,000 yards and registered straddles but the Nowaki suffered only splinter damage and succeeded in opening the range.
She was lost with all hands -- and at that time she carried a lot of survivors from Chikuma.
(and it was not on 26 November but 26 October, in the afermath of the battle of Samar.)
The "big foes" she met are Iowa and New Jersey.
The first time was during operation Hailstone - she was sighted at long range by the two BBs which were on an anti-shipping sweep off Truk. They opened fire at 35,000 yards and registered straddles but the Nowaki suffered only splinter damage and succeeded in opening the range.
She was lost with all hands -- and at that time she carried a lot of survivors from Chikuma.
(and it was not on 26 November but 26 October, in the afermath of the battle of Samar.)
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Hmmm, my book says it was sunk in November... must be a typo I guess.
Next question:
By 1945, US submarines pretty much had the run of the seas around Japan, sailing along the coast of the Japanese home islands at will with limited opposition. Near the end of the war, subs were having such a hard time finding a target big enough to fire a torpedo at that they turned to harassment raids and shore bombardment of Japanese villages to break up the boredom. On one such raid, there was a sub that sent troops ashore to wreak a railroad bridge - hopefully as a train was on it. The raid was a success with the confirmed "sinking" of one Japanese railroad train, adding one locomotive silhouette to the sub's battleflag. Please name the submarine responsible, and the officer who led the raid ashore.
Next question:
By 1945, US submarines pretty much had the run of the seas around Japan, sailing along the coast of the Japanese home islands at will with limited opposition. Near the end of the war, subs were having such a hard time finding a target big enough to fire a torpedo at that they turned to harassment raids and shore bombardment of Japanese villages to break up the boredom. On one such raid, there was a sub that sent troops ashore to wreak a railroad bridge - hopefully as a train was on it. The raid was a success with the confirmed "sinking" of one Japanese railroad train, adding one locomotive silhouette to the sub's battleflag. Please name the submarine responsible, and the officer who led the raid ashore.
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
USS Barb.
Commanding officer was Eugene Fluckey.
Commanding officer was Eugene Fluckey.
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
You got it Mescal! The next question's all yours.
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Thanks,
I'm still looking for Japanese DD.
This time it will not be one but three destroyers.
They belonged to the same class and the same division.
They were lost the same night, in the same area, to damage caused by the same type of weapons.
Which are those ships ?
I'm still looking for Japanese DD.
This time it will not be one but three destroyers.
They belonged to the same class and the same division.
They were lost the same night, in the same area, to damage caused by the same type of weapons.
Which are those ships ?
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
mescal wrote:Thanks,
I'm still looking for Japanese DD.
This time it will not be one but three destroyers.
They belonged to the same class and the same division.
They were lost the same night, in the same area, to damage caused by the same type of weapons.
Which are those ships ?
DD Hagikaze - Arashi - Kawakaze sunk by torpedoes in Vella Gulf night battle ?
gianpaolo
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
No, sorry.
Kawakaze was a Shiratsuyu-class destroyer whereas the two others are Kageros.
Kawakaze was a Shiratsuyu-class destroyer whereas the two others are Kageros.
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
(sighs) You and your destoryers...
Well, the answer to your question is that on the night of 6/7 May 1943, some poor fool in the IJN ran a bunch of Kagero class destoryers through a minefield off Rendova, succesfully detonating several mines with the undersides of the Kagero, Kuroshio and Oyashio. Technically though, Kuroshio was the only one sunk by mines alone, the other two were found by US Marine Corps and Navel aircraft which swiftly procceded to blow them off the face of the earth.
Well, the answer to your question is that on the night of 6/7 May 1943, some poor fool in the IJN ran a bunch of Kagero class destoryers through a minefield off Rendova, succesfully detonating several mines with the undersides of the Kagero, Kuroshio and Oyashio. Technically though, Kuroshio was the only one sunk by mines alone, the other two were found by US Marine Corps and Navel aircraft which swiftly procceded to blow them off the face of the earth.
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
I think we've had enough ship questions for the moment, lets get some other areas involved here...
In 1941-2, when the Philippenes were being invaded, the US was worried that the Japanese would capture the millions of dollars in gold and silver stockpiled at the national reserve banks in Manilla. To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, what did the US do with the tons of gold and silver that was there, and more importantly, specifically how did they do it?
In 1941-2, when the Philippenes were being invaded, the US was worried that the Japanese would capture the millions of dollars in gold and silver stockpiled at the national reserve banks in Manilla. To prevent it from falling into enemy hands, what did the US do with the tons of gold and silver that was there, and more importantly, specifically how did they do it?
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
It's still a ship question, isn't it ? 
The Philippine gold was evacuated by sea first at Corregidor, and then to Pearl Harbor.
It was shipped by USS Trout which, having requested more ballast, was given 25 tons of gold ingots instead.
The Philippine gold was evacuated by sea first at Corregidor, and then to Pearl Harbor.
It was shipped by USS Trout which, having requested more ballast, was given 25 tons of gold ingots instead.
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Ah, there's the widely known story which is part of the answer, but unfortunatly it's only a small part!!! USS Trout was able to smuggle out just a portion of the bullion and money belonging to the Philippines. A different fate awaited the majority of the monetary reserves (especially coins) that were formerly stored in the bank vaults of Manilla. What was it?
PS, mescal, the name of the ship, it's departure, and routing points are correct, but the cargo isn't exactly right and Pearl Harbor wasn't it's final destination USS Trout wasn't the only USN ship to carry that load either, a larger vessel would relay the treasure to it's final home away from home.
PPS, the main question is what happened to the majority of the Gold and Silver reserves, though mescal gets extra credit for mentioning USS Trout.
PS, mescal, the name of the ship, it's departure, and routing points are correct, but the cargo isn't exactly right and Pearl Harbor wasn't it's final destination USS Trout wasn't the only USN ship to carry that load either, a larger vessel would relay the treasure to it's final home away from home.
PPS, the main question is what happened to the majority of the Gold and Silver reserves, though mescal gets extra credit for mentioning USS Trout.
Last edited by Mimbrogno on 19 Feb 2009, 23:14, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Trout brought its cargo to Pearl Harbor were it was transfered aboard USS Detroit, which brought it to San Francisco (US Treasury).
I fear I have not the slightest idea of what happened to other parts of Philipines gold.
I fear I have not the slightest idea of what happened to other parts of Philipines gold.
Olivier
Re: The Official AHF WW2 in the Pacific & Asia quiz thread
Now you got it mescal!
As I can't think of any clues to offer that wouldn't give the rest of the question away, and seeing how this question is getting a little ripe I guess I'll give the answer: The gold and silver that wasn't evacuated by USS Trout was still at risk of being captured by the Japanese, which would have had a small but significant impact on the political and economic situation in the Pacific. It was cruicial to prevent it from falling into their hands, but the Allies were stuggling just to get people off the island, and aside from the lucky oppertunity of shipping it out as ballast, there were no ships or planes available to ship it with.
So, the Philippinos hid it in the safest place they could think of: Davey Jones' Locker! It was taken by small fishing boats out into the middle of Manila Bay, the position was carefully recorded and the silver was heaved over the side in canvas bags to sit out the war on the seafloor. Bags and bags containing tens of thousands of silver Peso's (the same size and value of US Silver Dollars) were dropped in several different locations, scattering them in small clusters to make them harder for the Japanese to find. After the war, the Philippenos would come back to the locations to salvage the silver, relying on recorded charts which were kept secret and the memories of the fishermen who burried it to find the bullion again. For the most part they were successful in finding a most of the sunken treasure, but inevitibly there were some drops that were miscalculated or lost track of. Some of the caches they did find turned out to be pretty interesting - there was one that had a ship sink either on or right next to it, and divers had to work around the wreck to get the silver back. Sometimes shells, bombs, or depth charges would shake up the locations, burrying the canvas bags in fresh silt and leaving dangerous relics for the salvers to contend with. They'd go along the bottom with metal detectors and they didn't know whether the metalic object they found was a bag of coins, or a piece of debris, or even an unexploded bomb. Some bags were torn open and had coins scattered all over the place, making the cache easy to find, others were burried and lost for decades. There are still people today who dive the bottoms of Manila and bring back parts of the sunken silver hoard.
There wasn't much gold that was sunk though, mostly silver. There was far less gold to hide, and because it was so much more valuable than the silver at the time, it was stashed on land in several caves largely around the southern parts of the island like near Corregidor where USS Trout took on a large chunk of what was left. (The bags of coined Pesos were thrown into the sea before the bars of gold and silver were moved south, as there was just to many bags of coins to move.) The bars were dug up after the war and returned to the bank vaults in Manilla.
Well, since mescal was the only one to even take a shot at it, and as he did say were some of the bullion went to, I think the next question goes over to him in France.
As I can't think of any clues to offer that wouldn't give the rest of the question away, and seeing how this question is getting a little ripe I guess I'll give the answer: The gold and silver that wasn't evacuated by USS Trout was still at risk of being captured by the Japanese, which would have had a small but significant impact on the political and economic situation in the Pacific. It was cruicial to prevent it from falling into their hands, but the Allies were stuggling just to get people off the island, and aside from the lucky oppertunity of shipping it out as ballast, there were no ships or planes available to ship it with.
So, the Philippinos hid it in the safest place they could think of: Davey Jones' Locker! It was taken by small fishing boats out into the middle of Manila Bay, the position was carefully recorded and the silver was heaved over the side in canvas bags to sit out the war on the seafloor. Bags and bags containing tens of thousands of silver Peso's (the same size and value of US Silver Dollars) were dropped in several different locations, scattering them in small clusters to make them harder for the Japanese to find. After the war, the Philippenos would come back to the locations to salvage the silver, relying on recorded charts which were kept secret and the memories of the fishermen who burried it to find the bullion again. For the most part they were successful in finding a most of the sunken treasure, but inevitibly there were some drops that were miscalculated or lost track of. Some of the caches they did find turned out to be pretty interesting - there was one that had a ship sink either on or right next to it, and divers had to work around the wreck to get the silver back. Sometimes shells, bombs, or depth charges would shake up the locations, burrying the canvas bags in fresh silt and leaving dangerous relics for the salvers to contend with. They'd go along the bottom with metal detectors and they didn't know whether the metalic object they found was a bag of coins, or a piece of debris, or even an unexploded bomb. Some bags were torn open and had coins scattered all over the place, making the cache easy to find, others were burried and lost for decades. There are still people today who dive the bottoms of Manila and bring back parts of the sunken silver hoard.
There wasn't much gold that was sunk though, mostly silver. There was far less gold to hide, and because it was so much more valuable than the silver at the time, it was stashed on land in several caves largely around the southern parts of the island like near Corregidor where USS Trout took on a large chunk of what was left. (The bags of coined Pesos were thrown into the sea before the bars of gold and silver were moved south, as there was just to many bags of coins to move.) The bars were dug up after the war and returned to the bank vaults in Manilla.
Well, since mescal was the only one to even take a shot at it, and as he did say were some of the bullion went to, I think the next question goes over to him in France.