IPMS Toronto Presents:

Transcription

1 IPMS Toronto Presents: November Special Guest Speaker Mr. Nori Harry Yoshida Veteran WW2 Japanese Imperial Navy Heavy Cruiser MAYA November 1, pm, 2901 Bayview Avenue (Loblaws Community Room)

2 Heavy Cruiser MAYA Launched: November 8, 1930 Commissioned: June 30, 1932 Fate: Torpedoed, October 23, 1944 Length Beam 668 feet 62 feet Speed 950 Main Arm. 10x 20cm, 4x 4.7, and 8 torpedoes

3 1. May 1/42: Entered the Japanese Imperial Navy at 1 st Naval Barracks at Yokosuka Naval Yard. 2. May 1/42 Aug 15/42: Seaman 3 rd Class training. 3. Oct 1942: Sent to Truk Lagoon, and assigned to heavy cruiser MAYA. 4. Oct 42 Nov 42: First action was at Guadalcanal to bombard US Henderson Airfield (MAYA fired 485 shells from 20cm guns). 5. Nov 1/42: Promoted to Seaman 1 st Class by naval Ordinance # Nov 1942: Sea battles off Guadalcanal (3 rd Solomon Naval Battle). MAYA was hit by US aircraft that dove into ship (37 killed with scores injured). Note: Harry was wounded in the left eyebrow in this attack). The aircraft has been identified as SBD- 3 Dauntless flown by Ensign P.M. Halloran.

4 7. Nov 1942: MAYA leaves for Yokosuka for repairs, then moves to Ominato Naval Base. 8. Jan 1/43 Apr 30/43: Torpedo school training and after graduation, assigned to MAYA torpedo station. 9. May 1/43: Promoted to Chief naval Seaman. 10. May 1943: Sent to Ominato Naval base to board MAYA. MAYA assigned to 5 th Northern Fleet. Sailed to evacuate naval personal from Kiska Island. First attempt on Jul 10/43 failed. Second attempt on Jul 28/43 was a success. 11. Aug 3/43: MAYA returns to 4 th Fleet in the South Pacific. 12. Nov 5/43: MAYA sent to ports Moresby where US invasion was occurring. MAYA was at anchor at Rabaul when attacked by US aircraft (about 50). MAYA was badly damaged with 70 killed and 60 wounded). Port Moresby campaign was subsequently cancelled Nov 11/43. MAYA heads home for repairs.

5 13. Dec 11/43 Apr 16/43: MAYA reconstructed as Anti-Aircraft Cruiser. Crew increased to May 1/44: Promoted to higher rank Naval Seaman. 15. Jun 19-20/44: MAYA was at Saipan and engaged in Marianas Naval Battle. On evening of June 20, she was attacked by countless planes and bombed by 500 pound bombs with one exploding near my torpedo station, where I was hit and was unconscious. Miraculously I came to my mind, but found myself on fire and immediately jumped into the salt water reserve tanks. My fellow shipmate beside me was killed. 16. Jun 26/44: Returned to Yokosuka. Additional modernization was done to MAYA with crew now at Jul 1944: MAYA left Yokosuka to join 4 th Fleet on its way to carry Army Units to Okinawa. 18. Sep 20/44: MAYA now assigned to 1 st Flying Column of the Mobile Unit at Brunei Port.

6 19. Oct 22/44: MAYA departs Brunei Port and heads for Gulf of Leyte as part of SHO #1 OPERATION). 20. Oct 23/44: At 06:57hrs at Palawan Strait, MAYA was torpedoed by 4 torpedoes from USS DACE (ss-247) and sank in 7 minutes killing 366 crew. There were 739 survivors rescued by Japanese Destroyer SHIMAKAZE. Note: Mr. Yoshida was transferred to the Battleship MUSHASHI. 21. Oct 1944: While aboard MUSHASHI, she was attacked by numerous aircraft and badly damaged. Out of commission, crew were transferred to Repair Ship AKASH and headed back to Yokosuka naval base. Note: On way to Japan, Mr. Yoshida learns of MUSHAHI sinking. At home crew was confined to remote area for over 1 month for security reasons. 22. Jan 1945: After being released from confinement, Mr. Yoshida was assigned to mountain-top as machine gunner at 1 st Yokosuka Naval Base. 23. May 1/45: Promoted to Petty Officer 2 nd Class.

7 24. June 1945: Training in a Suicide Unit (2 nd Storming Unit) as unit leader and was stationed at entrance of Tokyo Bay in Sunozaki Village. 25. Aug 15/45: Promoted to Petty Officer 1 st Class at end of the war.

8 USS DACE

9 Materials in this presentation were transcribed by Harvey Low from notes provided by Mr. Harry Yoshida. Pictures kindly provided by Tero Tuononen (Mr. Tuononen s wife is Mr. Yoshida s niece)