Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "December 1944: USS Bergall vs IJN Myōkō and Ushio" video.

  1. Myoko was a lucky ship in general. She participated in almost all the major naval engagements of the war. She sank or damaged several Allied warships while escaping any serious damage until the Battle of Leyte Gulf, when she was hit in the stern by a torpedo fired for an American destroyer. She had survived multiple attacks from US subs, none of them managing to hit Myoko . After breaking off from the battle, she was able to make it Singapore for temporary repairs. She was enroute to Cam Ranh Bay in what was then French Indochina for more repairs and fuel, which was in short supply at Singapore. When a portion of her already weakened stern was blown off by a torpedo from Bergall her stern bulkhead held, as the weakened portion of the stern happened to be after of strongest stern bulkhead. All Japanese heavy cruisers converted from light cruisers were dangerously overloaded, and some cruisers, including Myoko , were refit with stronger stern and bow bulkheads as well as antitorpedo bulges. Myoko was one of the last cruisers to undergo such an extensive refit, completed in April, 1941, as the course of the war interfered with most further refits of that class. In a postwar examination of the remaining stern of Myoko , it was found that three of her four propeller shafts were blown away or broken by Bergall's torpedo. It was only by the shearest of luck the one shaft held long enough to make it to Singapore for repairs to that shaft. As the video said, there were insufficient materials at Singapore to repair all the ships needing repairs after Leyte Gulf. The IJN had decided first priority for repairs would go to destroyers. Cruisers were no longer needed for the set piece battles the Japanese had assumed would decide the war since submarines and aircraft had sunk most of her major surface units. Even if she could have been repaired, there was insufficient fuel at Singapore for a large vessel like Myoko to make it back to Japan. Myoko was one of the few major surface ships that survived repeated attacks by British midget subs and air attacks at Singapore. She was damaged by still afloat at the time of the Japanese surrender, a testament to the damage control skills of her crew.
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