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Japanese Cruiser TakaoTakao was a Japanese heavy cruiser named after a mountain north-west of Kyoto, literally "High Hero". She had a displacement of 15,781 tons and dimensions of 661'9" x 68'0" x 20'9", a top speed of 34 knots and was armed with 10 x 8"/50, 8 x 5"/40 DP, up to 66 x 25mm AA and 16 x 24" TT. She carried a crew of 773. Takao was launched on 12th May 1930 and commisioned 31st May 1932. In 1941, She only saw action in the landings of Lingayen. In 1942, she participated in Battle of Eastern Solomons, Battle of Santa Cruz, Battle of Guadalcanal. Along with Atago, she sank DD27 USS Pillsbury in the Sea of Java. She also sank the sloop HMAS Yarra on 4 March 1942. On 22 October 1944, she joined the Japanese "Centre Force" fleet and sailed sailed from Brunie Bay for the grand battle of Leyte Gulf. On 23 October, the submarine USS Darter hit Takao with two torpedoes, which shattered two shafts, broke her fantail and flooded three boiler rooms. Takao manage to escape as Darter ran aground on the Bombay Shoal and the submarine USS Dace had to break off the pursuit to rescue the crew of her stranded partner. She limped back to Brunei escorted by two destroyers and eventually back to Singapore, arriving in mid-November. Repairs on both cruisers then began. Takao was so badly damaged, it was considered impossible to send her back to Japan any time soon for full repairs. So the stern was cut off and shored up and she was moored as an AA battery for Singapore defence. It was during this berthing that she was attacked on 31st July 1945 by British mini sub XE3 commanded by Lieutenant Ian Edward Fraser and Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis which was awarded the Victoria Cross. Contrary to widely reported story, Takao was not sunk and she was not torpedoed but attacked using 6 limpet mines placed by a diver. The attack blew a hole 60 ft by 30 ft in the hull of the Takao with most of her guns were put out of action. The gun rangefinders were also destroyed and a number of compartments flooded inside the large cruiser. On 5 Sept 1945, the Straits of Johor naval base was surrendered by the Japanese to the British while the formal boarding of the still partially manned Takao was on 21 September 1945 She was finally towed to the Straits of Malacca to be used as a target ship for H.M.S. Newfoundland.
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