Haguro was the last of the Myoko class of heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after a mountain in Yamagata Prefecture. She displaced 13,300 tons, was 201 metres long, and was capable of 36 knots (67 km/h). She carried one aircraft and her main armament was ten 8 inch (200 mm) guns. In May 1945, Haguro was the target of the British Operation Dukedom and was ambushed. The 26th Destroyer Fotilla found her with the destroyer Kamikaze and began the attack. During the battle, the Kamikaze was lightly damaged, but Haguro was hit by gunfire and three Mark IX Torpedoes. The Haguro soon began to slow down and took a 30-degrees list to port. At 0232 the Haguro began to go down bow first in the Malacca Strait, 55 miles off Penang, on 16 May 1945, Kamikaze rescued 320 survivors. Nine hundred men, including Vice Admiral Hashimoto and Rear Admiral Shiguira, perished with her. Rear Admiral Shiguira was later promoted to Vice Admiral posthumously in May 16.

This was our second visit since the wreck was discovered in 2003 by our capt http://www.combinedfleet.com/haguro_t.htm, showing significant superstructure damage from her last and earlier battles. She lays in 68m of water usually subjected to strong currents and poor visibility.