yahagi, noshiro, agano, and error musume (kantai collection) drawn by ragho_no_erika

Agano class 3rd ship Yahagi

Finally, to quote Mr. Ikeda's words regarding the life of Yahagi, the top secret ship whose name only told by picture on her celebration cup. "I feel that I must gather accurate information as much as possible to be passed down to the next generation". I decided to write this column as introduction to her hidden life. To close it all, I hope that with it, Yahagi's words will echo fearlessly in the hearts of peoples who know her story.

Agano class

Built on November 11th, 1941 in Sasebo as the third of the Agano class light cruiser. Launched on October 25th, 1942 (Showa 17). Because of the top secret nature, the sake cup given during the launching ceremony doesn't bear Yahagi's name. Instead, it is decorated with a drawing of an arrow (Ya) and Japanese clover (Hagi). Commissioned on December 29th, 1943.

While it's a sad history, I feel that I can't leave this part out. Fighting the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Battle of Leyte Gulf and Battle of Bonomisaki (Ten-Go), she watched the end of many ships. Especially in Bonomisaki she fought a long battle until finally sunk. 18 minutes after, her crew witnessed the sinking of the Yamato and the end of the Combined Fleet. * While it's true that there are still ships left, Nagato, Ise, Hyuuga and Haruna can't sortie out because of insufficient fuel so they are converted into floating platform. This is why this battle is the final.

Sasebo Burger is popular even among ship girls ?

But despite the episodes she experienced, due to her secrecy, Yahagi's name rarely shows up. There are some books that detailed stories about Yahagi.

Okita Sei's "Last Cruiser Yahagi" (Shinjinbutsu Ouraisha 1998)
Inokawa Hiro's "Warship Yahagi Battle Record, Architect Ikeda Takekuni's Pacific War" (Koujinsha 2010)

These two books accounted the story of architect Ikeda Takekuni who served as ensign trainee in Yahagi. Also in January 2014 edition of Weekly Post (Shogakukan) there is an article about Ikeda's first meeting with the ship girl Yahagi. Other than those, I'm also recommending Hara Tameichi's "Last of the Imperial Navy" which I've introduced in Shigure's illustration column to get a picture about the ships and battles. Please check the author's name.