The Last Gunfight. Operation Dukedom.
British warships of the Royal Navy [RN] versus the Japanese capital ship Imperial Japanese Navy [IJN] Haguro.
Naval warfare, a night action of the ancient and venerable type, AND the last such encounter in the entire history of naval warfare.
A battle, surface vessel versus surface vessel, sans naval aviation and submarines, naval gunfire and torpedoes versus other naval gunfire and torpedoes.
Battle of the Malacca Strait as it is deemed the type of naval warfare as you might have seen at Tsushima or Jutland. Read a full account of events from the British perspective.
See this impressive You Tube video of "The Last Gunfight". Very good graphics with outstanding sound track. Naval night combat actions a specialty of the IJN prior to Pearl Harbor. That advantage during a naval night engagement made moot by radar. Haguro formidably armed, the ship having extensive combat service. An experienced crew [?] with worthy commanders. Those British destroyers willing to take on such a dangerous opponent a gutsy move. Calculated audacity.
Modern naval surface warships possessing guns but those primarily secondary weaponry. Primary weapon of surface naval vessels missiles to be used in an over-the-horizon beyond-visual-range manner. NOT naval gunfire mano-a-mano naval gunfire.
Sadly now Haguro being even as a war grave the steel from the ship being salvaged in an illegal [?] manner for "old steel" as it is deemed. See previous blog entry the topic salvage of "old steel" from sunken warships a dubious trade and business.
coolbert.