Jamimoto class battleship part one, 1940 - 1945
After being salvaged and and modernised throughout the rest of the 1930s, Urarahat as a almost completely new ship built upon the rusted remains of the old one, propulsion system was completely ripped out her old propulsion system was completely ripped out and replaced with new boilers and engines allowing her to reach a speed of 25 knots, however this came up the expense of losing one of the main gun turrets.
After returning to service Urarahat would be Incorporated into the 1st battleship Squadron, and would remain with the Squadron until early 1941, when she would be selected to be part of the escort for the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, with her role as an escort ship to the carrier battle groups, she had no direct role in the attack on Pearl Harbour, however with Japan's declaration of War on the United States after the attack she and the first battleship Squadron would be deployed into the Pacific, to take strategic locations vital for the continued expansion of the Japanese Empire.
Urarahat's first taste of action would come on the 25th of December 1941, with the second attempt by the Japanese armed forces to catch our wake Island from the US, as a result of there being no significant US Navy presents, Urarahat along with the rest of the first battleship Squadron would primarily take part in Shoreham bomber, in which between warships of the first battleship Squadron collectively destroyed a total of 6 artillery guns and 1 aircraft hangout, despite not achieving much during the capture of wake Island.
Going into 1942 and first battleship Squadron again would be paired with the first carrier division much like they had done during the attack on Pearl Harbour, the first battleship Squadron was designated to escort the first carrier division and protect it from any possible USN combatants, however instead of coming under attack from surface warships, the carriers and their battleship escorts would come under attack from us aircraft carrier aircraft, however for some inexplicable reason do us dive bombers and torpedo bombers focused on the escorts in battleships instead of the carriers, despite of waiting all of torpedoes intended for her, Urarahat would be hit by two 500 pound high explosive bombs, causing significant but not faithful damage, however some other members of the first battleship Squadron were not so lucky, with the battleship Kazusa would eventually succumb to her injuries, capsizing at 22:34, the first battleship division along with the battered but still semi operational Japanese carriers would escape the American aircraft under the cover of night, eventually arriving back in Japan later that month for extensive repairs.
After being repaired, Urarahat would spend the rest of 1942 and most of 1943 at anchor in and around Japan, despite being refitted extensively in the 1930s she was considered by the Japanese Admiralty to be too old and slow for carrier escort, considering that the newer Japanese carriers could exceed 30 knots and she only had a top speed of 27, by late 1943 she had been moved back to her country of origin, being stationed at Tajima naval base along with a few other Zipang capital ships, she would be an anchor in the bay on the 16th of October, when tension between the populace and the Japanese appointed leaders, would finally boil over into large-scale riots, at first it was believed that his riots could be dealt with in matches similar fashion as they had been in the past, as a result the Japanese and Zipang troops stationed at Tajima naval base, however even with the threat of death if they did not comply, the Zipang troops defiantly refused to commit such an atrocity on their own countrymen, without the help of the much larger Zipang garrison, the Japanese troops were quickly overrun by the railed up populous, with the city worldwide riots be the perfect opportunity for resistant cells that have been around since the War of 1934 finally finding the opportunity to strike, across the nation the resistant cells would organise and unite the populace in their hatred against their Japanese oppressors, and with much of the Zipang armed forces refusing out rights to kill their own countrymen, meant that the Japanese installed government, could do very little to stop the now Nationwide and organised resistance, despite not having many Japanese troops, the Japanese puppet government would order the Japanese troops to do anything in my power to stop the riots, this resulted in Absolutely abhorrent atrocities such as mass murder and mass rape, however was each war crime the Japanese troops committed the more angered and more ruthless the populace and resistance became, eventually this led to a full-scale civil war, with the government and the few loyal Zipang troops and remaining Japanese troops on one side, and the entire population of The Zipang and the army Navy and Air Force, as to be expected the government was quickly overrun by the sheer number of the resistance, eventually resulting in the complete destruction of the Japanese puppet government and Japanese loyalists by the 24th of February 1944, Urarahat for her part during the civil war, would be one of the first ships to actively rebel against the Japanese command structure, she would also take part in the bombardement of Japanese and government loyalists positions at Tajima, and in late December 1943 she would help to catch the Japanese battleship nagato by acting as a roadblock stopping the Japanese battleship from Escaping the Harbour, after a Japanese skeleton crew had managed to board her, and tried to make headway.
After the complete annihilation of the puppet government and its loyalists, Urarahat would remain at Tajima to undergo a substantial refit, she would also help to keep the law in the city, while the recognised government was re-established, however by late February she was moved from Tajima, and re Incorporated into the newly established first battleship Squadron, due to her size and age she was not selected to be the flagship, however she was selected in case of emergencies to act as a backup flagship for the Squadron if that ever became necessary, in late March 1944, has Squadron along with several other ships, would set sail for Hawaii, with their mission being to escort the newly appointed Prime Minister, to meet with us officials, the fleet of ships would arrive on 25th of March 1944, by April 2nd the Zipang Republic had officially joined the allied powers.
Urarahat along with several battleships, destroyers and Cruisers, would be assigned to work closely with the US task force 58, in an effort to try and strengthen still shaky alliance between the USN and Zipang Navy, this alliance will be put to the test on the 19th of June 1944 at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where Urarahat and several other Zipang ships would show just how much they heated Japanese and were willing to fight, Urarahat herself would be credited with 35 aircraft kills with 4 of them being shared with a American destroyer, Admiral Marc Mitscher, despite having fought many battles against the Zipang navy, would commend the crews of the Zipang ships for that conduct in battle.
Urarahat would continue to work closely with task force 58, with her crew developing somewhat of a friendly rivalry with the crew of the American battleship New Jersey, during time between battle it was very common for the ship crews to arrange a sporting events between the two ships such as boxing, in Mid 1944 Urarahat would go into dry dock for general repairs and refit before rejoining task force 58 in early October 1944, just in time for the Battle of leyte Gulf.
Urarahat along with task force 58, would be incorporated into the main American battle group, and after the interception of radio transmissions from the Japanese Fleet, the combined American and Zipang battlegroup would set sail to intercept the Japanese centre Force, on the morning of the 25th of October, spotter aircraft from the USS New Jersey would identify the Japanese Fleet, consisting of several battleships and cruisers along with a escort of destroyers, the American ships would be the first open fire, utilising their superior radar control directors, Urarahat and her fellow Zipang ships would also open fire, Urarahat herself managing the score a hit on a Japanese Cruiser with her second Salvo, however she would quickly redirect her fire to the largest target in the fleet, which was the Japanese battleship yamato, despite scoring some significant hits however the range combined with her gun calibre meant that Urarahat could do relatively little to the Japanese giant, by the end of the battle Urarahat had received significant damage from her fight with a Japanese battlecruiser, and despite suffering casualties and losing many ships, the combined Zipang and American fleet have managed to completely annihilate the Japanese centre Force, with only a few destroyers and cruisers managing to escape, Urarahat and several other Zipang ships would return to home waters for much needed repairs, Urarahat herself would be put out of commission until March 1945 due to the severity of the damage she had taken during the fleet engagement.
Urarahat would be recommissioned on the 24th of March 1945, however due to her age and other factors she would do relatively little for the rest of the war, mostly being used for guard duties and Patrols in home Waters, and ultimately with the end of the war in September 1945, she would immediately be placed into reserve due to her age, she would stay in the reserve Fleet until 1948 before being decommissioned and scrapped, bringing an end to the history of one of Zipang's most decorated battleships.
ships in class: (laid down-launched-commissioned - fate)
Urarahat (BB-10) 1911-1913-1914 - Decommissioned 1945