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130-605: Mikuma ( 三隈 , Mikuma ) was a heavy cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy . The second vessel in the four-ship Mogami class , she was laid down in 1931 and commissioned in 1935. During World War II she participated in the Battle of Sunda Strait in February 1942 and the Battle of Midway in June 1942, and was sunk the last day of the latter engagement, on 6 June. The ship

260-614: A Baltimore -derived hull, the Saipan -class aircraft carrier . The largest heavy cruisers were the Alaska -class large cruisers, which were designed as "cruiser killers". They resembled contemporary battlecruisers or battleships in general appearance, as well as having main armament and displacement equal or greater than that of capital ships of the First World War. However, they were actually upscaled heavy cruisers, as their machinery layout and

390-904: A common Anglo-American vision of the postwar world, as formalized by the Atlantic Charter . At the Second Inter-Allied Meeting in London in September 1941, the eight European governments in exile, together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth in the Atlantic Charter. In December, Japan attacked American and British territories in Asia and

520-403: A comparatively small hull. Mikuma was completed at Mitsubishi 's Nagasaki shipyards on 29 August 1935. Beginning in 1939, Mikuma was brought in for substantial reconstruction, replacing the triple 155-millimetre (6 in) turrets with twin 203 mm (8 in) guns (the 155 mm turrets going to the battleship Yamato ). Torpedo bulges were also added to improve stability, but

650-588: A different form than they had in the past. The result was the battlecruiser . HMS Invincible and her two sister ships were designed specifically to fulfil these requirements. In a sense they were an extension of the armoured cruiser as a fast, heavily armed scout, commerce protector and cruiser-destroyer, reflected in the term originally ascribed to them, "large armoured cruiser". However, they were much larger, faster and better-armed than armoured cruisers, able to outpace them, stay out of range of their weapons and destroy them with relative impunity. Because they carried

780-608: A domination of the world completely different from any known in world history. The domination at which the Nazis aim is not limited to the displacement of the balance of power and the imposition of the supremacy of one nation. It seeks the systematic and total destruction of those conquered by Hitler and it does not treaty with the nations which it has subdued. He destroys them. He takes from them their whole political and economic existence and seeks even to deprive them of their history and culture. He wishes only to consider them as vital space and

910-560: A formalized group upon the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, which was signed by 26 nations around the world; these ranged from governments in exile from the Axis occupation to small nations far removed from the war. The Declaration officially recognized the Big Three and China as the "Four Powers", acknowledging their central role in prosecuting the war; they were also referred to as

1040-530: A great patch of oil and "not one survivor could be rescued". However, two of Mikuma ' s crew would be rescued by USS  Trout  (SS-202) on 9 June, the only survivors on a life raft that originally held seventeen. Owing to the secrecy and attempted cover-up of the disaster at Midway, the General Navy Headquarters would list Mikuma as "heavily damaged" rather than sunk, and then temporarily listed her as "unmanned" before being struck off

1170-535: A key role in achieving victory. A series of conferences between Allied leaders, diplomats, and military officials gradually shaped the makeup of the alliance, the direction of the war, and ultimately the postwar international order. Relations between the United Kingdom and the United States were especially close , with their bilateral Atlantic Charter forming the groundwork of their alliance. The Allies became

1300-468: A larger number of main guns (some armoured cruisers had a mixed instead of uniform complement of main guns), discarded the mounting of main guns in casemates in favour of centre-line superfiring turrets (saving tonnage and enabling the ship to fire all guns on one broadside), and benefited from the introduction of fire control in the 1920s and 1930s, meaning that the heavy cruiser was considerably more powerful. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 imposed

1430-472: A long range, but were virtually unprotected, and were easily damaged in combat. The Japanese Myōkō class , however, grew during its construction as the naval general staff prevailed on the designers to increase the weapons load. As well as a breach of the Treaty, this was a poor decision from the design point of view and the ships had to be reconstructed in the 1930s to reduce weight. The German Deutschland class

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1560-640: A massive air attack on Germany, but Stalin kept wanting more. Although the U.S. had a strained relationship with the USSR in the 1920s, relations were normalized in 1933. The original terms of the Lend-Lease loan were amended towards the Soviets, to be put in line with British terms. The United States would now expect interest with the repayment from the Soviets, following the initiation of the Operation Barbarossa , at

1690-829: A mixed battery were eliminated to make room for above deck torpedoes , and ever-increasing and more effective anti-aircraft armaments. They also benefited from the superior fire control of the 1920s and continually upgraded through the 1950s. Late in the development cycle radar and electronic countermeasures would also appear and rapidly gain in importance. At the end of the 19th century, cruisers were classified as first, second or third class depending on their capabilities. First-class cruisers were typically armoured cruisers , with belt side armour, while lighter, cheaper, and faster second- and third-class cruisers tended to have only an armoured deck and protective coal bunkers, rather than armoured hulls; they were hence known as protected cruisers . Their essential role had not changed since

1820-403: A moratorium on new battleship construction, with the exception of the two Nelson -class battleships by Great Britain, and set very strict limits on the tonnage and firepower of future battleships and battlecruisers. It also set the definition of a capital ship as a warship of more than 10,000 tons standard displacement or with armament of a calibre greater than 8 inches (203 mm). There

1950-423: A much larger type of super-cruiser. Despite these intentions and set limitations, a number of new, powerful cruiser classes emerged from these nations, which sparked off something of a cruiser arms-race. The Japanese navy had a doctrine of building more powerful ships in every class than its likely opponents, which led to the development of several very impressive heavy cruiser classes. British and American building

2080-561: A much more balanced and better-protected design, plus an improved replica of the Trento s ( Bolzano ); all of them, however, surpassed the displacement limit. The Pensacola -class cruisers were the US Navy's first "treaty cruisers" designed in line with Washington Naval Treaty restrictions. Their main battery consisted of ten 8 in (200 mm) guns, in two twin turrets on the main deck, and two triple turrets two decks above, making it one of

2210-502: A nonsense of the light and heavy cruiser classifications. The waters were muddied further when the US Navy ceased laying down keels for new heavy cruisers in 1934 and used their new hull design for the Brooklyn -class cruiser of light cruiser. This type followed in the steps of Mogami by taking what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull and fitting light cruiser guns to it, and while the US Navy never fitted 8-inch guns to their "light" cruisers,

2340-464: A potential enemy and fulfil its traditional role as scout for the fleet demanded a speed preferably 30 percent faster than battleships. Thirty percent was the ratio by which frigates had been faster than ships of the line in the days of sail. If a battleship sailed at 20 knots, this would mean that an armoured cruiser would have to steam at least 26 or 27 knots. Armoured cruisers could not fulfil these criteria without being built much larger and taking on

2470-640: A separate colony. British Malaya covers the areas of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore , while British Borneo covers the area of Brunei , including Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia. British Hong Kong consisted of Hong Kong Island , the Kowloon Peninsula , and the New Territories . Territories controlled by the Colonial Office , namely the Crown Colonies , were controlled politically by

2600-408: A total of 39 bombs around the two ships with no hits. This attack concluded at around 0830. The following morning, 6 June 1942, Mikuma and Mogami were still heading due west instead of north-west where the combined fleet was converging, hoping to come within the 700 km (430 mi) range of Wake Island 's fighter air cover. Hornet ' s 26 dive bombers arrived first, and at first ignored

2730-599: A vacant territory over which he has every right. The human beings who constitute these nations are for him only cattle. He orders their massacre or migration. He compels them to make room for their conquerors. He does not even take the trouble to impose any war tribute on them. He just takes all their wealth and, to prevent any revolt, he scientifically seeks the physical and moral degradation of those whose independence he has taken away. France experienced several major phases of action during World War II: In Africa these included: French West Africa , French Equatorial Africa ,

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2860-699: Is the USS ; Salem , now a museum ship in Quincy, Massachusetts . Allies of World War II The Allies , formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during World War II (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers . Its principal members by the end of 1941 were the " Big Four " – the United Kingdom , United States , Soviet Union , and China . Membership in

2990-513: The Hawkins class . Essentially enlarged light cruisers, being referred to in contemporary reference works as an "improved Birmingham" type after the 6-inch gunned 5,000-ton second-class light cruisers then entering service, the Hawkins -class cruisers each carried seven 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns and had a displacement just under 10,000 tons. The difference between these ships and ones that would follow with

3120-579: The Aleutian Islands and from there to Australia . On 5 June, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, CINC of the Combined Fleet ordered Cruiser Division 7 to shell Midway in preparation for a Japanese landing. The Mikuma at the time was captained by Captain Sakiyama Shakao, former skipper of the cruiser Abukuma . Cruiser Division 7 and DesDiv 8 were 410 nautical miles (760 km; 470 mi) away from

3250-535: The British West Indies , British Honduras , British Guiana and the Falkland Islands . The Dominion of Newfoundland was directly ruled as a royal colony from 1933 to 1949, run by a governor appointed by London who made the decisions regarding Newfoundland. British India included the areas and peoples covered by later India , Bangladesh , Pakistan and (until 1937) Burma/Myanmar , which later became

3380-631: The Indian Ocean raids . Mikuma , Mogami and destroyer Amagiri detached and formed the Southern Group, which hunted for merchant shipping in the Bay of Bengal , while Chōkai , Destroyer Squadron 4's light cruiser Yura and destroyers Ayanami , Yūgiri , Asagiri and Shiokaze covered the northern areas. During the operation, the Southern Group claimed kills on 7,726-ton British passenger ship Dardanus and 5,281-ton British steamship Ganara and

3510-470: The Kumano . Mikuma attempted to mirror the movements of Suzuya , turning to port and then turning to port further more after witnessing Suzuya maneuvering to avoid the formation's flagship (to avoid being entangled with the flagship). Mogami at the rear of the formation had made a turn to port and maintained a straight course heading north-west. Mikuma ' s final turn to port had brought her directly into

3640-531: The London Naval Treaty . Heavy cruiser order of battle between Japan and the United States and its allies: Japan was only allowed 12 heavy cruisers by treaty, but had intentionally built the Mogami s with the option to have their main battery changed. The two Tone s were also originally planned as light cruisers, but launched after the treaty system broke down with 8-inch guns. At the start of hostilities there

3770-559: The " trusteeship of the powerful", and later as the " Four Policemen " of the United Nations. Many more countries joined through to the final days of the war, including colonies and former Axis nations. After the war ended, the Allies, and the Declaration that bound them, would become the basis of the modern United Nations ; one enduring legacy of the alliance is the permanent membership of

3900-496: The 1920s, culminating in the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations strongly condemned the attack as an act of aggression against China; Japan responded by leaving the League in 1933. The second Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japan's full-scale invasion of China. The League of Nations condemned Japan's actions and initiated sanctions; the United States, which had attempted to peacefully negotiate for peace in Asia,

4030-485: The 6,622-ton British merchant vessel Indora , en route from Calcutta to Mauritius . On 22 April, Cruiser Division 7 returned to Kure , and Mikuma went into dry dock for overhaul. On 26 May, Cruiser Division 7 arrived at Guam to provide close support for Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka 's Midway Invasion Transport Group. Mikuma ' s crew was advised that upon the completion of the Midway operation they would proceed to

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4160-424: The 8-inch gun would inflict more damage when it hit, more 6-inch guns could be carried, likely resulting in more shells on target, and a greater chance of scoring the first hit. This led to the construction of cruisers up to the 10,000-tons limit, with twelve to fifteen 155 mm guns. The 1936 London Naval Treaty, principally negotiated between Britain and the United States but never ratified, would have abolished

4290-544: The Allies varied during the course of the war. When the conflict broke out on 1 September 1939, the Allied coalition consisted of the United Kingdom, France , and Poland , as well as their respective dependencies , such as British India . They were joined by the independent dominions of the British Commonwealth : Canada , Australia , New Zealand and South Africa . Consequently, the initial alliance resembled that of

4420-652: The American Harry Hopkins . It is also often called the "Strange Alliance", because it united the leaders of the world's greatest capitalist state (the United States), the greatest socialist state (the Soviet Union) and the greatest colonial power (the United Kingdom). Relations between them resulted in the major decisions that shaped the war effort and planned for the postwar world. Cooperation between

4550-458: The Big Three leaders, although they were not enough to break the alliance during wartime. In 1942 Roosevelt proposed becoming, with China, the Four Policemen of world peace. Although the 'Four Powers' were reflected in the wording of the Declaration by United Nations , Roosevelt's proposal was not initially supported by Churchill or Stalin. Division emerged over the length of time taken by

4680-662: The British Government during the Second World War and made part of the British Army structure. It was mostly Greek Cypriot volunteers and Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Cyprus but also included other Commonwealth nationalities. On a brief visit to Cyprus in 1943, Winston Churchill praised the "soldiers of the Cyprus Regiment who have served honourably on many fields from Libya to Dunkirk". About 30,000 Cypriots served in

4810-637: The Cyprus Regiment. The regiment was involved in action from the very start and served at Dunkirk , in the Greek Campaign (about 600 soldiers were captured in Kalamata in 1941), North Africa ( Operation Compass ), France, the Middle East and Italy. Many soldiers were taken prisoner especially at the beginning of the war and were interned in various PoW camps ( Stalag ) including Lamsdorf ( Stalag VIII-B ), Stalag IVC at Wistritz bei Teplitz and Stalag 4b near Most in

4940-529: The Czech Republic. The soldiers captured in Kalamata were transported by train to prisoner of war camps. After Germany invaded Poland, France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939. In January 1940, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier made a major speech denouncing the actions of Germany: At the end of five months of war, one thing has become more and more clear. It is that Germany seeks to establish

5070-406: The Declaration was signed by Iraq, Iran, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. A Tripartite Treaty of Alliance with Britain and the USSR formalised Iran's assistance to the Allies. In Rio de Janeiro , Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas was considered near to fascist ideas, but realistically joined the United Nations after their evident successes. In 1944, Liberia and France signed. The French situation

5200-657: The First World War . As Axis forces began invading northern Europe and the Balkans , the Allies added the Netherlands , Belgium , Norway , Greece , and Yugoslavia . The Soviet Union, which initially had a nonaggression pact with Germany and participated in its invasion of Poland , joined the Allies after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The United States, while providing some materiel support to European Allies since September 1940, remained formally neutral until

5330-751: The German Scharnhorst and the U.S. Navy's North Carolina -class battleships of 40%. Effectively, the Alaska s were ill-protected to stand up against the guns of true battleships and battlecruisers, and as carrier escorts they were much more expensive than the Baltimore s while having only slightly better anti-aircraft capabilities. Given low priority by the USN, only two members of the class were completed and they saw little service as World War II ended not long after their commissioning. Heavy cruisers fell out of use after

Japanese cruiser Mikuma - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-650: The German war machine. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland ; two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Roughly two weeks after Germany's attack, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Britain and France established the Anglo-French Supreme War Council to coordinate military decisions. A Polish government-in-exile was set up in London, joined by hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers, which would remain an Allied nation until

5590-589: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, after which it declared war and officially joined the Allies. China had already been at war with Japan since 1937 , and formally joined the Allies in December 1941. The Allies were led by the so-called "Big Three"—the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States—which were the principal contributors of manpower, resources, and strategy, each playing

5720-460: The Pacific, resulting in the U.S. formally entering the war as an Allied power. Still reeling from Japanese aggression, China declared war on all the Axis powers shortly thereafter. By the end of 1941, the main lines of World War II had formed. Churchill referred to the "Grand Alliance" of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, which together played the largest role in prosecuting

5850-581: The Second World War, with the Royal Navy decommissioning its last three ( HMS  London , HMS  Cumberland , and HMS  Devonshire ) by the early 1950s. Some existing US heavy cruisers lasted well through the 1970s, with the last all-gun ship USS  Newport News decommissioning in 1975. USS  Chicago , USS  Columbus and USS  Albany , which had been converted to guided missile cruisers (US hull symbol CG), were laid up between 1975 and 1980. The last heavy cruiser in existence

5980-448: The Soviet Union, were accepted as members of the United Nations as a way to provide greater influence to Stalin, who had only Yugoslavia as a communist partner in the alliance. British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain delivered his Ultimatum Speech on 3 September 1939 which declared war on Germany , a few hours before France. As the Statute of Westminster 1931 was not yet ratified by

6110-575: The Treaty of Versailles and made claims over German-populated Austria and the German-populated territories of Czechoslovakia. The likelihood of war was high, but none of the major powers had the appetite for another conflict; many governments sought to ease tensions through nonmilitary strategies such as appeasement . Japan, which was a principal allied power in the First World War, had since become increasingly militaristic and imperialistic; parallel to Germany, nationalist sentiment increased throughout

6240-606: The U.N. Security Council , which is made up exclusively of the principal Allied powers that won the war. The victorious Allies of World War I —which included what would become the Allied powers of the Second World War—had imposed harsh terms on the opposing Central Powers in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919–1920 . Germany resented signing the Treaty of Versailles , which required that it take full responsibility for

6370-574: The UK and therefore also entered hostilities with Britain's declaration of war. At the outbreak of World War II, the British Indian Army numbered 205,000 men. Later during World War II, the British Indian Army became the largest all-volunteer force in history, rising to over 2.5 million men in size. Indian soldiers earned 30 Victoria Crosses during the Second World War. It suffered 87,000 military casualties (more than any Crown colony but fewer than

6500-544: The US and Royal Navies), which were largely relegated to leading destroyer squadrons. The solution the Japanese adopted was to build the Mogami class , which was declared as a 10,000 ton light cruiser with fifteen 6.1-inch guns. In practice, they displaced over 12,000 tons, had what was effectively a heavy cruiser hull design, and it was always intended to replace her turrets to give a final armament of ten 203 mm guns, making something of

6630-597: The United Kingdom and the United States had cooperated in a number of ways, notably through the destroyers-for-bases deal in September 1940 and the American Lend-Lease program, which provided Britain and the Soviet Union with war materiel beginning in October 1941. The British Commonwealth and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union reciprocated with a smaller Reverse Lend-Lease program. The First Inter-Allied Meeting took place in London in early June 1941 between

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6760-453: The United Kingdom and the United States was especially close and included forming a Combined Chiefs of Staff . There were numerous high-level conferences ; in total Churchill attended 14 meetings, Roosevelt 12, and Stalin 5. Most visible were the three summit conferences that brought together the three top leaders. The Allied policy toward Germany and Japan evolved and developed at these three conferences. There were many tensions among

6890-515: The United Kingdom). The UK suffered 382,000 military casualties. Kuwait was a protectorate of the United Kingdom formally established in 1899. The Trucial States were British protectorates in the Persian Gulf. Palestine was a mandate dependency created in the peace agreements after World War I from the former territory of the Ottoman Empire , Iraq . The Cyprus Regiment was formed by

7020-420: The United Kingdom, the four co-belligerent British Dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), the eight governments in exile ( Belgium , Czechoslovakia , Greece , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Norway , Poland , Yugoslavia ) and Free France . The meeting culminated with the Declaration of St James's Palace , which set out a first vision for the postwar world. In June 1941, Hitler broke

7150-413: The Vindicator section, led his bombers in a glide bombing attack. The two cruisers responded with accurate and effective anti-aircraft fire, and managed to shoot down Fleming's bomber. Almost as soon as this attack ended, a group of eight B-17 level bombers operating out of Midway, led by Lt. Col. Brooke E. Allen, arrived to attack the two cruisers. They attacked in two sections of four aircraft and dropped

7280-536: The Western Allies to establish a second front in Europe. Stalin and the Soviets used the potential employment of the second front as an 'acid test' for their relations with the Anglo-American powers. The Soviets were forced to use as much manpower as possible in the fight against the Germans, whereas the United States had the luxury of flexing industrial power, but with the "minimum possible expenditure of American lives". Roosevelt and Churchill opened ground fronts in North Africa in 1942 and in Italy in 1943, and launched

7410-452: The age of sail—to serve on long-range missions, patrol for enemy warships and raid and defend commerce. Armoured cruisers had proved less versatile than needed to do this adequately. In a race to outsize and outgun one another, they had grown to around 15,000 tons and up to 9.2 and 10 inches (230 and 250 mm) in main gun calibre—very close to the pre-dreadnought battleships of the day, although they were generally ascribed to be weaker than

7540-537: The area before more air attacks occurred, leaving most of Mikuma ' s crew in the water, Mogami and the two destroyers of DesDiv8 sailed away from her, having had time to rescue only 239 of her crew, including her dying captain Sakiyama. Mikuma continued to drift and burn for at least 4 more hours. Owing to the great confusion among American sighting report the past 2 days, Admiral Spruance of Task Force 16 ordered two recon Dauntlesses with cameras launched from Enterprise at 1553 to ascertain whether this damaged ship

7670-404: The armoured cruiser as it had been known was now outmoded. No more were built after 1910 and by the end of World War I , the majority of them had been taken out of active service. Although Lord Fisher , the man behind the building of Invincible , had hoped to replace practically all forms of cruisers with battlecruisers, they proved to be too costly to build in large numbers. At the same time,

7800-513: The battleship due to their lack of armour and not appreciably faster due to the limits of engine technology at the time. While Japanese armoured cruisers had distinguished themselves at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, the armoured cruiser as it was then known had reached the pinnacle of its development. Tactics and technology were gearing towards naval encounters held over increasingly longer ranges, which demanded an armament of primarily large calibre guns. The demand for speed with which to outflank

7930-411: The bridge collapsed and crashed into the conflagration in the aviation compartment. Though it wasn't obvious at the time, the bomb hit on the port machinery spaces had also ruptured the ship below the waterline, and she began taking on water. Mikuma continued trying to bring her fires under control, but approximately 30 minutes later the ship's executive officer Takashima came to the conclusion that there

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8060-497: The course of Mogami . In the darkness, Mogami did not sight Mikuma until she was very close to Mogami , moving ahead across her starboard bow. Captain Soji of Mogami attempted a last-second sharp turn to port, but it was too late. This resulted in a collision in which Mogami rammed Mikuma ' s portside, below the bridge . Mogami ' s bow caved in and she was badly damaged. Mikuma ' s portside oil tanks ruptured and she began to spill oil, but otherwise her damage

8190-468: The cruiser. The second bomb crashed through the deck and disabled the starboard forward engine rooms. Immediately after, two more bombs hit her aviation deck and exploded in the port aft engine room, starting a fire near her torpedo room. Mikuma was now dead in the water. The attacking planes left (the three TBD Devastator torpedo bombers did not join the attack, having been instructed to not attack anything that could respond with anti-aircraft fire). At 1358,

8320-410: The cruisers USS  Houston and HMAS  Perth with gunfire and torpedoes after the Allied vessels attacked Japanese transports in the Sunda Strait . At 2355, Houston scored hits on Mikuma that knocked out her electrical power, but it was quickly restored. During the battle, Mikuma lost six men and eleven others were wounded. Both Houston and Perth were sunk during the engagement, as

8450-453: The declaration; the Big Four were listed first: The United Nations began growing immediately after its formation. In 1942, Mexico, the Philippines and Ethiopia adhered to the declaration. Ethiopia had been restored to independence by British forces after the Italian defeat in 1941. The Philippines, still owned by Washington but granted international diplomatic recognition, was allowed to join on 10 June despite its occupation by Japan. In 1943,

8580-410: The difference were the advances in technology and naval design, both of which the heavy cruiser was able to take advantage. Heavy cruisers, like all contemporary ships, were typically powered by oil-fired steam turbine engines and were capable of far faster speeds than armoured cruisers had ever been (propelled by coal-fired reciprocating steam engines of their era). Nonetheless, heavy cruisers often had

8710-425: The direction of Arashio . Takashima remained in the ship's smoke-filled bridge, choosing to go down with the ship. The ship's main battery fire control director commander, Lt. Koyama Masao, also refused to leave the ship, choosing to instead commit Hara-Kiri on top of the forward gun turret, ashamed that his guns did not have a chance to smash the enemy. A few minutes after Takashima gave the order to abandon ship,

8840-421: The dive bombers, wanted to circle behind the formation and attack with the sun behind them, as was a favored dive bombing practice. But his rear section of the formation, VB-3, detached itself and attacked the rearmost cruiser in the formation ( Mogami ), planting 2 bombs in her at 1230. The rest of the dive bombers under Short attacked Mikuma from an altitude of 14,000 ft (4,300 m), and caught her as she

8970-637: The end of the war—the United States were not looking to support any "postwar Soviet reconstruction efforts", which eventually manifested into the Molotov Plan . At the Tehran conference , Stalin judged Roosevelt to be a "lightweight compared to the more formidable Churchill". During the meetings from 1943 to 1945, there were disputes over the growing list of demands from the USSR. Tensions increased further when Roosevelt died and his successor Harry Truman rejected demands put forth by Stalin. Roosevelt wanted to play down these ideological tensions. Roosevelt felt he "understood Stalin's psychology", stating "Stalin

9100-487: The end. After a quiet winter, Germany began its invasion of Western Europe in April 1940, quickly defeating Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. All the occupied nations subsequently established a government-in-exile in London, with each contributing a contingent of escaped troops. Nevertheless, by roughly one year since Germany's violation of the Munich Agreement, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini. Before they were formally allied,

9230-402: The fire amidships Mikuma reached the torpedoes stored there and triggered a chain of massive secondary explosions, putting to rest the hope of towing the ship out of danger. At 1420 Mogami radioed to the combined fleet that Mikuma was in dire straits. The secondary explosions left Mikuma ' s aft-amidships section and the aviation facility unrecognizable. The mast and superstructure atop

9360-399: The flagship of CruDiv 7 steaming at high speed to the north-west, combined with the reports of battleships and suspicions of a fifth carrier lurking about, led to great consternation on the part of Spruance and his staff at Task Force 16 , who thought that the faster force steaming northwest was the one that contained the battleship. Midway wasted no time after receiving the report and launched

9490-418: The formations approached the cruisers and received anti-aircraft fire that forced them to retreat to a safe distance. The Wildcat formation leader radioed to the dive bombers that one of the ships appeared to be a battleship (perhaps owing to the contrast between the two cruisers presented by Mogami ' s shattered bow) and the dive bomber formation reversed course to attack the formation. Willy Short, leading

9620-472: The heavy cruiser entirely by restricting new construction to 8,000 tons and 155 mm (6.1-inch) guns. This suited Britain's needs very well, but was largely a dead letter. The U.S. continued to build heavy cruisers, culminating in the New Orleans class and USS  Wichita . Heavy cruisers were still being built, and they could be balanced designs when nations decided to skirt the restrictions imposed by

9750-556: The heavy cruiser were almost as pronounced as that between the armoured cruiser and the battlecruiser. One reason for this difference was the intended mission of these ships. They were not intended to serve as a junior battleship, as the armoured cruiser had been, and were not built or designed to serve in that capacity. With their main armament of 203 mm (8-inch) guns, smaller than the typical 9.2-or-10-inch (230 or 250 mm) guns of later armoured cruisers, their intended targets were other cruisers and smaller vessels. Further reasons for

9880-404: The heavy guns normally ascribed to battleships, they could also theoretically hold their place in a battle line more readily than armoured cruisers and serve as the "battleship-cruiser" for which William Hovgaard had argued after Tsushima. All these factors made battlecruisers attractive fighting units, although Britain, Germany and Japan would be the only powers to build them. They also meant that

10010-497: The hull design was used as the basis for future heavy cruiser designs. The German navy also paid lip-service to the treaty limitations, with the Admiral Hipper class displacing 16,170 tons. In the mid-1930s, Britain, France and Italy ceased building heavy cruisers. It was felt that, in a likely cruiser engagement, a larger number of 155 mm (6-inch) guns would be preferable to a smaller number of 203 mm (8-inch). While

10140-638: The increased displacement caused a reduction in speed. Mikuma participated in the occupation of Cochinchina , French Indochina , after Japan and Vichy French authorities reached an understanding on use of its air facilities and harbors from July 1941, from its forward operating base on Hainan . At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor , Mikuma was assigned to cover the invasion of Malaya as part of Cruiser Division 7 under Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa 's First Southern Expeditionary Fleet, providing close support for landings of Japanese troops at Singora , Pattani and Kota Bharu . In December 1941, Mikuma

10270-624: The individual ships. The Americans favoured the opposite: strictly limited numbers of powerful cruisers. Disagreements between the British and Americans wrecked the 1927 conference on naval affairs. Even during the 1920s, the 10,000-ton limit was not always strictly observed, although British, French and American designers generally worked to the limit with precision. The British built 13 of the County class with four twin 8-inch gun turrets but with very minimal armour. The ships had fine sea-keeping qualities and

10400-408: The island, so they made a high-speed dash at 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph). The sea was choppy and the destroyers lagged behind. At 2120, the order was canceled; however, due to a mix up, Cruiser Division 7 did not receive the order till 0210 the following day, when it was just 50 miles (80 km) off Midway. This placed Cruiser Division 7 within range of the submarine USS  Tambor , which

10530-433: The last heavy cruisers, which were finished shortly after the war. The Baltimore class consisted of seventeen ships, including three of the slightly different Oregon City class . The Des Moines class were the last heavy cruisers built: though based on the Baltimore s, they were considerably heavier and longer due to their new rapid-firing 203 mm (8-inch) guns. Additionally, two aircraft carriers were built on

10660-535: The main advocates of appeasement, decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert an imminent German attack on Poland; the French likewise had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921 . The Soviet Union , which had been diplomatically and economically isolated by much of

10790-402: The navy list at 10 August 1942. Heavy cruiser The heavy cruiser is part of a lineage of ship design from 1915 through the early 1950s, although the term "heavy cruiser" only came into formal use in 1930. The heavy cruiser's immediate precursors were the light cruiser designs of the 1900s and 1910s, rather than the armoured cruisers of the years before 1905. When the armoured cruiser

10920-637: The non-aggression agreement with Stalin and Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union , which consequently declared war on Germany and its allies. Britain agreed to an alliance with the Soviet Union in July, with both nations committing to assisting one another by any means, and to never negotiate a separate peace. The following August saw the Atlantic Conference between American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , which defined

11050-532: The numbers of heavy cruisers that the Imperial Japanese Navy could have, as they considered heavy cruisers as key warships in a line of battle with their 8-inch guns and heavy torpedo armament. The IJN placed less priority on purpose-built light cruisers, most of their existing types dating back to the 1920s (the five World War I-era light cruisers that the IJN commissioned were less well-armed than light cruisers of

11180-432: The parliaments of Australia and New Zealand, the British declaration of war on Germany also applied to those dominions . The other dominions and members of the British Commonwealth declared war from 3 September 1939, all within one week of each other; they were Canada , British India and South Africa . During the war, Churchill attended seventeen Allied conferences at which key decisions and agreements were made. He

11310-417: The possession of a single rudder was based on cruisers rather than that of capital ships. The Alaska -class cruisers lacked the sophisticated underwater protection system of true capital ships, making them vulnerable to shells and torpedoes that hit under the waterline. They also had proportionately less weight in armour at 28.4% of displacement, in contrast to the British battlecruiser HMS  Hood of 30%,

11440-433: The purported battleship in the area spotted the two stragglers. The force was escorted by 12 Wildcats and 3 TBD Devastator torpedo bombers. The force was under the command of Wallace "Wally" Short of Yorktown (some of her aircraft had been forced to land at Task Force 16 after their ship was abandoned). The dive bombers once again bypassed CruDiv 7 to search for the battleship, which was not located. The Wildcats escorting

11570-419: The range of Midway's aircraft, were ordered by Kurita to reverse course and escort Mogami and Mikuma . At 0630, a PBY Catalina spotted the stragglers, thanks to the massive oil trail leaking from Mikuma , and radioed their coordinates to Admiral Spruance. Throughout the day, in an aura of great confusion, many American sighting reports would misidentify one of the two ships as a battleship. Other sightings of

11700-453: The remnants of VMSB-241 containing 12 dive bombers (6 SBD Dauntlesses and 6 SB2Us divided in two wings). The aircraft travelled the short distance of 40 miles to their target and found the two cruisers. Despite her damaged bow and greatly reduced speed, Mogami began evasive maneuvers along with Mikuma and received no hits from the Dauntless section. Capt. Richard Fleming , in command of

11830-550: The role of the heavy cruiser differed fundamentally from that of the armoured cruiser. Also, the heavy cruiser was designed to take advantage of advances in naval technology and design. Typically powered by oil-fired steam turbines rather than the reciprocating steam engines of the armoured cruiser, heavy cruisers were capable of far faster speeds and could cruise at high speed for much longer than could an armoured cruiser. They used uniform main guns, mounted in centre-line superfiring turrets rather than casemates . Casemate guns and

11960-477: The severity of the economic crisis on the Treaty of Versailles. The far-right Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler , which had formed shortly after the peace treaty, exploited growing popular resentment and desperation to become the dominant political movement in Germany. By 1933, they gained power and rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as Nazi Germany . The Nazi regime demanded the immediate cancellation of

12090-544: The ship's doctors and their orderlies outright. The fire was quickly contained at the cost of the life of most of the injured and wounded men in the sick bay. Asashio was not hit by the bombing attack but lost 22 men to strafing. Realizing the urgency of the situation, Captain Akira Soji, then in command of the detachment, communicated to the Combined Fleet to inform them of the attack, and immediately set course west to vacate

12220-459: The ships or use life rafts and launchers to reach Arashio and Mogami . In the meanwhile Asashio patrolled in a circle around them to screen the ships from air or submarine attack. The ship's severely wounded captain Sakiyama was lowered on the first life raft, closely followed by the ship's paymaster and air officers, who took with them the ship's important documents. The rafts were launched towards

12350-504: The ships were set upon by yet another dive bombing attack. At 1445, 23 Dauntlesses from Hornet that had been launched at 1330 arrived over the hapless formation. Arashio and Mogami immediately commenced evasive maneuvers, leaving behind them many of Mikuma ' s crew in the water who were still making their way to their accompanying ships. The dive bombers commenced their attack at 1500. Mogami and Arashio did not have enough time to get underway and were both hit. The burning Mikuma

12480-475: The shipyards modified the hull and superstructure in the 1930s to eliminate the rolling. The two vessels in this class, Pensacola and Salt Lake City , were originally classified as light cruisers due to their minimal armour until re-designated in July 1931 as heavy cruisers in accord with international practice of designating all cruisers with guns larger than 6". In 1930 the Washington Naval Treaty

12610-520: The third class cruiser (of about 3,000 tons) started to carry thin steel armour on the outside of its hull and became known as a light cruiser . This new type was then joined by 5,000-ton light cruisers, analogous to the older second-class cruisers. The wide gap between the massive battlecruiser of perhaps 20,000 tons and 305 mm (12-inch) guns and the small light cruiser of up to 5,000 tons and 100 mm (4-in) or 155 mm (6-inch) guns naturally left room for an intermediate type. The first such design

12740-476: The tonnage and firepower of cruisers to 10,000 tons in standard displacement and 8 inches for maximum main gun caliber. These limits were in the interests of the U.S. and Britain especially. Planners in the U.S. Navy had spent two years prior to the start of negotiations designing 10,000 ton, 8-inch cruisers and were convinced that smaller vessels would not be worthwhile. Britain had just built its Hawkins -class cruisers and wanted to ensure they would not fall prey to

12870-439: The torpedo room below the aviation facility, but Mogami ' s damage control officer had previously ordered all torpedoes jettisoned. Anti-aircraft fire from the force shot down two of Hornet ' s SBD Dauntlesses. The captain of the Mogami pushed the damaged ship's speed up to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) to hurry out of the danger zone. At 1045 a composite force of 31 dive bombers launched from Enterprise to seek

13000-737: The two US Navy ship classes (besides the Nevada -class battleships) to have different-sized turrets for main armament (Subsequent US cruisers would mount nine 8" guns in three triple turrets 2 fore 1 aft). Their thin armour on the belt (varying from 2.5 to 4 inches (64 to 102 mm) in thickness) and deck 1.75 inches (44 mm) was no better than that on 6-inch-gunned cruisers and was inadequate to protect their vitals from enemy 8-inch shells. Also, their unusual main battery layout and heavy tripod fore-masts made these ships top-heavy and prone to excessive rolling. This combined with low freeboard forward made them inferior sea boats compared to later designs. Rework in

13130-399: The two cruisers and searched for the alleged battleship ahead of this force, but having found nothing they circled back to the two cruisers and commenced their attacks. All bombing attempts on Mikuma missed, but two bombs struck Mogami , hitting one of her 8-inch turrets and the aircraft deck, respectively. The latter bomb could have caused fatal damage to the Mogami as it started a fire in

13260-477: The unchallenged Japanese expansion in the East, particularly considering their defeat in previous wars with Japan; the Soviets also recognized, as the U.S. and Britain had suggested, the advantages of a two-front war . Franklin D. Roosevelt , Winston Churchill , and Joseph Stalin were The Big Three leaders. They were in frequent contact through ambassadors, top generals, foreign ministers and special emissaries such as

13390-606: The war, Britain could remain the sole great power in Europe facing the Communist threat, as it was in 1940 and 1941 against Nazism. During the early part of 1945, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria (these latter two French colonies had been declared independent states by British occupation troops, despite protests by Pétain and later De Gaulle) and Ecuador became signatories. Ukraine and Belarus , which were not independent states but parts of

13520-488: The war, lose a significant portion of territory, and pay costly reparations, among other penalties. The Weimar Republic , which formed at the end of the war and subsequently negotiated the treaty, saw its legitimacy shaken, particularly as it struggled to govern a greatly weakened economy and humiliated populace. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , and the ensuing Great Depression , led to political unrest across Europe, especially in Germany, where revanchist nationalists blamed

13650-483: The war. The alliance was largely one of convenience for each member: the U.K. realized that the Axis powers threatened not only its colonies in North Africa and Asia but also the homeland . The United States felt that the Japanese and German expansion should be contained, but ruled out force until Japan's attack. The Soviet Union, having been betrayed by the Axis attack in 1941, greatly despised German belligerence and

13780-428: The war. While earlier heavy cruisers were noted for their powerful torpedo armament (especially Japanese heavy cruisers), later ships built by the USN concentrated mainly on anti-aircraft armament, as their main role was escorting aircraft carriers and troop transports instead of engaging in surface actions. Most Japanese heavy cruisers were sunk by aircraft or submarines, rather than in surface engagements. The US built

13910-513: The world, had sought an alliance with the western powers, but Hitler preempted a potential war with Stalin by signing the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact in August 1939. In addition to preventing a two-front war that had battered its forces in the last world war, the agreement secretly divided the independent states of Central and Eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for

14040-543: Was "the most important of the Allied leaders during the first half of World War II". British West Africa and the British colonies in East and Southern Africa participated, mainly in the North African, East African and Middle-Eastern theatres. Two West African and one East African division served in the Burma Campaign . Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing colony, having received responsible government in 1923. It

14170-429: Was also hit. Arashio was hit by a bomb, which exploded among the surviving crew of Mikuma that she had just picked up out of the water, killing 37 men outright and damaging her steering ability badly enough to force the destroyer to switch to manual steering and wounding Cdr. Ogawa Nobuki, commander of DesDiv8. Mogami received a hit near the seaplane deck, which started a fire near the sick bay and killed almost all of

14300-559: Was classified as armoured coast defence ships under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles . They superficially resembled contemporary battleships due to their massive main gun turrets and unusually high conning tower / bridge . However, they were in effect a heavy cruiser being up gunned to 11-inch batteries at the cost of slower speed; their displacement was declared at 10,000 tons but was in practice considerably greater. The Italian Navy first built two Trento -class cruisers, which sacrificed protection for speed, and then four Zara class ,

14430-427: Was coming out of her sharp starboard turn. Cascading through a fiery torrent of her anti-aircraft fire, the bombers delivered two hits. The first struck her No.3 turret; the explosion killed many of the officers on the bridge, including the commander of the starboard anti-aircraft batteries, and injured her captain severely enough to render him unconscious. Mikuma ' s executive officer Takashima Hideo took command of

14560-516: Was especially angered by the invasion and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia , just six months after signing the Munich Agreement , which sought to appease Hitler by ceding the mainly ethnic German Czechoslovak borderlands; while most of Europe had celebrated the agreement as a major victory for peace, the open flaunting of its terms demonstrated the failure of appeasement. Britain and France, which had been

14690-567: Was extended by the London Naval Treaty , which finally settled the arguments on cruisers which had raged in the 1920s. The treaty defined limits on both heavy cruisers – those with guns larger than 155 mm (6.1 inches) – and light cruisers – those with smaller-calibre guns. The limit of 10,000 tons displacement still applied to both. This was the point at which the split between "heavy" and "light" cruisers finally became official and widespread. The Treaty satisfied Britain and America. However, it deeply offended Japan, as this severely limited

14820-610: Was indeed the alleged battleship reported by multiple reconnaissance airplanes. The Dauntlesses arrived over the burning Mikuma at 1715, just before dusk, and took several photographs of her at extremely low altitude, and recorded footage of her as well. The Dauntlesses recorded her position at 29°-28'N, 173°-11'E before leaving her. A survivor recalled that Mikuma ' s port list began increasing rapidly at dusk, and at approximately 1930, she finally turned over on her portside and sank at 29°20′N 173°30′E  /  29.333°N 173.500°E  / 29.333; 173.500 . She

14950-475: Was more influenced by the desire to be able to match the Japanese ships while keeping enough cruisers for their other global responsibilities. With battleships heavily regulated by the Washington Treaty, and aircraft carriers not yet mature, the cruiser question became the focus of naval affairs. The British, with a strained economy and global commitments, favoured unlimited cruiser tonnage but strict limits on

15080-573: Was named after the Mikuma river in Oita prefecture , Japan . Built under the 1931 Fleet Replenishment Program, the Mogami -class cruisers were designed to the maximum limits allowed by the Washington Naval Treaty , using the latest technology. This resulted in the choice of a 155 mm dual purpose (DP) main battery in five triple turrets capable of 55° elevation. To save weight, electric welding

15210-400: Was no hope of saving the ship now that she was slowly settling in the water and gave the order to abandon ship. Takashima ordered the repair parties to throw shoring wood and other materials overboard to construct life rafts. Mogami and Arashio were close to Mikuma but maintained a safe distance as Mikuma was still burning and exploding, so the crews of Mikuma would have to swim over to

15340-457: Was not a sovereign dominion. It governed itself internally and controlled its own armed forces, but had no diplomatic autonomy, and, therefore, was officially at war as soon as Britain was at war. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government issued a symbolic declaration of war nevertheless on 3 September 1939, which made no difference diplomatically but preceded the declarations of war made by all other British dominions and colonies. These included:

15470-468: Was slight, thanks in part to the last-second portside turn that deflected Mogami ' s bow along an angle from Mikuma ' s portside. With her damaged bow, Mogami could make only 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) for the time being, and was generally unwieldy and clumsy. The destroyers Arashio and Asashio of DesDiv 8, which had steamed ahead with the Suzuya and Kumano at high speed to escape

15600-484: Was spotted by the cruiser Kumano . Kumano signalled a submarine alert to the formation and directed the ships to conduct evasive maneuvers to the left. The squadron was thrown into confusion. Kumano turned sharply to port for a short time, heading west, before turning slightly starboard back to north. Suzuya followed her but coursed slightly less to port. She found herself steaming directly for Kumano but turned sharply to starboard and narrowly avoided colliding with

15730-428: Was supplanted by the battlecruiser , an intermediate ship type between this and the light cruiser was found to be needed—one larger and more powerful than the light cruisers of a potential enemy but not as large and expensive as the battlecruiser so as to be built in sufficient numbers to protect merchant ships and serve in a number of combat theatres. With their intended targets being other cruisers and smaller vessels,

15860-644: Was tasked with the invasion of British Borneo , together with Mogami , covering landings of Japanese troops at Miri and Kuching . In February 1942, Mikuma was tasked with covering landings of Japanese troops in Sumatra and Java . On 10 February, Mikuma and Chōkai were attacked by the submarine USS  Searaven , which fired four torpedoes , but missed. At 2300 on 28 February 1942, Mikuma and Mogami , destroyer Shikinami , light cruiser Natori and destroyers Shirakumo , Murakumo , Shirayuki , Hatsuyuki and Asakaze arrived and engaged

15990-523: Was the British 'Atlantic cruiser' proposal of 1912, which proposed a long-range cruiser of about 8,000 tons displacement with 190 mm (7.5-inch) guns. This was a response to a rumour that Germany was building cruisers to attack merchant shipping in the Atlantic with 170mm guns. The German raiders proved to be fictional and the 'Atlantic cruisers' were never built. However, in 1915 the requirement for long-range trade-protection cruisers resurfaced and resulted in

16120-432: Was the concern that a subsequent race in building larger, more powerful cruisers might subvert the usefulness of the prohibition on capital ship construction and encourage navies to squander their now-limited permissible tonnage for capital ships on fast vessels designed specifically to hunt down large cruisers. To avert these challenges, representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy set limits on

16250-533: Was the first Japanese cruiser to be sunk during the war. Only 188 of Mikuma ' s crew survived the ordeal; her captain also succumbed 3 days later to his wounds while he was aboard Suzuya . Captain Soji later ordered Asashio to reverse course and go back to Mikuma and make every effort to save any of her surviving crews. Asashio made her way back to Mikuma ' s location but found nothing, and promptly returned to CruDiv7, according to her log she found nothing but

16380-584: Was thus a parity between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy with respect to heavy cruisers. The Germans built their Admiral Hipper -class heavy cruisers of 14,000 tons, although the Anglo-German Naval Agreement was supposed to limit their displacement to the 10,000 tons specified by the Washington Naval Treaty. The US built the Baltimore class of heavy cruisers during

16510-416: Was too anxious to prove a point ... he suffered from an inferiority complex." During December 1941, Roosevelt devised the name "United Nations" for the Allies and Churchill agreed. He referred to the Big Three and China as the " Four Policemen " repeatedly from 1942. The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations signed on 1 January 1942. There were the 26 original signatories of

16640-458: Was transport Ryujo Maru with IJA 16th Army commander Lieutenant General Hitoshi Imamura —although the general survived the sinking. In March, Mikuma and Cruiser Division 7 were based at Singapore to cover Japanese landings in Sumatra and the seizure of the Andaman Islands . From 1 April 1942 Cruiser Division 7 based from Mergui joined with Cruiser Division 4 to participate in

16770-419: Was used, as was aluminum in the superstructure , and the use of a single funnel stack . New impulse geared turbine engines, coupled with very heavy anti-aircraft protection, gave the class a very high speed and protection. However, the Mogami class was also plagued with technical problems due to its untested equipment and proved to be unstable and top-heavy as well, due to cramming too much equipment into

16900-462: Was very confused. Free French forces were recognized only by Britain, while the United States considered Vichy France to be the legal government of the country until Operation Overlord , while also preparing U.S. occupation francs . Winston Churchill urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944; the Prime Minister feared that after

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