Convoy Hi-81
| Battle of Convoy Hi-81 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II, Pacific War | |||||||
Port side view of USS Spadefish in May 1944. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Japan | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Gordon W. Underwood Eugene B. Fluckey |
Tsutomu Sato Shizue Ishii | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Sea: 6 submarines Air: 1 B-29 bomber |
Sea: 1 escort carrier 1 seaplane tender 1 destroyer 7 escort ships 1 submarine chaser 4 landing craft carriers 5 oilers Air: 27 B5N torpedo bombers | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
~6,600 killed 1 escort carrier sunk 1 submarine chaser sunk 2 landing craft carriers sunk | ||||||
Convoy Hi-81 (ヒ-81) was the designation for a formation of Japanese transports that carried soldiers bound for Singapore and the Philippines during World War II. The transports were escorted by a large force of surface combatants including the escort carrier Shin'yō and the landing craft carrier Akitsu Maru which were sunk in the Yellow Sea by American submarines. Over the course of a four-day convoy battle in November 1944 nearly 7,000 Japanese were killed in action while the Americans sustained no casualties.