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It's About the Journey Not Just the Destination
The lead-ship of her class, Unryu was launched on 25 September 1943 and commissioned on 6 August 1944. For her maiden sea voyage, she was loaded with thirty Yokosuka MXY7 Ćhka kamikaze rocket planes for transport to Manila in the Philippines. Four days after departing Kure, Hiroshima she was sunk by USS Redfish (SS-395) on 17 December 1944. Only 145 men survived to be rescued, with 1,238 officers, crewmen and passengers losing their lives.
Launched on 18 July 1929, HMS Exeter was the second and last York-class heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy. Commissioned on 22 July 1931, she spent the interwar period in the Atlantic, North America and West Indies Station.
With the outbreak of World War Two, Exeter was sent to the South Atlantic to hunt for German commerce raiders. On the 13th of December, she spotted the German heavy Cruiser Graf Spee and along with the light cruisers HMS Ajax and Achilles fought the Battle of the River Plate. This resulted in severe damage to Exeter, but Graf Spee was forced to find shelter in Montevideo. Subsequent British misdirection, led the captain of the Graf Spee to believe that an overwhelmingly powerful force waited for him if he left port. He therefore scuttled his ship rather than faced certain defeat. In reality only one additional heavy cruiser, HMS Cumberland had arrived.
Exeter was out of action for over a year undergoing repairs following which she scorted convoys for most of 1941. When Japan declared war in December 1941, HMS Exeter was sent to the Far East where she escorted convoys to and from Singapore. When the Japanese prepared to invade the Dutch East Indies, Exeter attempted to intercept the invasion force on 25 February 1942 along with a combined American, Dutch and Australian force. Intercepted by a Japanese cruiser force, Exeter was crippled and forced to withdraw to Surabaya during the First Battle of the Java Sea.
After temporary repairs, Exeter left harbour on 28 February attempting to make for Colombo. Along with her escort of two destroyers, she was sunk during the Second Battle of the Java Sea on 1 March when intercepted by a force of four heavy cruisers and four destroyers.
Launched on 29 January 1929, HMS Dorsetshire was a County-class heavy cruiser of the British Royal Navy. Commissioned on 30 September 1930, During World War Two, she took part in the search for the German heavy Cruiser Graf Spee. During the final engagement with the German battleship Bismarck, Dorsetshire was ordered to close range and deliver a torpedo attack.
When Japan entered the war, Dorsetshire was ordered to the far east. On 5 April 1942, in company with her sister ship HMS Cornwall, she was spotted by Japanese aircraft. A resulting dive-bombing attack sank both ships.
