Suzutsuki

History: Suzutsuki (涼月) was an Akizuki-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her name means "Clear Moon (in Autumn)".

On 6–7 April 1945, Suzutsuki escorted the battleship Yamato from the Inland Sea on her attack mission against the Allied forces fighting on Okinawa. Her bow was torn off by a torpedo from aircraft of Task Force 58, but survived and returned to Sasebo, by steaming in reverse the whole way.[5] She, her sister ships Fuyutsuki, Yukikaze, and Hatsushimo (sunk in late July by a mine off the Inland Sea), survived the ordeal, despite suffering heavy damage, but Yamato, and five escorts, Yahagi, Asashimo, Kasumi, Hamakaze and Isokaze were all sunk with heavy losses of life. Some of the survivors were picked up by Suzutsuki.

Following the end of the war, Suzutsuki was initially used as a breakwater at Takamatsu in November 1945, then was sold for scrap that same month after her name was delisted from the Navy List on 20 November.

Class: The Akizuki-class destroyers (秋月型駆逐艦 Akizuki-gata Kuchikukan) was a class of destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) built during World War II to complement the Kagerō class, primarily for the role of anti-aircraft screening for carrier battle groups.[4] The class was also designed the Type-B Destroyer (乙型駆逐艦, Otsu-gata Kuchikukan), from their plan name. During the war, the class proved to be a very capable multipurpose platform and was well regarded in the IJN.

Nationality: Japan is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean with dense cities, imperial palaces, mountainous national parks and thousands of shrines and temples. Shinkansen bullet trains connect the main islands of Kyushu (with Okinawa's subtropical beaches), Honshu (home to Tokyo and Hiroshima’s atomic-bomb memorial) and Hokkaido (famous for skiing). Tokyo, the capital, is known for skyscrapers, shopping and pop culture.

Although legend has it that Japan was founded in 660BC, archaeologists agree that settlement in the Japanese archpelago dates back as far as 100,000 years. The Jomon Period (8000-c.300BC) is the earliest that has been studied. It is named after the 'jomon' or cord-marked pattern style of pottery of the period.