Asashimo

History: Asashimo (朝霜, "Morning Frost") was a Yūgumo-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was among the several ships sunk during Operation Ten-Go by attacking US aircraft in 1945. On 6 April 1945, Asashimo escorted the battleship Yamato from the Inland Sea on Operation Ten-Go towards Okinawa. She was sunk on 7 April by aircraft of Task Force 58, from the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto after falling astern of the Yamato task force due to engine trouble,[2] 150 miles (240 km) southwest of Nagasaki. All of her 326 crew members - as well as Commander Destroyer Division 21 (Captain Hisao Kotaki) - lost their lives. The others, including the destroyer Hamakaze, were sunk during the same attack, also by aircraft of San Jacinto, but several destroyers, such as Suzutsuki survived with heavy damage. Asashimo was sunk at (31°N 128°ECoordinates: 31°N 128°E).

Class: The Yūgumo-class destroyers (夕雲型駆逐艦 Yūgumo-gata kuchikukan) were a group of 19 destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The IJN called them Destroyer Type-A (甲型駆逐艦, Kō-gata Kuchikukan) from their plan name. No ships of the class survived the war.

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.