The reason, Ashigara was called hungry wolf was because when the British compared her with the other cruisers present at the Naval Review, she was smaller and thinner, it was actually an insult but the Japanese interpreted as a compliment and the nickname stuck
Kind of how the B-17 got the name "Flying Fortress" though that was an actual compliment
The "flying fortress" name apparently originated in 1935 from the Seattle Times's Richard Williams, describing what was then the Boeing 299.
I'm usually skeptical of Wikipedia attributions on this sort of thing, but a 1989 Los Angeles Times death notice for Williams says the same.
Third ship of Myoukou class heavy cruiserAshigara is Imperial Navy's heavy cruiser and the third ship of Myoukou class. Built on August 20th 1929 (Showa 4) and sunk on June 8th 1945. If we exclude the already unoperational ships, she's one of the last heavy cruisers.Her most important episode is when she sailed to England on an invitation to King George VI's 1937 Naval Review. Most of her pictures are from this event and when she stopped in Kiel Harbour in Germany before heading back home.★ What is the Hungry Wolf ?
In England, she got the nickname "Hungry Wolf." Depending on the person, country and historical background, there's a split opinion of whether this name is interpreted as praise or insult.
For that reason, the description in Kantai Collection is actually deep.
This is an excerpt from the game:
"I am the Ashigara that participated in the English fleet review, you know. I was acknowledged as the 'Hungry Wolf'. But of course! With this fearless body! Eh? That's got nothing to do with my sex appeal? There's...no way that's right!"In the war, she's sent to the Battle of Java Sea in 1942 and brought victories in many more battles. Ishii Masaru wrote about this in the "Battle Record of the Young Days of My Beloved Heavy Cruiser Ashigara" (September 1940 ~ May 1944), part of the book "Floating Steel Fortresses are Burning on the Midway Sea" (Koujinsha).
Then in the website of joint reunion of the 72nd year Naval School, 53rd year Naval Engineering School and 33rd Naval Administration School, Ogawa Mitsuhiko published "Elegy of the Sea", recounting the story of Ashigara from Operation Shou Ichi-gou (Battle of Leyte Gulf) on October 25th, 1944 until the day she sank.
Then, in 2013, the second of Japan's latest AEGIS missile escort ships inherited Ashigara's name.Moreover, for people who do research on the Naval Review, the Department of Defence's National Institute for Defence Studies also released historical research notes regarding this event in their 12th annual report (2009)
