Japanese destroyer Shimakaze (1920)

The Japanese destroyer Shimakaze (島風, Island Wind) was one of 15 Minekaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1910s. The ship was converted into a patrol boat in 1940 and then into a destroyer transport the next year. After the start of the Pacific War, she participated in the Philippines Campaign in late 1941, the Dutch East Indies campaign in early 1942 and played a minor role in the Battle of Midway in mid-1942 before she was sunk by an American submarine in early 1943. This ship should not be confused with the later experimental super-destroyer Shimakaze of the 1940s.

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese destroyer Shimakaze.
Shimakaze in 1922
History
Empire of Japan
Name: Shimakaze
Ordered: 1918 fiscal year
Builder: Maizuru Naval Arsenal
Laid down: 5 September 1919
Launched: 31 March 1920
Completed: 15 November 1920
Renamed: Patrol Boat No.1 1940
Stricken: 10 February 1943
Fate: Sunk, 12 January 1943
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Minekaze-class destroyer
Displacement:
  • 1,366 t (1,344 long tons) (normal)
  • 1,676 t (1,650 long tons) (deep load)
Length:
  • 97.5 m (319 ft 11 in) (pp)
  • 102.5 m (336 ft 3 in) (o/a)
Beam: 9.04 m (29 ft 8 in)
Draft: 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 shafts; 2 × Kampon geared steam turbines
Speed: 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph)
Range: 3,600 nmi (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement: 148
Armament:
  • 4 × single 12 cm (4.7 in) Type 3 guns
  • 3 × twin 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
  • 20 × mines
General characteristics as Patrol Boat No. 1
Class and type: Patrol Boat No. 1
Displacement:
  • 1,270 long tons (1,290 t) normal
  • 1,700 long tons (1,700 t) full load
Installed power: 19,250 shp (14,350 kW); 2 boilers
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Armament:
Service record
Operations:

Design and description

The Minekaze class was designed with higher speed and better seakeeping than the preceding Kawakaze-class destroyers.[1] The ships had an overall length of 102.5 meters (336 ft 3 in) and were 94.5 meters (310 ft 0 in) between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 9.04 meters (29 ft 8 in), and a mean draft of 2.9 meters (9 ft 6 in). The Minekaze-class ships displaced 1,366 metric tons (1,344 long tons) at standard load and 1,676 metric tons (1,650 long tons) at deep load.[2] They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 38,500 shaft horsepower (28,700 kW), which would propel the ships at 39 knots (72 km/h; 45 mph). On her sea trials, Shimakaze reached a speed of 40.65 knots (75.28 km/h; 46.78 mph) from 40,652 shaft horsepower (30,314 kW).[3] The ships carried 401 metric tons (395 long tons) of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3,600 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.[4]

The main armament of the Minekaze-class ships consisted of four 12-centimeter (4.7 in) Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels, one aft of the rear funnel, and the last gun atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of 53.3-centimeter (21.0 in) torpedo tubes; one mount was in the well deck between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure. They could also carry 20 mines[4] as well as minesweeping gear.[5]

In 1937–38, Shimakaze was one of the ships that had her hull strengthened, funnel caps added and her fuel capacity reduced to 234 metric tons (230 long tons). In 1940, she was converted into a patrol boat that displaced 1,727 metric tons (1,700 long tons). This entailed the removal of two of her boilers, which cut her horsepower in half and reduced her speed to 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), the removal of two 12 cm guns and two torpedo tube mounts. These were replaced by ten license-built 25 mm (0.98 in) Type 96 light AA guns and 16 depth charges.[4] The following year, the ship was rebuilt as a destroyer transport able to carry two Daihatsu-class landing craft and accommodate 250 troops. To make room for these, her stern was cut down to the waterline for a ramp and her aftmost 12 cm gun, the remaining torpedo tubes and the depth charges were removed.[6]

Construction and career

Shimakaze, built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, was laid down on 5 September 1919, launched on 31 March 1920 and completed on 15 November 1920.[6] Upon commissioning, the ship was assigned to Yokosuka Naval District as part of Destroyer Division 3 under the IJN 2nd Fleet. On 11 October 1928, in Uraga Channel, while on night training maneuvers, Shimakaze collided with her sister ship Yūkaze, resulting in significant damage to her port side, and requiring extensive repairs.

From 1938–1939, Shimakaze was assigned to patrols of the northern and central China coastlines in support of Japanese combat operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War. During the Battle of Shanghai on 25 September 1937, while engaged in operations on the Huangpu River, Shimakaze came under fire from troops of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, wounding Destroyer Division 3 commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi. In December 1938, Destroyer Division 3 was disbanded, and Shimakaze was reassigned to the reserves.

As Patrol Boat No.1

In April 1940, after extensive modifications, Shimakaze was returned to active duty as a No.1-class patrol boat, and renamed Patrol Boat No. 1 (第一号哨戒艇, Dai-ichi-gō Shōkaitei). After the start of the Pacific War on 7 December 1941, Patrol Boat No. 1 was assigned to patrols and escort missions in the Philippines, Netherlands East Indies and Solomon Islands. On 12 January 1943, while escorting the fleet oiler Akebono in the Bismarck Archipelago, she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Guardfish near Kavieng, New Ireland at position 02°51′S 149°43′E. Patrol Boat No.1 was removed from the Navy List on 10 February 1943.

Notes
  1. Gardiner & Gray, p. 243
  2. Whitley, p. 188
  3. Gardiner & Gray, pp. 243–44
  4. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 141
  5. Watts & Gordon, p. 258
  6. Hackett, Kingsepp & Cundall
gollark: You probably do need to know your actual coordinates to navigate if there's an obstruction or something.
gollark: Also, it being a "set cord" doesn't mean you can magically avoid complex navigation things, although I suppose if you don't need it to come back you can probably just... feed it coords relative to its start position, or something.
gollark: Yes. The docs are awful because ~~OC bad~~.
gollark: Anyway, just because you can describe it in natural language in a few sentences doesn't mean it's something you can *program* easily and simply.
gollark: I'm totally prepared to handle the answer. I designed CC orbital lasers.

References
  • Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
  • Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
  • Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
  • Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander; Cundall, Peter (2015). "IJN Patrol Boat No. 1: Tabular Record of Movement". SHOKAITEI!: Stories and Battle Histories of the IJN's Patrol Boats. Combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  • Watts, Anthony J. & Gordon, Brian G. (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0385012683.
  • Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
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