Japanese target ship Hakachi
The Hakachi (波勝) was a bomb target ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) serving during the Second World War, the only ship of her class.
 Hakachi on 9 November 1943 at Aioi | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Hakachi |
| Namesake: | Cape of Hakachi |
| Ordered: | fiscal 1941 under the Maru Tsui Programme (Ship number 660) |
| Builder: | Harima Zōsen Corporation, Aioi |
| Cost: | 4.8 million JPY in 1941 |
| Laid down: | 1 February 1943 |
| Launched: | 27 June 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 18 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 November 1945 |
| Fate: | Used as a repatriation transport, later scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Target ship |
| Displacement: | 1,641 long tons (1,667 t) standard |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 11.30 m (37 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 19.3 knots (22.2 mph; 35.7 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 14 knots |
| Complement: | 148 |
| Armament: | Originally 4 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns |
Background
Project number J32. Before the pacific war, the IJN wanted to raise the training efficiency of bombers for the outbreak of war. The Yakaze was converted to a target ship for bombing training, however, her armour was thin because she was converted from a destroyer. Yakaze was able to sustain only the impact of 1 kilogram bombs. The IJN wanted the target ship top join the Combined Fleet to use it in the southern front. Hakachi was built with such a background, she was able to sustain 10 kilogram bombs dropped from 4,000 m (13,000 ft) meters altitude. Hakachi was the only purpose-built vessel in the IJN designed as a bombing target ship. Her flat steel deck gave her the appearance of an escort carrier and protected against 10 and 30 kilogram training bombs. The IJN built later the Ōhama-class as a next generation target ships, because Hakachi was the only one available for training new pilots of bomber planes.
Service
The Hakachi was commissioned on 18 November 1943, on 1 December, she was assigned to the Combined Fleet. On 24 December, she sailed to Truk and she worked bombing training. Two months later, she was heavily damaged by U.S. carrier aircraft during Operation Hailstone. She sheltered at Palau on 24 February 1944, and was repaired by Akashi. She was modified to serve as an escort for local convoys and rearmed with two 4.7-inch and 28 Type 96 25-mm AA guns and carried 36 Depth charges. On 18 March, she sailed to Lingga Islands. On 24 May, she sailed to Davao Gulf. She worked in each place. On 1 October, she undertook convoy escort operations. She survived the war at the Seto Inland Sea. From 1 December 1945 the ship was assigned to the Allied Repatriation Service as a special transport ship. 11 December 1946 Hakachi arrives at Sasebo on her last repatriation voyage. In all, she transports 1,641 former military personnel back to Japan. 1947 she was scrapped in Osaka at Fujinagata Zosensho.
Bibliography
- Ships of the World special issue Vol.47 Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Kaijinsha, (Japan), March 1997
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.34, Japanese Auxiliary ships, Ushio Shobō (Japan), December 1979
- Senshi Sōsho Vol.31, Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941", Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969