Wakatake class destroyer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The was a class

Ship class

A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....

of eight 2nd-class destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

Background

The medium-sized Wakatake-class destroyers were a follow-on to the Momi class destroyer

Momi class destroyer

The Momi class destroyers was a class of twenty one 2nd class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. All were named for plants. Obsolete by the beginning of the Pacific War, the Momi were relegated to mostly secondary roles, with some vessels serving throughout the war as patrol vessels...

as part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 8-6 Fleet Program

Eight-eight fleet

The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which laid down that the Japanese navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or battlecruisers.-History and development:The...

from fiscal 1921 as a lower cost accompaniment to the larger Minekaze-class destroyers

Minekaze class destroyer

The was a class of fifteen 1st-class destroyers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Obsolete by the beginning of the Pacific War, the Minekaze class ships were relegated to mostly secondary roles, serving throughout the war as patrol vessels, high speed transports, target control vessels, and as kaiten...

. The class was originally planned to consist of twenty-three vessels, but due to the Washington Naval Treaty

Washington Naval Treaty

The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...

, as well as budgetary limitations, the final number was reduced to eight. The Wakatake class was the last class to be rated “second class” and all future destroyers were designed larger. It was planned that the Wakatake class ships should have names, but upon completion they were given numbers. This proved to be extremely unpopular with the crews and was a constant source of confusion in communications, so in 1928, names were assigned.

Design

The Wakatake class destroyers were essentially slightly modified Momi class ships with a deeper draft to improve handling characteristics in heavy seas, particularly against rolling. Weaponry layout, general arrangement and silhouette were all identical with the Momi class.

As with the Momi class, a number of types of turbine engines were used for propulsion. Asagao was built with Parsons

Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company

Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...

impulse turbines, Yūgao with Escher Wyss & Cie Zoelly turbines, and the remaining vessels with Brown-Curtis

John Brown & Company

John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a pre-eminent Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm, responsible for building many notable and world-famous ships, such as the , the , the , the , the , and the...

turbines.

Operational history

The small displacement and shallow draft of the Wakatake class limited their utility as fleet escorts. As with the Momi class, in the 1920s and 1930s, they were mainly used in Chinese coastal waters.

On September 15, 1932 Sawarabi capsized due to poor stability and sank north of Keelung

Keelung

Keelung City is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei and forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with the Taipei and New Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport...

near Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

.

In April 1940 Yūgao was re-rated as Patrol Boat No. 46, with considerably reduced armament.

Six of the eight Wakatake-class destroyers still operating as destroyers on the eve of the Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, equally divided between the 13th and 32nd Destroyer Divisions. Desdiv 13 comprised Wakatake, Kuretake, and Sanae, and was assigned to the Kure Naval District

Kure Naval District

was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama to Yamaguchi prefectures, eastern and northern Kyūshū and Shikoku....

. These ships were charged with antisubmarine patrols

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

in the waters of the Inland Sea, Bungo Strait, and western Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

. Desdiv 32 with Asagao, Fuyō and Karukaya came under the Chinkai Guard District

Chinkai Guard District

The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Korea under Japanese rule before and during World War II. Located in southern Korea , the Chinkai Guard District was responsible for control of the strategic Straits of Shimonoseki and for patrols along the Korean coastline and in the...

and spent the war's early months screening maritime traffic in the Tsushima Straits.

On April 10, 1942, the 1st Surface Escort Division of the Southwest Area Fleet

Southwest Area Fleet

The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy established during World War II.-History:The Southwest Area Fleet was an operational command of the Imperial Japanese Navy established on April 10, 1942 to coordinate naval, air, and ground forces for the invasion, occupation and defense of the...

was created, and Desdivs 13 and 32 were assigned to it to provide protection for convoys against Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

submarine activity. The convoy routes were initially those between Moji

Moji-ku, Kitakyushu

is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is the former city of Moji which was one of five cities merged to create Kitakyūshū in 1963. It faces the city of Shimonoseki across the Kanmon Straits between Honshū and Kyūshū....

, Taiwan, and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Later, these routes extended to Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

, the Netherlands East Indies, and Palau

Palau

Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

. In the course of this service Karukaya set a record by successfully completing 54 convoy escorts before her loss.

Of the six destroyers, four were lost to American submarines, and one to an air attack. Only Asagao survived the war and was finally broken up in 1948.

List of Ships

Kanji	Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
若竹 (二駆逐艦)	Wakatake DD-2	Kawasaki Shipyards Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation -External links:*... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	December 13, 1921	July 24, 1921	September 30, 1922	Sunk March 30, 1944 in air attack off Palau [07.50N, 134.20E]; struck May 10, 1944
呉竹 (第四駆逐艦)	Kuretake DD-4	Maizuru Naval Arsenal Maizuru Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. -History:The Maizuru Naval District was established at Maizuru, Kyoto in 1889, as the fourth of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the Japanese home islands. After the establishment of the... , Japan	March 15, 1922	October 21, 1922	December 21, 1922	Sunk December 30, 1944 by USS Razorback USS Razorback (SS-394) USS Razorback , a Balao-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the razorback, a species of whale found in the far southern reaches of the Pacific Ocean. It is arguably the longest-serving submarine still existing in the world, having been commissioned by two... at Bashi Channel Bashi Channel The Bashi Channel is a strait between the Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Orchid Island of Taiwan. It is characterized by windy storms during the rainy period, June to December. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean.... [21N, 121.24E]; struck February 10, 1945
早苗 (第六駆逐艦)	Sanae ex-DD6	Uraga Dock Company Uraga Dock Company was a major privately owned shipyard in Uraga, Japan, which built numerous warships for the Imperial Japanese Navy.-History:Uraga Dock Company was founded by Enomoto Takeaki in 1869. A shipyard had already existed in Uraga from the end of the Edo period... , Japan	April 5, 1922	February 15, 1923	November 5, 1923	Torpedoed Celebes Sea [04.52N, 122.07E] 1943-11-13 by USS Bluefish USS Bluefish (SS-222) , a Gato-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the bluefish, a fish of the Atlantic coast of the United States.... ; struck January 5, 1944
早蕨 (第八駆逐艦)	Sarawabi ex-DD8	Uraga Dock Company Uraga Dock Company was a major privately owned shipyard in Uraga, Japan, which built numerous warships for the Imperial Japanese Navy.-History:Uraga Dock Company was founded by Enomoto Takeaki in 1869. A shipyard had already existed in Uraga from the end of the Edo period... , Japan	November 20, 1922	September 1, 1923	July 24, 1924	Capsized December 5, 1932 in storm off Keelung, Taiwan [27.17N, 122.12E]; struck April 1, 1933
朝顔 (第十駆逐艦)	Asagao ex-DD10	Ishikawajima Shipyards, Japan	March 14, 1922	November 4, 1922	May 10, 1923	Sunk August 22, 1945 by naval mine Naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel... at Kanmon Straits Kanmon Straits The Kanmon Straits or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshū side of the water is Shimonoseki and on the Kyūshū side is Kitakyūshū, whose former city and present ward, Moji , gave the strait its "mon"... ; raised, BU 1948
夕顔 (第十二駆逐艦)	Yūgao ex-DD12	Ishikawajima Shipyards, Japan	May 15, 1922	April 14, 1923	May 31, 1924	Converted February 1, 1940 to ; sunk November 10, 1944 by USS Greenling USS Greenling (SS-213) , a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the greenling, an elongate, fine-scaled fish found from Kamchatka to California.... at Irōzaki
芙蓉 (第十六駆逐艦)	Fuyō ex-DD16	Fujinagata Shipyards Fujinagata Shipyards was a shipyard and railroad car manufacturer in Osaka, Japan.-History:Fujinagata claimed to have been founded in 1689, making it one of the oldest shipbuilders in Japan. Originally called Hyōgo-ya, and located in central Osaka, it was contracted in 1854 by officials representing the Tokugawa... , Japan	February 16, 1922	September 23, 1922	March 16, 1923	Torpedoed December 20, 1943 off Manila Bay [14.44N, 119.55E] by USS Puffer USS Puffer (SS-268) USS Puffer , a Gato-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the puffer, a fish which inflates its body with air.... ; struck February 5, 1944
刈萱 (第十八駆逐艦)	Karukaya Japanese destroyer Karukaya The was a of the Imperial Japanese Navy. One of a class of eight 2nd-class destroyers, the ship was built by the Fujinagata Shipyard in Osaka, Japan... ex-DD18	Fujinagata Shipyards Fujinagata Shipyards was a shipyard and railroad car manufacturer in Osaka, Japan.-History:Fujinagata claimed to have been founded in 1689, making it one of the oldest shipbuilders in Japan. Originally called Hyōgo-ya, and located in central Osaka, it was contracted in 1854 by officials representing the Tokugawa... , Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	May 16, 1922	March 19, 1923	August 20, 1923	Torpedoed May 10, 1943 west of Luzon [15.38N, 119.25E] by USS Cod; struck July 10, 1944

Naming History

The IJN originally planned that the Wakatake class ships should have names, but upon completion they were given numbers due to the projected large number of warship the IJN expected to build through the Eight-eight fleet

Eight-eight fleet

plan. This proved to be extremely unpopular with the crews and was a constant source of confusion in communications. In August 1928, names were assigned, but not the original names that were planned.

Plan name and transliteration	Original name as ordered	Renamed 24 April 1924	Renamed 1 August 1928
Chinese bellflower Chinese bellflower Platycodon grandiflorus is a species of perennial flowering plant of the family Campanulaceae and the only member of the genus Platycodon . This species is known as platycodon or Chinese bellflower...	, 2nd Destroyer	, No.2 Destroyer	, Bamboo sprout
, Lilium Lilium Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...	, 4th Destroyer	, No.4 Destroyer	, Black bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra
Iris	, 6th Destroyer	, No.6 Destroyer	, Rice sprouts on May
Malus halliana	, 8th Destroyer	, No.8 Destroyer	, Bracken Bracken Bracken are several species of large, coarse ferns of the genus Pteridium. Ferns are vascular plants that have alternating generations, large plants that produce spores and small plants that produce sex cells . Brackens are in the family Dennstaedtiaceae, which are noted for their large, highly... on Spring
Japanese iris Japanese iris The term "Japanese iris" encompasses three varieties of Irises cultivated in gardens or growing wild in Japan: hanashōbu, kakitsubata and ayame....	, 10th Destroyer	, No.10 Destroyer	, Morning glory Morning glory Morning glory is a common name for over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae, whose current taxonomy and systematics is in flux...
Azalea Azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs comprising two of the eight subgenera of the genus Rhododendron, Pentanthera and Tsutsuji . Azaleas bloom in spring, their flowers often lasting several weeks...	, 12th Destroyer	, No.12 Destroyer	, Ipomoea alba Ipomoea alba Ipomoea alba, sometimes called the moonflower or moon vine, is a species of night-blooming morning-glory, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the New World, from northern Argentina north to Mexico and Florida...
, Aster tataricus Aster tataricus Aster tataricus is a member of the Aster genus of flowering plants.-Traditional uses:It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs of Traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name zǐwǎn . It has an antibacterial action, inhibiting the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Bacillus dysenteriae, B...	, 14th Destroyer
Hydrangea Hydrangea Hydrangea is a genus of about 70 to 75 species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and North and South America. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Japan, and Korea...	, 16th Destroyer	, No.16 Destroyer	, Hibiscus mutabilis Hibiscus mutabilis Hibiscus mutabilis, also known as the Confederate rose or the cotton rosemallow, is a plant noted for its flowers.Confederate roses tend to be shrubby or treelike in Zones 9 and 10, though it behaves more like a perennial further north. Flowers can be double or single and are 4 to 6 inches in...
One of the Poaceae Poaceae The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...	, 18th Destroyer	, No.18 Destroyer	, One of the Poaceae Poaceae The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...
, Alismataceae Alismataceae The water-plantains are a family of flowering plants, comprising 11 genera and between 85-95 species. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, with the greatest number of species in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...	, 20th Destroyer
, Peony Peony Peony or paeony is a name for plants in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the flowering plant family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America...	, 22nd Destroyer
, Musa basjoo Musa basjoo Musa basjoo, known variously as Japanese Banana, Japanese Fiber Banana or Hardy Banana, is a species belonging to the genus Musa. It was previously thought to have originated from the Ryukyu islands of Japan, from where it was first described in cultivation...	, 24th Destroyer
, Dianthus Dianthus Dianthus is a genus of about 300 species of flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae, native mainly to Europe and Asia, with a few species extending south to north Africa, and one species in arctic North America. Common names include carnation , pink and sweet William Dianthus is a genus of...	, 26th Destroyer

Books

Watts, A. J. Japanese Warships of World War II, Ian Allen, London, 1967.

Collection of writings by Sizuo Fukui Vol.5, Stories of Japanese Destroyers, Kōjinsha (Japan) 1993, ISBN 4-7698-0611-6

Model Art Ship Modelling Special No.17, Genealogy of Japanese Destroyers Part-1, Model Art Co. Ltd. (Japan), September 2005, Book code 08734-9
Model Art Extra No.340, Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-1, Model Art Co. Ltd. (Japan), October 1989, Book code 08734-10
Daiji Katagiri, Ship Name Chronicles of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet
Combined Fleet
The was the main ocean-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Combined Fleet was not a standing force, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units normally under separate commands in peacetime....

, Kōjinsha (Japan), June 1988, ISBN 4-7698-0386-9

External links

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