| Etorofu-class escort ship | |
|---|---|
 Etorofu 1943 | |
| Class overview | |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Preceded by: | Shimushu class |
| Succeeded by: | Mikura class |
| Completed: | 14 |
| Lost: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Escort vessel |
| Displacement: | 870 long tons (884 t) |
| Length: | 77.7 m (255 ft) |
| Beam: | 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) |
| Draught: | 3.05 m (10 ft) |
| Speed: | 19.7 knots (22.7 mph; 36.5 km/h) |
| Complement: | 150 |
| Armament: |
• 3 × 120 mm (4.7 in)/45 cal DP guns • 4 × 25 mm (0.98 in) AA guns, later up to 15 • 6 × depth charge throwers • 36 × depth charges initially, but later up to 60 • 1 × 80 mm (3.1 in) mortar |
The Etorofu-class escort ships (択捉型海防艦 Etorofu-gata kaibōkan) were a class of ships in the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
The Japanese called these ships Kaibōkan, "ocean defence ships", (Kai = sea, ocean, Bō = defence, Kan = ship), to denote a multi-purpose vessel. The fourteen ships of the Etorofu class were a major part of Japan's escorts from the middle of World War II. They were denoted "Improved Type A" ships, and were the second class of Kaibōkan. The Etorofus, unlike the Shimushu class, received more emphasis on submarine warfare. The Etorofu class was initially armed with thirty-six depth charges and would later rise to 60 depth charges with an 8 cm trench mortar and six depth charge throwers. The rise of aircraft also saw the number of AA machine guns increase to 15. They would receive Type 22 and Type 13 radars and Type 93 sonar in 1943-1944.
The ships of the class were the Etorofu (択捉), Hirato[1] (平戸), Tsushima (対馬), Fukae[2] (福江), Matsuwa (松輪), Mutsure (六連), Sado (佐渡), Oki (隠岐), Manju (満珠), Kanju (干珠), Iki (壱岐), Amakusa (天草), Wakamiya (若宮), and Kasado (笠戸). Eight of the fourteen ships, Hirato, Iki, Amakusa, Kanju, Wakamiya, Sado, Mutsure, and Matsuwa were sunk during the war.
References[]
- ↑ 25 May 1943, Notice No. 121, Named three destroyers, three submarines, two coast defence ships, two submarine chasers, and one auxiliary vessel., Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy.
- ↑ 5 February 1943, Notice No. 16, Named one destroyer, six submarines, one coast defence ship, one minesweeper, one auxiliary vessel, and one auxiliary boat., Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy.
- http://www.combinedfleet.com/Etorofu_c.htm (Retrieved November 17, 2007)
- Worth, Richard, Fleets of World War II, Da Capo Press (2001), ISBN 0-306-81116-2
| |||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The original article can be found at Etorofu-class escort ship and the edit history here.