| Hashima-class cable layer | |
|---|---|
 Hashima on 25 October 1940 | |
| Class overview | |
| Name: | Hashima class cable layer |
| Builders: |
Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation Harima Zōsen Corporation |
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy Government of Japan Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation |
| Cost: | 1,760,000 JPY[1] |
| Built: | 1939–1941 |
| In commission: | 1940–1968 |
| Planned: | 4 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Lost: | 3 |
| Retired: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cable layer |
| Displacement: | 1,560 long tons (1,585 t) standard |
| Length: | 76.80 m (252 ft 0 in) overall |
| Beam: | 10.80 m (35 ft 5 in) |
| Draught: | 3.53 m (11 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion: |
2 × triple expansion stages reciprocating engines 2 × Kampon coal-fired boilers 2 shafts, 600 shp |
| Speed: | 14.0 knots (16.1 mph; 25.9 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 109 |
| Armament: |
• 1 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) L/40 AA gun • 2 × 13 mm AA guns • 9 × depth charges • 12 × Type 92 remotely controlled mines or 20,000 m (65,616 ft 10 in)) submarine cable |
The Hashima-class cable layer (初島型電纜敷設艇, Hashima-gata Denran-Fusetsutei) was the only class of purpose-built cable layers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. Four vessels were built in 1939–41 under the Maru 4 Programme.
Apart from laying communications cables, these ships were also designed as mine planters, for the installation of controlled mines in coastal fortifications.
Ships in class[]
Project number J21.
| Ship | Builder | Laid down[2] | Launched[2] | Completed | Fate |
| Hashima (初島) ex-Hatsushima |
Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard |
15 October 1939 as Hatsushima |
10 April 1940 | 25 October 1940 as Hashima |
Renamed Hashima on 25 October 1940. Sunk by USS Sennet off Owase 33°58′N 136°17′E / 33.967°N 136.283°E on 28 April 1945. Decommissioned on 10 July 1945. |
| Tsurushima (釣島) | Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard |
15 January 1940 | 24 May 1940 | 28 March 1941 | Decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Transferred to Ministry of Communications and Transportation and renamed Tsurushima Maru (釣島丸) in 1945. Transferred to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation on 8 September 1951. Retired in March 1968. |
| Ōtate (大立)[3] | Harima Zōsen | 22 April 1940 | 11 December 1940 | 31 July 1941 | Sunk by air raid off Kusagaki Islands 30°40′N 127°50′E / 30.667°N 127.833°E on 27 March 1945. Decommissioned on 10 July 1945. |
| Tateishi (立石) | Harima Zōsen | 22 April 1940 | 1 March 1941 | 31 August 1941 | Sunk by air raid at South China Sea 11°50′N 109°18′E / 11.833°N 109.3°E on 21 March 1945. Decommissioned on 10 May 1945. |
Photos[]
Tsurushima on 20 March 1941
Ōtate in 1941
Tateishi on 21 March 1945
Tsurushima Maru in postwar
Footnotes[]
- ↑ Senshi Sōsho Vol.31 (1969), p.804
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Senshi Sōsho Vol.31 (1969), p.806
- ↑ 10 December 1940, Notice No. 288, Named one minesweeper, one submarine chaser and two cable layers, Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy, 1940.
Bibliography[]
- Monthly Ships of the World, Special issue Vol.45, "Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy", "Kaijinsha". http://www.ships-net.co.jp/., (Japan), February 1996
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.47, "Japanese naval mine warfare crafts", "Ushio Shobō". http://www.kojinsha.co.jp/. (Japan), January 1981
- Senshi Sōsho Vol.31, Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941", Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969
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The original article can be found at Hashima-class cable layer and the edit history here.