Japanese repair ship Akashi

Japanese repair ship Akashi
Japanese repair ship Akashi
	Akashi in 1939
Name:	Akashi
Namesake:	Akashi Strait
Builder:	Sasebo Naval Arsenal
Cost:	10,000,000 JPY as Akashi; 23,027,000 JPY as Mihara and Momotori
Launched:	29 June 1938
Completed:	31 July 1939
Decommissioned:	10 May 1944
Fate:	Sunk on 30 March 1944
General characteristics
Type:	Repair ship
Displacement:	9,000 long tons (9,144 t) standard; 10,500 long tons (10,668 t) trial
Length:	158.50 m (520 ft 0 in) overall; 154.66 m (507 ft 5 in) waterline
Beam:	20.50 m (67 ft 3 in)
Draught:	6.29 m (20 ft 8 in)
Installed power:	10,000 bhp
Propulsion:	2 × Mitsubishi/MAN Model 60 diesels, 2 shafts
Speed:	19.2 knots (22.1 mph; 35.6 km/h)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Crew:	336 men and 433 engineers
Armament:	4 × 127 mm (5.0 in) L/40 Type 89 AA guns ; 12 × Type 96 25mm AA guns
Armour:	none

Akashi was a Japanese repair ship, serving during World War II. She was the only specifically designed repair ship operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The navy based her design on the US Navy's USS Medusa.

Construction[]

File:HIJMS Akashi-1939.jpg

Akashi trial run in July 1939

In 1937 the Imperial Japanese Navy converted the old battleship Asahi to serve as a repair ship. It was later decided to build a dedicated ship with better capabilities for that task. The Imperial Japanese Navy planned for her to carry out 40% of the repairs needed by the Combined Fleet (needing approximately 140,000 man-hours). Therefore she was equipped with the latest machine tools imported from Germany.

War service[]

During the war Akashi operated out of the Japanese base in the Truk atoll where she repaired various types of battle-damaged Japanese warships, including the Shōkaku in October 1942 and the Yamato in December 1943. In February 1944 the Americans made a raid on Truk (Operation Hailstone), sinking and damaging many ships. Akashi was damaged in these attacks and escaped to the Japanese atoll of Palau.^[1]

Fate[]

File:HIJMS Akashi-1944.jpg

Akashi under attack on 30 March 1944 at Palau

On 30 March 1944, while anchored off Urukthapel in the Palau islands, Akashi was hit numerous times by bombs and rockets from American aircraft from Task Group 58, during Operation Desecrate One. She was sunk in shallow water with her bridge still remaining above the water.^[2]^[3]

Ships in class[]

Ship #	Ship	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Fate
	Akashi (明石^?)	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	18 January 1937	29 June 1938	31 July 1939	Sunk on 30 March 1944; salvaged and scrapped in 1954.
5416 5417	Mihara (三原^?) Momotori (桃取^?)	Mitsubishi, Yokohama Shipyard				Cancelled on 11 August 1943.

Bibliography[]

"Rekishi Gunzō". http://rekigun.net/. , History of Pacific War Vol.51 The truth histories of the Japanese Naval Vessels part-2, Gakken (Japan), August 2005, ISBN 4-05-604083-4
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 vessels, Ushio Shobō (Japan), December 1979
Senshi Sōsho Vol.31, Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941", Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969
Senshi Sōsho Vol.88, Naval armaments and war preparation (2), "And after the outbreak of war", Asagumo Simbun (Japan), October 1975

References[]

↑ http://www.combinedfleet.com/Akashi_t.htm
↑ Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944. 8. University of Illinois Press (reprint). pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-252-07038-9. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R-KfgdHvv88C&pg=PA32. Google Books limited preview
↑ Belote, James H.; Belote, William M. (1975). Titans of the seas: the development and operations of Japanese and American carrier task forces during World War II. New York: Harper & Row. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-06-010278-4.

External links[]

Tabular record of Akashi's movements

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Japanese repair ship Akashi and the edit history here.

[1] ttp://www.combinedfleet.com/Akashi_t.htm

[2] Morison, Samuel Eliot (2001). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: New Guinea and the Marianas, March 1944-August 1944. 8. University of Illinois Press (reprint). pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-252-07038-9. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R-KfgdHvv88C&pg=PA32. Google Books limited preview

[3] Belote, James H.; Belote, William M. (1975). Titans of the seas: the development and operations of Japanese and American carrier task forces during World War II. New York: Harper & Row. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-06-010278-4.

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