Akashi (ship, 1938)
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
The Akashi ( Jap. 明石 ) was a workshop ship of the Imperial Japanese Navy , which was built in the 1930s and the Second World War was used. She was the only ship that was specially built for this role in the Japanese Navy.
history
Development history
In 1938, the Japanese Navy had converted the old unit line ship Asahi, which served as a submarine escort ship, into a workshop ship. After this conversion, the decision was made to build a special repair ship with better capabilities for this task. The navy based its design on the USS Medusa , which was commissioned in 1924 , which fulfilled the same function for the American navy and planned that it would be able to carry out 40% of the repairs required by the combined fleet (approx. 140,000 man-hours per Year). Therefore, it should be equipped with the latest machine tools imported from Germany .
construction
The Akashi were ordered as part of the 2nd district building program (Maru 2 Keikaku) from 1934 and laid down on January 18, 1937 at the naval shipyard in Sasebo . It was launched on June 29, 1938 and was taken over by the Japanese Navy on July 31, 1939. Subsequently, from November 15, 1939, assigned to the Combined Fleet and equipped until March 1940. Went into service on 10 March 1940 the command of Kaigun-Taisa ( Captain ) Miyazato Shutoku which a so-called Supreme equipment officer since the November 1, 1939 ( Jap.艤装員長, Giso inchō) with the Baubelehrung mandated been was.
Furthermore, it was planned to build two sister ships with the construction numbers 840 and 841 as part of the 6th district building program (Maru 6 Keikaku) from 1942, but these were not ordered and then as part of the modified 5th district building program (Kai-Maru 5 Keikaku) from 1942 with the construction numbers 5416 ( Mihara , 三原 ) and 5417 ( Momotori , 桃 ) were ordered from Mitsubishi in Yokohama . This construction contract was withdrawn on August 11, 1943 before the keel was laid.
Mission history
From July 23, 1941, the ship took part in the occupation of southern Indochina together with the heavy cruiser Ashigara .
During the rest of the war, Akashi operated from the Japanese base in Truk Atoll, repairing various types of damaged Japanese warships. The Akashi has carried out repairs on various warships to varying degrees. She was the IJN's best-equipped repair ship. While many ships that have been repaired by the Akashi are listed by name in documents, this is not the case with other ships. Repairs to other ships were most likely carried out in whole or in part by Akashi . Other smaller repair ships were also doing repairs in Truk, but Akashi probably also participated in most of the work to some extent.
In February 1944, during Operation Hailstone , the US Navy carried out an attack on Truk with carrier aircraft from Task Group 58 , in which many ships were sunk and damaged. The Akashi was also damaged in these attacks. On February 20, 1944 at 4:00 a.m., Truk was evacuated. The Akashi is sailing with the destroyers Akikaze and Fujinami , as part of the relocation of the combined fleet from Truk to Palau. The speed of the Akashi was reduced to 12 knots by the damage sustained in the attacks. The ship arrives in Palau on February 24, 1944 at 10.30 a.m. and initially repairs itself.
Ship repairs
On January 4, 1941, she reached Davao in the Philippines . From January 20, 1942, the destroyer Inazuma was repaired after a collision with the transport ship Sendai Maru . From January 29, 1942, the destroyer Hatsuharu was repaired after a collision with the light cruiser Nagara . In February the engine of the water transport ship Koan Maru was repaired. It left Davao on February 15, 1942. From March 28, 1942 to April 10, 1942, work on Ambon on unidentified battle-damaged warships.
On May 28, 1942, the Akashi departed as part of Operation MI (planned capture of Midway) from Kure to Midway. She belonged to the Second Fleet under Vice Admiral Kondō Nobutake , more precisely to the supply group under Captain Murao Jiro with the tankers Sata, Tsurumi, Genyo Maru and Kenyo Maru . From June 14th to July 14th, the ship repaired the heavy cruiser Mogami in Truk , which was damaged by bombs in the Battle of Midway on June 6th. June 29, 1942 to July 15 followed the emergency repairs of the destroyer Arashio , which was damaged by a bomb during the battle. From August 24 to September 8, 1942 emergency repairs on the destroyer Hagikaze which was hit by a bomb from a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress on turret No. 3 on August 19 near Guadalcanal . From August 28 to September 4, the repair of the light aircraft carrier Chitose , which was bombed in the Battle of the East Solomon Islands , probably followed . From August 28 to October 2, work followed on the light cruiser Jintsu , which was also hit by bombs in the same battle.
Until the sinking of the destroyer were still Yugiri , Shirakumo , Kagero , Urakaze , Minegumo , Teruzuki , Kuroshio , zemindars , Ariake , Shiratsuyu , Michishio , Oyashio , Arashi , Uzuki , Suzukaze , Maikaze , Hamakaze , Isokaze , Ikazuchi , Murasame , Amatsukaze , Asagumo , Fumizuki , Nowaki , Naganami , Kawakaze , Akizuki , Harusame and Hatsukaze repaired or emergency repairs carried out, whereby the Amagiri were repaired three times and the destroyers Yugiri , Samidare , Shiratsuyu and Kawakaze were repaired twice. Of these 37 repairs to destroyers, 22 were due to damage from aircraft attacks, 6 to gun hits, 5 to accidents and machine damage and 4 to torpedo hits.
Nine transport ships or auxiliary ships of the Navy were also repaired. Work was carried out on the Shokaku fleet transport ship and the Nankai Maru , Noshiro Maru , Hokuyo Maru , Kitakami Maru and Bichu Maru transport ships . In addition, at the two seaplane tenders Sanyo Maru and Kamikawa Maru , and also at the cable layer Osei Maru .
Numerous other ships, including the aircraft carrier Shōkaku in October 1942 and the battleship Yamato in December 1943, were repaired.
Downfall
On March 30, 1944 , while it was anchored in a bay on the Palau Islands off the island of Urukthapel , Akashi was hit several times by bombs and unguided air-to-surface missiles from American carrier aircraft of Task Group 58 and sank during Operation Desecrate One . The ship received at least seven hits on the stern, two on the port bow, one on her superstructure in front of the deck, two amidships and another aft, which caused a violent fire. She was sunk in shallow water with her bridge still over the water. The commander, Captain Kameyama, and an unknown number of crew members survived the sinking. 35 other ships were sunk in the attack. In 1954 the wreck of the Akashi was lifted for scrapping by the Fujita Salvage Company along with other wrecks .
Surname
The Akashi is after the protected cruiser of the same name - which was in service from 1897 to 1928 - the second warship of a Japanese navy to bear this name. Named after the Akashi - Strait between the islands of Honshu and Awaji Island .
List of commanders
| No. | Surname | Beginning of the term of office | Term expires | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sea captain Miyazato Shutoku | March 10, 1940 | July 14, 1940 | entrusted with building instruction since November 1, 1939 |
| 2. | Sea captain Unknown person | July 14, 1940 | September 25, 1941 | |
| 3. | Sea captain Fukuzawa Tsunekichi | September 25, 1941 | September 12, 1942 | |
| 4th | Sea captain Eguchi Matsuro | September 12, 1942 | October 21, 1943 | |
| 5. | Sea captain Kameyama Minegoro | October 21, 1943 | March 30, 1944 |
technical description
hull
The hull of the Akashi was designed as a smooth-decker and was 158.5 meters long, 20.5 meters wide and had a draft of 6.29 meters with an operational displacement of 10,668 tons .
drive
It was driven by two diesel engines with a total output of 10,000 hp (7,335 kW ). These gave their power to two shafts with one screw each . The maximum speed was 19.2 knots (36 km / h ) and the maximum distance traveled 8,000 nautical miles (14,000 km) at 14 knots.
crew
The crew had a strength of 650 men.
Armament
The air-defensive armament consisted of four 12.7 cm guns of the Type 89 with a caliber length of 40 in double mounts and four 2.5 cm type 96 automatic cannons also in double mounts.
The 12.7 cm guns - positioned in the ship's center line, one in front of the bridge structure and one behind the aft deckhouse - achieved a rate of around 8 rounds per minute and the maximum range was around 9.4 kilometers at a 75 ° rise. The 24.5-tonne double carriage could be rotated 360 ° and had an elevation range of −7 ° to + 75 °. The 2.5 cm automatic cannons - a double mount on either side of the bridge structure at the height of the front mast - fired around 110 to 120 rounds per minute in use, the effective range was around 3 kilometers at 85 ° elevation. The 1.1 ton double carriage could be rotated 360 ° and had an elevation range of −10 ° to + 85 °.
Due to the strong Allied air forces during the Pacific War , the 2.5 cm guns were reinforced, which consisted of 12 automatic cannons when it went down.
Hoists
Various hoists were available for loading spare parts, supplies and other things , which were distributed over the ship. These were a 10-ton derrick crane on the upper deck , which was installed on the front mast and each flanked by a 5-ton loading boom . Another 10-ton derrick on the stern mast for the use of the accompanying dinghies and a 23-ton derrick amidships to starboard . A 3- and 5-ton bridge crane and two 3-ton jib cranes were also installed in the workshops .
Others
The ship had a tool area, an electrical repair shop and a machine shop equipped with 114 different machine tools. On board was an assembly workshop and facilities for casting, forging and welding metal and machines for copper and woodworking.
literature
- Hansgeorg Jentschura, Dieter Jung, Peter Mickel: Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869-1945 . US Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1977, ISBN 0-87021-893-X , pp. 240-241 (English).
- Rekishi Gunzō ., History of Pacific War Vol.51 The truth histories of the Japanese Naval Vessels part-2 , Gakken (Japan), 2005, ISBN 4-05-604083-4 .
- Ships of the World special issue Vol.47 Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy , Kaijinsha, (Japan), 1997
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.34 Japanese Auxiliary vessels , Ushio Shobō (Japan), 1979
- Senshi Sōsho Vol.31, Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941" , Asagumo Simbun (Japan), 1969
- Senshi Sōsho Vol.88, Naval armaments and war preparation (2), "And after the outbreak of war" , Asagumo Simbun (Japan), 1975
Web links
- CV of Akashi at combinedfleet.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ IJN Ship Repair AKASHI: Tabular Record of Movement for combinedfleet
- ↑ Type-89 12.7 cm cannon. In: navweaps.com. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Type-96 1-inch automatic cannon . In: navweaps.com. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .