Aoba class
| Aoba class | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type: | Heavy cruiser |
| Units: | 2 |
| Predecessor class: | Furutaka class |
| Successor class: | Myōkō class |
| Technical data (original planning) |
|
| Displacement: | Displacement under test conditions: 7,500 tn. l. |
| Length: | over everything: 185.2 m |
| Width: | 16 m |
| Draft: | Draft: 5.7 m |
| Speed: | Peak: 33.43 kn |
| Crew: | 643 permanent crew |
| Range: | 7,000 nautical miles at 14 knots |
| Drive: | 4 screws over 4 shafts |
The Aoba class ( Japanese 青葉 型 巡洋艦 ) was a class of two heavy cruisers of the Japanese Empire that were used in World War II .
history
Design and construction
As a result of the naval treaties of 1922 , the Japanese Navy planned the Furutaka class consisting of four ships . In this class, the attempt was made to exhaust the 10,000 ton limit as much as possible, and the ships were overloaded with six turrets and a dozen torpedo tubes and equipped with powerful machines. For these supposed advantages, the structural stability of the hulls was sacrificed and an upward shift in the center of gravity was accepted.
The impending top-heavyness of the Furutaka class was soon recognized, however, and efforts were made to remedy the problem at least on the last two ships of the Furutaka class . These two ships were then referred to as the Aoba class after the lead ship . The Aoba class retained the concept of the fast attack unit, but the heaviness was positively changed in the construction phase by combining the six individual guns in three twin towers. The space gained was later used to install an aircraft catapult.
The Aoba class , like the bulk of the other Japanese heavy cruisers, later had to go to the shipyard for overhaul. During this action, the still existing instability of the hulls was tried to reduce by welding on additional steel plates.
While the Kinugasa was lost early in the Pacific War , the Aoba received a Type 21 radar system in 1943 and a Type 22 radar system in 1944 .
Modernization measures
Like the two cruisers of the Furutaka class , those of the Aoba class have also been modernized. By 1940, the main artillery's 20 cm caliber tubes were exchanged for 20.32 cm, and the four 12 cm L / 45 anti-aircraft guns Type 10 Mod. "B" were replaced with shields from the "B2" and model installed automatic cannons to improve air defense capabilities. Torpedo bulges were attached and the empty watertight compartments were partially filled with crushable tubes in order to improve underwater protection and to avoid top-heaviness. The width of the ships increased by the bulges from 16.61 to 17.56 meters.
The machine system was revised and most of the twelve old boilers removed, so that after the measure, ten boilers and four turbine sets formed the drive system. As a result of this measure, the Aoba increased from 103,003 PS (75,759 kW) to 108,456 PS (79,769 kW), but the top speed fell from 35.04 to 33.43 knots due to the additional weight of the other attachments and conversions.
displacement
The water displacement increased as a result of the renovations, so that the displacement of the Aoba from the beginning of 1934 was significantly lower than that of 1940 after the renovation:
- light: 7,894 t to 8,738 t
- Trials: 9,922 t to 10,822 t
- maximum: 10,654 t to 11,660 t
Aoba class ships
Aoba
Main article: Aoba (ship, 1927)
The Aoba was laid down in Nagasaki in January 1924 and launched in September 1926. It was in service until 1938, but was then sent to the shipyard for modernization measures. In 1940 she returned to the fleet and participated in several operations during the Pacific War. On October 11, 1942, she was damaged in the Battle of Cape Esperance by hits by enemy ship artillery and had to return to Japan for repairs. In October 1944 she was badly damaged by a torpedo hit, moved from the active fleet to the reserve as "irreparable" and used as a floating anti-aircraft battery. From April 1945 American warplanes attacked Kure several times and hit the cruiser so badly that it sank to the bottom. The wreck was scrapped after the war.
Kinugasa
Main article: Kinugasa (ship, 1927)
The Kinugasa was laid down in Kobe in October 1924 and launched in October 1926. After a year of service, she was the first Japanese warship to receive a catapult for launching on-board aircraft. In the years after its completion, it carried out several missions off the Chinese coast. From December 1941 she took part in operations in the Pacific War, such as the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Savo Island . On November 14, 1942, after a supply mission for Guadalcanal , she was attacked by fighter jets of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and sank south of New Georgia after being hit by an aerial bomb and several torpedo hits .
Remarks
- ↑ While the Aoba had Parsons turbines, the Kinugasa was equipped with Brown Curtiss turbines, with which it reached 35.48 knots before the conversion.
literature
- Eric LaCroix, Linton Wells: Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. US Naval Institute Press, 1997, ISBN 0-87021-311-3 .
- Furutaka class / Aoba class. Gakken Pacific War Series, number 44. Gakken, Tokyo 2003, ISBN 4-05-603323-4 .
Web links
- Aoba class at combinedfleet.com (with Furutaka and Kako)
Footnotes
- ^ David C. Evans: Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941. 2003, US Naval Institute Press, ISBN 0-87021-192-7 , pp. 225 ff.
- ↑ for 1934 according to Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. P. 57.
- ↑ for 1939 according to Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War. P. 803.
