The Hashima-class cable layers (初島型電纜敷設艇,, Hashima-gata Denran-Fusetsutei) were 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.
 Hashima on 25 October 1940
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hashima-class cable layer |
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
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
editProject 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 in South China Sea 11°50′N 109°18′E / 11.833°N 109.300°E on 21 March 1945. Decommissioned on 10 May 1945. |
Photos
edit-
Tsurushima on 20 March 1941 -
Ōtate in 1941 -
Tateishi on 21 March 1945 -
Tsurushima Maru in postwar
Footnotes
edit- ^ Senshi Sōsho Vol.31 (1969), p.804
- ^ a b 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
edit- Monthly Ships of the World, Special issue Vol.45, "Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy", "Kaijinsha"., (Japan), February 1996
- The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.47, "Japanese naval mine warfare crafts", "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), January 1981
- Senshi Sōsho Vol.31, Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941", Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969