Hashima-class cable layer

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:
  • 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:

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 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 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 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
  1. Senshi Sōsho Vol.31 (1969), p.804
  2. Senshi Sōsho Vol.31 (1969), p.806
  3. 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"., (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
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.