Japanese destroyer Shimakaze (1920)

The Japanese destroyer {{nihongo|Shimakaze|島風|Island Wind}} was one of 15 s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1910s. The ship was converted into a patrol boat in 1940 and then into a destroyer transport the next year. After the start of the Pacific War, she participated in the Philippines Campaign in late 1941, the Dutch East Indies campaign in early 1942 and played a minor role in the Battle of Midway in mid-1942 before she was sunk by an American submarine in early 1943.

Design and description
The Minekaze class was designed with higher speed and better seakeeping than the preceding s. The ships had an overall length of  and were  between perpendiculars. They had a beam of , and a mean draft of . The Minekaze-class ships displaced  at standard load and  at deep load. They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ships at . On her sea trials, Shimakaze reached a speed of  from . The ships carried  of fuel oil which gave them a range of  at . Their crew consisted of 148 officers and crewmen.

The main armament of the Minekaze-class ships consisted of four  Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels, one aft of the rear funnel, and the last gun atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried three above-water twin sets of  torpedo tubes; one mount was in the well deck between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other two were between the aft funnel and aft superstructure. They could also carry 20 mines as well as minesweeping gear.

In 1937–38, Shimakaze was one of the ships that had her hull strengthened, funnel caps added and her fuel capacity reduced to . In 1940, she was converted into a patrol boat that displaced . This entailed the removal of two of her boilers, which cut her horsepower in half and reduced her speed to , the removal of two 12 cm guns and two torpedo tube mounts. These were replaced by ten license-built  Type 96 light AA guns and 16 depth charges. The following year, the ship was rebuilt as a destroyer transport able to carry two  and accommodate 250 troops. To make room for these, her stern was cut down to the waterline for a ramp and her aftmost 12 cm gun, the remaining torpedo tubes and the depth charges were removed.

Construction and career
Shimakaze, built at the Maizuru Naval Arsenal, was laid down on 5 September 1919, launched on 31 March 1920 and completed on 15 November 1920. Upon commissioning, the ship was assigned to Yokosuka Naval District as part of Destroyer Division 3 under the IJN 2nd Fleet. On 11 October 1928, in Uraga Channel, while on night training maneuvers, Shimakaze collided with her sister ship , resulting in significant damage to her port side, and requiring extensive repairs.

During the Battle of Shanghai on 25 September 1937, while engaged in operations on the Huangpu River during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Shimakaze came under fire from troops of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army, wounding Destroyer Division 3 commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Prince Fushimi Hiroyoshi. From 1938 to 1939, Shimakaze was assigned to patrols of the northern and central China coastlines in support of Japanese combat operations in the Second Sino-Japanese War. In December 1938, Destroyer Division 3 was disbanded, and Shimakaze was reassigned to the reserves.

As Patrol Boat No.1
In April 1940, after extensive modifications, Shimakaze was returned to active duty as a No.1-class patrol boat, and renamed .  After the start of the Pacific War on 7 December 1941, Patrol Boat No. 1 was assigned to patrols and escort missions in the Philippines, Netherlands East Indies and Solomon Islands. On 12 January 1943, while escorting the fleet oiler Akebono in the Bismarck Archipelago, she was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine  near Kavieng, New Ireland at position . Patrol Boat No.1 was removed from the Navy List on 10 February 1943.

Notes

References

External links
Minekaze-class destroyers on Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Minekaze-class destroyers
Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal
1920 ships
Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan
World War II destroyers of Japan
Ships sunk by American submarines
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Shipwrecks in the Bismarck Sea
Maritime incidents in January 1943