Tategami-class salvage tugboat

The Tategami-class salvage tugboats (立神型救難船兼曳船,, Tategami-gata Kyūnansen-ken-eisen) were a class of rescue ship/tugboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. The Miura-class (三浦型) was a wartime variant which introduced measures to simplify production. The official IJN designation for all vessels was 800-ton salvage tugboat (八〇〇瓲救難船兼曳船,, 800-ton Kyūnansen-ken-eisen).[12]

Class overview
Name800-ton salvage tugboat
Builders
Operators
Preceded by
Succeeded byKasashima class as Tategami class
Subclasses
  • Tategami class
  • Miura class
Cost700,000 JPY as Tategami [1]
Built
  • 1936–1940 as Tategami class
  • 1944–1947 as Miura class
In commission
  • 1937–1968 (Japan)
  • 1958–1979 (Thailand)
Planned6
Completed5 (+ 1, postwar)
Lost2 (+ 1, postwar)
Retired3
General characteristics Tategami class
TypeSalvage tugboat
Displacement
  • Tategami
  • 812 long tons (825 t) [6][3]
  • Nagaura
  • 800 long tons (813 t) [4]
Length
  • 53.5 m (175 ft 6 in) o/a [6][2]
  • 50.5 m (165 ft 8 in) wl [2]
  • 49.0 m (160 ft 9 in) lpp [2]
Beam9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) [2]
Draught
  • 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) [2]
  • Tategami
  • 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in) [3]
  • Nagaura
  • 4.812 m (15 ft 9.4 in) [4]
Propulsion
  • 2 × reciprocating engines,[6][3][4]
  • 2 × mix-fired water tube boilers,[3][7]
  • 2 shafts,[7]
  • Tategami
  • 2,278 ihp [3]
  • Nagaura
  • 2,375 shp [4]
Speed
  • Tategami
  • 15.37 knots (17.69 mph; 28.47 km/h) [3]
  • Nagaura
  • 15.25 knots (17.55 mph; 28.24 km/h) [4]
Rangeapprox. 1,000 nmi (1,900 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) [2][5]
EnduranceFuel: 100 tons coal and 70 tons oil [8]
Complement
  • 64 [5]
  • 9 officers and warrant officers
  • 55 ratings (sailors, engineers and divers)
Armament
General characteristics Miura-class
TypeSalvage tugboat
Displacement883 long tons (897 t) [9]
Length
  • 53.5 m (175 ft 6 in) o/a [11]
  • 49.0 m (160 ft 9 in) lpp [9]
Beam9.5 m (31 ft 2 in) [9]
Draught
  • 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) [9]
  • or 5.03 m (16 ft 6 in) [10]
Propulsion
  • [11]
  • 2 × reciprocating engines, 2 shafts, 2,200 shp
Speed11.0 knots (12.7 mph; 20.4 km/h) [9]
Armament
  • [9]
  • 2 × Type 96 25 mm AA guns
  • 6 × depth charges

Background edit

After the Russo-Japanese War, the IJN purchased many steamships and converted them to salvage vessels. However, by the beginning of the 1930s, replacements were needed, to this end the IJN introduced the Tategami-class.

Ships in classes edit

Tategami class edit

The IJN was going to build the Tategami class one by one for three years from fiscal year 1936, at first. However, the plan came to a deadlock for budget shortage by the second year. The IJN postponed building of second ship Oshima for two years.

Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Tategami (立神)[13]
ex-Salvage tugboat No. 941
Harima Zōsen 27 May 1936 as Salvage tugboat No. 941 [3][14] 29 August 1936 [3] 25 January 1937
as Tategami [3]
Renamed Tategami on 22 January 1937.[14] Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Sold to Nippon Salvage Company and renamed Tategami Maru (立神丸) in 1945. Retired in 1968.
one vessel [15] Converted to Kasashima class, because naval budget was short.[15]
Oshima (雄島) Maizuru Naval Arsenal fiscal year 1939 [15][16] Sunk in an accident in Truk (Tonowas) on 10 October 1943.[17]
Nagaura (長浦) Harima Zōsen 11 January 1940 [4] 16 May 1940 [4] 21 October 1940 [4] Sunk by USN Destroyer Squadron 23 off Kavieng 00°54′S 148°38′E / 0.900°S 148.633°E / -0.900; 148.633 with minelayer Natsushima on 22 February 1944.

Miura class edit

To simplify and speed-up construction of the Tategami class, the Kampon introduced wartime standard ship structures into the Tategami design.[18]

Ship Builder Laid down Launched Completed Fate
Miura (三浦) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 5 May 1944 7 September 1944 25 December 1944 Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945; renamed Miura Maru (三浦丸) in postwar. Transferred to Japan Maritime Safety Agency on 4 August 1949; renamed Miura (みうら PL-01, later PL-101) on 15 December; retired on 3 June 1967.
Yumihari (弓張) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 15 July 1944 16 December 1944 12 March 1945 Survived war; decommissioned on 30 November 1945. Transferred to Tōyō Salvage K.K. and renamed Yumihari Maru (弓張丸) in 1945, sold to Kawanami Kōgyō Corporation in 1947. Sold to Thailand and renamed Rangkwien in 1958.[19] Decommissioned on 30 April 1979.[20]
Hanashima (花島) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki shipyard 23 October 1944 as Hanashima 5 December 1945 as Akama Maru 28 February 1947 Incomplete until the end of war; transferred to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and renamed Akama Maru (赤間丸) in 1945.[19] Sold to Kambara Kisen Company and renamed Tensya Maru No. 3 (第三天社丸, Daisan Tensya Maru) in 1954, aground and broken in February 1962 at Kitan Strait.

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ JACAR C05034940200, p. 2
  2. ^ a b c d e f JACAR C05034885500, p. 10
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harima Zōsen (1960), p. 452–453
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harima Zōsen (1960), p. 460–461
  5. ^ a b JACAR C05034279700, p. 2
  6. ^ a b c d The Maru Special (1981), p. 38
  7. ^ a b JACAR C05034885600, p. 10, p. 15–20
  8. ^ JACAR C05034885500, p. 11
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Jirō Kimata (1999), p. 340–341
  10. ^ JMSA (1979), P.294
  11. ^ a b Monthly Ships of the World (2003), p. 27
  12. ^ JACAR C05110830400, p. 2
  13. ^ Other proposed names were Yatake (矢岳) and Hario (針尾). JACAR C05110830400, p. 3
  14. ^ a b JACAR C05110830400, p. 3
  15. ^ a b c Editorial Committee of the Navy (1981), p. 191
  16. ^ Woshima was registered to naval ship list on 12 August 1939. Other informations were not left.
  17. ^ JACAR C08030664200, p. 20
  18. ^ Shizuo Fukui (1961), p. 197
  19. ^ a b Shizuo Fukui (1994), second separate volume p. 927
  20. ^ ภูริลาภ สืบเพ็ง. เรื่อง เรือหลวงรางเกวียน (in Thai). Royal Thai Navy. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

Bibliography edit

  • The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No. 53, Japanese support vessels, "Ushio Shobō". (Japan), July 1981
  • Editorial Committee of the Navy, Navy Vol. 11, "Part of small vessels, auxiliary vessels, miscellaneous service ships and converted merchant ships", Seibunsha K.K. (Japan), August 1981
  • 30 year History of Japan Maritime Safety Agency, Policy and Legal Affairs Division-Japan Maritime Safety Agency (JMSA), May 1979
  • 50 year History of Harima Zōsen, Harima Zōsen Corporation, November 1960
  • 75 year History of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Shimonoseki shipyard, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries-Shimonoseki shipyard, 1964
  • Monthly Ships of the World No. 613, Special issue Vol. 62 "All ships of Japan Coast Guard 1948–2003", "Kaijinsha"., (Japan), July 2003
  • Jirō Kimata, Introductory book of the Japanese small vessels, Kōjinsha (Japan), December 1999
  • Shizuo Fukui
    • Japanese Naval Vessels Survived "Their post-war activities and final disposition", Shuppan Kyodosha (Japan), May 1961
    • FUKUI SHIZUO COLLECTION "Japanese Naval Vessels 1869–1945", KK Bestsellers (Japan), December 1994
  • "Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR)"., National Archives of Japan
    • Reference code: C05034279700, No. 35, 1935 March 13 Staff for construction of the tug boat and salvage boat
    • Reference code: C05034885500, May 1936 Instructions for Production of Electric Equipment for 800-ton Type Steel Salvage Tug Boat (1)
    • Reference code: C05034885600, May 1936 Instructions for Production of Electric Equipment for 800-ton Type Steel Salvage Tug Boat (2)
    • Reference code: C05034940200, Fleet Activity Command No.6084 May 21, 1936 Newly Constructed Factotum Vessels by Fiscal Year 1936 Provisional Factotum Vessels Production Fee
    • Reference code: C05110830400, [Data in English is under preparation] 官房306号 12.1.22 雑役船の公称番号及船種変更の件
    • Reference code: C08030664200, Detailed engagement report and wartime log book from October 1, 1943 to February 5, 1944, Special Service Vessel Hakkai-Maru (1)