Japanese destroyer Yūgure (1934)
 Hatsuharu-class destroyer Yūgure
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Yūgure |
| Ordered | FY 1933 |
| Builder | Maizuru Naval Arsenal |
| Laid down | 9 April 1933 |
| Launched | 6 May 1934 |
| Commissioned | 30 March 1935 |
| Stricken | 15 October 1943 |
| Fate | Sunk in action, 20 July 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Hatsuharu-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,530 t (1,510 long tons) |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 10 m (32 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 3.38 m (11 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 36 knots (41 mph; 67 km/h) |
| Range | 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 14 kn (26 km/h) |
| Complement | 212 |
| Armament |
|
Yūgure (夕暮, ”Twilight”)
History
Construction of the advanced Hatsuharu-class destroyers was intended to give the Imperial Japanese Navy smaller and more economical destroyers than the previous Fubuki and Akatsuki-class destroyers, but with essentially the same weaponry.[3] These conflicting goals proved beyond contemporary destroyer design, and the initial ships of this class were top-heavy design, with severe stability problems and with inherent structural weaknesses. After the "Tomozuru Incident" of 1934 and "IJN 4th Fleet Incident" in 1935, Yūgure underwent extensive design changes and modifications prior to launch to remedy these issues.
Yūgure was
Operational history
At the time of the
In January 1942, Yūgure escorted aircraft carriers
In May, Yūgure was assigned escort the cruisers
After returning to Sasebo for repairs through the middle of January 1943, Yūgure escorted a convoy to
On 12 July 1943, Yūgure participated in the Battle of Kolombangara, assisting in sinking the American destroyer USS Gwin and damaging the cruisers USS Honolulu, USS St. Louis and New Zealand's HMNZS Leander.
However, a few days later on the night of 19 July 1943, while on a troop transport run to Kolombangara, Yūgure was bombed and sunk by U.S. Marine Grumman TBF Avengers from Guadalcanal, north-northwest of Kolombangara (07°25′S 156°45′E / 7.417°S 156.750°E). The rescue destroyer Kiyonami picked up about twenty survivors but was sunk in turn soon thereafter, leaving no survivors from Yūgure's crew of 228 men, and only one survivor from Kiyonami herself.[5][6]
References
Notes
- ^ Nelson. Japanese-English Character Dictionary. page 283
- ^ Lengerer, pp. 92-3
- ^ GlobalSecurity.org: IJN Hatsuharu class
- ^ Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Hatsuharu'class 1st class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- ^ IJN Kiyonami: Tabular record of movement
- ^ IJN Yugure: Tabular record of movement
Books
- D'Albas, Andrieu (1965). Death of a Navy: Japanese Naval Action in World War II. Devin-Adair Pub. ISBN 0-8159-5302-X.
- Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-914-X.
- Howarth, Stephen (1983). The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945. Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-11402-8.
- Jentsura, Hansgeorg (1976). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. US Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Lengerer, Hans (2007). The Japanese Destroyers of the Hatsuharu Class. Warship 2007. London: Conway. pp. 91–110.
- Nelson, Andrew N. (1967). Japanese–English Character Dictionary. Tuttle. ISBN 0-8048-0408-7.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot (1961). Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944, vol. 7 of History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. ASIN B0007FBB8I.
- Watts, Anthony J (1967). Japanese Warships of World War II. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-3850-9189-3.
- Whitley, M J (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Arms and Armour Press. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.
External links
- Nishidah, Hiroshi (2002). "Hatsuharu class destroyers". Materials of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
- Nevitt, Allyn D. (1997). "Hatsuharu-class destroyers". Long Lancers. Combinedfleet.com.
- Nevitt, Allyn D. (1997). "IJN Yugure: Tabular Record of Movement". Long Lancers. Combinedfleet.com.
- Globalsecurity.org. "IJN Hatsuharu class destroyers".
