Shirotae (白妙) ("White cloth") was one of 32 Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the first decade of the 20th century.
 Sister ship Ayanami
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | Shirotae |
| Builder | Mitsubishi Shipyards, Nagasaki |
| Laid down | 25 July 1905 |
| Launched | 30 July 1906 |
| Completed | 20 November 1906 |
| Fate | Ran aground and wrecked, 31 August 1914 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type | Kamikaze-class destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 21 ft 7 in (6.6 m) |
| Draught | 6 ft (1.8 m) |
| Installed power | 4 boilers; 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 shafts; 2 triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) |
| Range | 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 70 |
| Armament |
|
Design and description
editThe Kamikaze-class destroyers were improved versions of the preceding Harusame class.[1] They displaced 381 long tons (387 t) at normal load and 450 long tons (460 t) at deep load. The ships had a length between perpendiculars of 227 feet (69.2 m) and an overall length of 234 feet (71.3 m), a beam of 21 feet 7 inches (6.6 m) and a draught of 6 feet (1.8 m). The Kamikazes were powered by two vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft using steam produced by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The engines produced a total of 6,000 indicated horsepower (4,500 kW) that gave the ships a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph). They carried a maximum of 100 long tons (102 t) of coal[2] which gave them a range of 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Their crew consisted of 70 officers and ratings.[3]
The main armament of the Kamikaze-class ships consisted of two 40-calibre quick-firing (QF) three-inch (76 mm) 12 cwt guns[Note 1] on single mounts; the forward gun was located on superstructure, but the aft gun was at the stern. Four 28-calibre QF three-inch 8 cwt guns on single mounts were positioned abreast the superstructure, two in each broadside. The ships were also armed with two single rotating mounts[1][3] for 450-millimetre (17.7 in)[4] torpedoes between the superstructure and the stern gun.[1]
Construction and career
editShirotae was laid down at Mitsubishi's shipyard in Nagasaki on 25 July 1905 and launched on 30 July 1906.[2] Completed on 20 November 1906, the ship saw service in World War I and ran aground in Jiaozhou Bay, China, on 31 August 1914 during the Siege of Tsingtao. She was wrecked beyond repair on 3 September.[5]
Notes
edit- ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
Citations
editBooks
edit- Friedman, Norman (1985). "Japan". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.
- Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One: Guns, Torpedoes, Mines and ASW Weapons of All Nations; An Illustrated Directory. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7.
- Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter & Mickel, Peter (1977). Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. ISBN 0-87021-893-X.
- Todaka, Kazushige; Fukui, Shizuo; Eldridge, Robert D. & Leonard, Graham B. (2020). Destroyers: Selected Photos from the Archives of the Kure Maritime Museum; the Best from the Collection of Shizuo Fukui's Photos of Japanese Warships. Japanese Naval Warship Photo Album. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-630-8.
- Watts, Anthony J. & Gordon, Brian G. (1971). The Imperial Japanese Navy. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0-35603-045-8.