Japanese destroyer Harutsuki explained

was an destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her name means "Spring Moon". She was different from her other sisters, as she was built as a flagship for the Escort Fleet.

Design and description

The Akizuki-class ships were originally designed as anti-aircraft escorts for carrier battle groups, but were modified with torpedo tubes and depth charges to meet the need for more general-purpose destroyers. The ships measured 134.2m (440.3feet) overall, with beams of 11.6m (38.1feet) and drafts of 4.15m (13.62feet).[1] They displaced 2744t at standard load and 3470sp=usNaNsp=us at deep load.[2] Their crews numbered 300 officers and enlisted men.[3]

Each ship had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of 52000shp for a designed speed of 33kn. The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them ranges of 8300nmi at speeds of .[4]

The main armament of the Akizuki class consisted of eight 10 cm Type 98 dual-purpose guns in four twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair fore and aft of the superstructure. Harutsuki was equipped with 41 Type 96 250NaN0 anti-aircraft (AA) guns in seven triple-gun mounts and twenty single mounts. The ships were also each armed with four 610adj=onNaNadj=on torpedo tubes in a single quadruple rotating mount amidships for Type 93 (Long Lance) torpedoes; one reload was carried for each tube. The later batches of ships were each equipped with two depth charge throwers and two sets of rails for which 72 depth charges were carried. Haratsuki was equipped with a Type 13 early-warning radar on her mainmast and a Type 22 surface-search radar on her foremast.[5] [6]

Construction and career

On 5 October 1945, Harutsuki was removed from Navy List. On 28 August 1947, she was turned over to the Soviet Union, renamed Vnezapny (Внезапный) and rearmed with eight 102mm guns, fifteen 25 mm guns and four 533mm torpedo tubes. She became the training ship Oskol in 1949, target ship TsL-64 in 1955 and finally floating barracks PKZ-37, scrapped in 1969.

References

. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Naval Institute Press. Annapolis, Maryland. 2005. Third Revised. 1-59114-119-2. Jürgen Rohwer.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Sturton, p. 195
  2. Todaka, p. 213
  3. Whitley, p. 204
  4. Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 150
  5. Stille, pp. 33–34
  6. Whitley, pp. 204–205