The Japanese destroyer was one of 21 s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1910s. She was converted into a patrol boat (Patrol Boat No. 37) in 1940 and spent the Pacific War on escort duties, mostly in Japanese waters. The ship was sunk off Borneo by on 24 January 1942 and was struck from the naval list on 10 April 1942.
The Momi class was designed with higher speed and better seakeeping than the preceding second-class destroyers.[1] The ships had an overall length of 280feet and were 275feet between perpendiculars. They had a beam of 26feet, and a mean draft of 8feet. The Momi-class ships displaced 850lk=onNaNlk=on at standard load and 1020LT at deep load.[2] Hishi was powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by three Kampon water-tube boilers.[3] The turbines were designed to produce 21500shp to give the ships a speed of 36kn. The ships carried a maximum of 275LT of fuel oil which gave them a range of 3000nmi at . Their crew consisted of 110 officers and crewmen.[4]
The main armament of the Momi-class ships consisted of three 12adj=onNaNadj=on Type 3 guns in single mounts; one gun forward of the well deck, one between the two funnels, and the last gun atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '3' from front to rear. The ships carried two above-water twin sets of 533adj=onNaNadj=on torpedo tubes; one mount was in the well deck between the forward superstructure and the bow gun and the other between the aft funnel and aft superstructure.[2]
In 1939–40, Hishi was converted into a patrol boat. Her torpedo tubes, minesweeping gear, and aft 12 cm gun were removed in exchange for two triple mounts for license-built 25mm Type 96 light AA guns and 60 depth charges. In addition one boiler was removed, which reduced her speed to from 12000shp. These changes made her top heavy and ballast had to be added which increased her displacement to 935LT.[5]
Hishi, built at the Uraga Dock Company in Uraga, was launched on 13 October 1920 and completed on 10 December 1920.[6] From December 1939 to April 1940, she was converted into a patrol boat and was renamed Patrol Boat No. 37 on 1 April 1940. The ship was sunk off Borneo by on 24 January 1942. She was officially struck from the IJN's naval list on 10 April 1942.