was one of 23
escort destroyers of the ''Tachibana''
sub-class of the built for the
Imperial Japanese Navy during the final stages of
World War II. Completed in early 1945, the ship spent most of her brief career assigned to the
Combined Fleet on escort duty. ''Nire'' was damaged during a bomber attack on
Kure in June; although she was repaired, the ship was placed in
reserve the following month. The non-operational destroyer was turned over to the victorious
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
when the
Empire of Japan surrendered in August; ''Nire'' was
scrapped
Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...
in 1948.
Design and description
The ''Tachibana'' sub-class was a simplified version of the preceding to make them even more suited for mass production. The ships measured
overall length, with a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draft of .
[Sturton, p. 196] They displaced at
standard load and at deep load. The ships had two
Kampon geared
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s, each driving one
propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Kampon
water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of for a speed of . The ''Tachibana''s had a range of at .
[Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 153]
The main armament of the ''Tachibana'' sub-class consisted of three
Type 89 dual-purpose guns in one twin-gun mount aft and one single mount forward of the
superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships.
Aboard ships and large boats
On water craft, the superstruct ...
. The single mount was partially protected against
spray
Spray or spraying commonly refer to:
* Spray (liquid drop)
** Aerosol spray
** Blood spray
** Hair spray
** Nasal spray
** Pepper spray
** PAVA spray
** Road spray or tire spray, road debris kicked up from a vehicle tire
** Sea spray, refers to ...
by a
gun shield
A U.S. Marine manning an M240 machine gun equipped with a gun shield
A gun shield is a flat (or sometimes curved) piece of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun, automatic grenade launcher, or artillery piece ...
. The accuracy of the Type 89 guns was severely reduced against aircraft because no high-angle gunnery
director was fitted. The ships carried a total of 25
Type 96 anti-aircraft gun
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
s in 4 triple and 13 single mounts. The ''Tachibana''s were equipped with
Type 13 early-warning and
Type 22 surface-
search radars.
[Stille, p. 41] The ships were also armed with a single rotating quadruple mount
amidships for
torpedoes. They could deliver their 60
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s via two stern rails and two throwers.
[
]
Construction and service
''Nire'' ( Elm)[ was ordered in Fiscal Year 1944 under the Wartime Naval Armaments Supplement Program][ and she was laid down at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 14 August 1944. The ship was launched on 25 November and completed on 31 January 1945.][Stille, p. 40] ''Nire'' was assigned that day to Destroyer Squadron 11 under the Combined Fleet for working up, and was briefly attached to the Second Fleet
The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In September 2011, Second Fleet was deactivated in view of ...
on 1–20 April. On 25 April, she became part of Destroyer Division 52 together with , and which was assigned to Escort Squadron 31 of the Combined Fleet. On 22 June, while at Kure, she was damaged during an air raid by USAAF B-29 Superfortress bombers; repairs at Kure Naval Arsenal lasted until 2 July.[Nevitt] On 15 July ''Nire'' was reduced to reserve[ and her crew was transferred to her ]sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
. The ship was turned over to Allied forces at Kure at the time of the surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
and was stricken from the navy list on 5 October. She was scrapped at Kure on 20 April 1948.[
]
Notes
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nire (1944), Japanese destroyer
Tachibana-class destroyers
Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal
1944 ships
World War II destroyers of Japan