Japanese Destroyer Okinami

was a of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Design and description

The ''Yūgumo'' class was a repeat of the preceding with minor improvements that increased their anti-aircraft capabilities. Their crew numbered 228 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured overall, with a beam of and a draft of . They displaced at standard load and at deep load.Whitley, p. 203 The ships 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 for a designed speed of .

The main armament of the ''Yūgumo'' class consisted of six Type 3 guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. The guns were able to elevate up to 75° to increase their ability against aircraft, but their slow rate of fire, slow traversing speed, and the lack of any sort of high-angle fire-control system meant that they were virtually useless as anti-aircraft guns. They were built with four Type 96 anti-aircraft guns in two twin-gun mounts, but more of these guns were added over the course of the war. The ships were also armed with eight torpedo tubes in a two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised two depth charge throwers for which 36 depth charges were carried.

Construction and career

''Okinami'' saw one of her first active missions escorting a large troop convoy to Saipan and Guam. On 29 February 1944, one of the troop ships, the ''Sakito Maru'', was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS ''Trout''''. Okinami'' then swerved to assist the sinking ''Sakito Maru'' while the destroyer '' Asashimo'' depth charged and sank ''Trout''. ''Okinami'' helped to rescue 1,720 survivors, before returning to Japan on March 16.

From March 20-28, ''Okinami'' escorted a troop convoy from Yokosuka to Truk, before escorting the troop transport ''Sanyo Maru'' to Saipan, followed by escorting a tanker convoy to Balikpapan. ''Okinami'' then escorted those same oil tankers to Saipan and back to Balikapapan, before finally escorting the tankers to Tawitawi on May 15. From May 16-19, ''Okinami'' steamed to Davao and back to Tawitawi.

On June 10, ''Okinami'' steamed from Tawitawi escorting the battleships ''Yamato'' and '' Musashi'' on a troop transport run. However, on the 13th, the force was ordered to join with Admiral Ozawa's fleet to act as carrier escorts. On June 19-20, the battle of the Philippine Sea commenced, and though heavy fighting commenced in other aspects of the battle, ''Okinami's'' force came under relatively light carrier attacks, where she was not damaged, and was present when ''Yamato'' mistakenly fired on returning Japanese aircraft, forcing one pilot to ditch his plane.

From July 8-16, ''Yamato'' and ''Musashi'' finished what they started and transported ground troops to Lingga, bringing ''Okinami'' as an escort. After arriving at Lingga, ''Okinami'' spent a significant amount of time anchored, only leaving on October 18 to escort Admiral Kurita's fleet to Brunei in preparation for Operation Shō Gō, arriving 2 days later. On October 22, ''Okinami'' departed as part of as part of Kurita's centerforce in an attempt to raid American troop convoys destined for the Philippines. After submarine attacks sank and damaged a number of cruisers, ''Okinami'' survived the carrier raids during the battle of the Sibuyan Sea, October 24, and survived with only strafing damage, which injured 34 sailors to varying degrees. On the 25th, ''Okinami'' served in the battle off Samar, but contributed nothing of note to the battle, before she assisted the sinking heavy cruiser '' Suzuya'', rescuing 416 survivors, before escorting the crippled heavy cruiser '' Kumano'' to Manila, arriving on the 28th, finally ending the battle of Leyte Gulf.

From November 1-2, Okinami escorted a troop convoy from Manila to Ormoc, and on 5 November 1944 she was damaged by near misses and strafing during an air attack. There were 28 casualties. On 13 November 1944, ''Okinami'' was sunk in a U.S. air raid on Manila. Suffering one direct bomb hit and several near-misses, she sank upright in shallow water west of Manila at . There were 14 crewmen killed and 19 wounded.

Notes

References

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External links

CombinedFleet.com: ''Yūgumo''-class destroyers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okinami
Yūgumo-class destroyers
World War II destroyers of Japan
Destroyers sunk by aircraft
World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea
1943 ships
Maritime incidents in November 1944
Ships sunk by US aircraft
Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal