was an

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. Her name means "Young Moon".

Design and description

The ''Akizuki''-class ships were originally designed as anti-aircraft escorts for carrier battle groups, but were modified with

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s and

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 to meet the need for more general-purpose destroyer. Her crew numbered 300 officers and enlisted men. The ships measured overall, 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 . They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ship 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 three Kampon

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s. The turbines were rated at a total of for a designed speed of . The ship carried up to of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

which gave them a range of at a speed of . The main armament of the ''Akizuki'' class consisted of eight Type 98 dual purpose guns in four twin-

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s, two

superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval military building technique in which two (or more) turrets are located in a line, one behind the other, with the second turret located above ("super") the one in front so that the second turret can fire over the ...

pairs fore and aft 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 ...

. They carried four 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 two twin-gun mounts. The ships were also armed with four

s in a single quadruple traversing mount; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons comprised six

throwers for which 72 depth charges were carried.

Construction and career

The ship was commissioned on 31 May 1943 into the 11th Destroyer Squadron. ''Wakatsuki'' participated in rescuing sailors from (June 1944) and (October 1944) when each was sunk by US forces. Both of these carriers participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 11 November 1944, ''Wakatsuki'' was escorting a troop convoy to Ormoc,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. She was sunk by aircraft of Task Force 38 in Ormoc Bay, west of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

().

Rediscovery

''Wakatsuki's'' wreck was discovered in early December 2017 by Microsoft co-founder

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...

's research vessel

RV Petrel RV ''Petrel'', or R/V ''Petrel'' (IMO: 9268629, MMSI: 235102789), is a research vessel owned by the estate of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. The ship is named after the sea bird petrel. In 2016, Allen purchased the offshore service vessel forme ...

869 ft (265 m) below the surface of Ormoc Bay. She was found to be heavily damaged from both her sinking and impact with the seafloor, resting on her starboard side.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

CombinedFleet.com: ''Akizuki''-class destroyers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakatsuki Akizuki-class destroyers (1942) World War II destroyers of Japan Shipwrecks in the Sulu Sea World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Destroyers sunk by aircraft 1942 ships Maritime incidents in November 1944 Ships sunk by US aircraft Shipwreck discoveries by Paul Allen