Japanese Destroyer Yukikaze (1939)

was a in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. She was the only member of her class to survive the war, and did so without suffering any major damage. Following the war, the ship was transferred to the Republic of China Navy, where she was renamed ''Dan Yang'' ( DD-12) and served until 1966, before being scrapped in 1970.

Design and description

The ''Kagerō'' class was an enlarged and improved version of the preceding of destroyers. Their crew numbered 240 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, pp. 200–01 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 ships had a range of at a speed of .Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 148

The main armament of the ''Kagerō'' class consisted of six Type 3 guns in three twin-gun turrets, one superfiring pair aft and one turret forward of the superstructure. 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 for the oxygen-fueled Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedo in two quadruple traversing mounts; one reload was carried for each tube. Their anti-submarine weapons consisted of 16 depth charges.

Construction and career

Imperial Japanese Navy

During the Pacific War, the attrition rate of Japanese destroyers was extremely high due to heavy, prolonged combat and the need to use them to transport supplies to scattered Japanese island garrisons. Early in the war, ''Yukikaze'' took part in the invasions of the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. She participated in the battles of Midway, Santa Cruz, Leyte Gulf, and the Philippine Sea, as well as a lengthy stint on Guadalcanal troop runs and the naval battles around that island. ''Yukikaze'' also survived Operation Ten-Go, during which the battleship was sunk. Between these major engagements, ''Yukikaze'' participated in escort duty for ships in transit, particularly in the redeployment of the aircraft carrier during which the newly completed carrier was torpedoed by a U.S. Navy submarine and sunk. She spent the last months of the war on security duty in Japanese harbors and survived many Allied air raids.

As a result of participating in and surviving some of the most dangerous battles the IJN had fought, ''Yukikaze'' is very popular in Japan, being called "the unsinkable ship" and "the miracle ship" much like prior to that ship's sinking by the . ''Yukikaze'' took part in more than 10 major battles, and more than 100 escort missions and resupply transport missions during World War II.

After the war, she was used as a transport to bring home Japanese military forces still abroad. ''Yukikaze'', ' and were the only ships to survive among the 82 Japanese destroyers built before the war.

ROCS ''Dan Yang''

On 6 July 1947, ''Yukikaze'' was transferred to the Republic of China as a war reparation, where she was renamed ''Dan Yang'' ( DD-12). All destroyers were named after Yang regardless of country of origin.

''Dan Yang'' served as flagship of the Republic of China Navy. It was an unarmed training vessel until 1952. In 1953, it was fitted with Type 89 12.7 cm/40 dual mounted guns, in addition to the Type 98 10cm/65 dual mounted guns already in use. In 1956, ''Dan Yang'' had all the Japanese armaments removed and replaced with three open air mounted 5"/38 caliber guns, 3"/50 caliber guns replaced the torpedo tubes, Bofors 40 mm guns, and newer depth charge launchers. The Republic of China Navy had no use for the original torpedo tubes as they did not have access to the appropriate armaments.

She is notable for visiting Manila where 50,000 overseas Chinese visited her in August 1953. ''Dan Yang''s service included patrolling the South China Sea and intercepting incoming ships carrying wartime materials into Shanghai. On 4 October 1953, she captured the Polish civilian oil tanker '' Praca'' at ''21°06'N 122°48'E'' in the West Pacific Ocean, 125 sea miles southeast of Taiwan. On 12 May 1954, She bombarded to capture another Polish civilian freighter '' Prezydent Gottwald'' with machinery and medicines at ''23°45'N 128°35'E''. On 23 June 1954, she captured the civilian oil tanker ''Tuapse'' of the Soviet Union carrying kerosene eastbound at in the high sea of Balintang Channel near Philippines All ships were confiscated into the ROC Navy list, and the crews were either released, executed or detained for various time frames up to 35 years in captivity till 1988. She also saw action along the Taiwan Strait in a supporting role as it was one of the few ships with long range guns. However, the arrival of surplus US destroyers entering service put the famous destroyer that once served as flagship into retirement, and she was scrapped in 1970 after being damaged beyond repair in a typhoon in 1969.

In Japan, there was a campaign to have her returned to Japan from Taiwan for preservation as a museum ship since she was the symbol for longevity. Her rudder and one of her anchors were repatriated to the Japan Navy Academy museum as a good will gesture.

Notes

References

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External links

Tabular record of movement
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combinedfleet.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yukikaze
Kagerō-class destroyers
Ships built by Sasebo Naval Arsenal
1939 ships
World War II destroyers of Japan
Destroyers of the Republic of China Navy