,Nelson. ''Japanese-English Character Dictionary''. pages 872, 984 was the

lead vessel The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the s operated by 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 ...

, from the 1920s through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was the first purpose-built submarine tender in the Imperial Japanese Navy.Jentsura, ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', p. 237

Background

Under the

Eight-eight fleet The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which stipulated that the navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or b ...

plan, the Imperial Japanese Navy planned to acquire 100 submarines for long-distance scouting operations, which would also be used to conduct

attrition warfare Attrition warfare is a military strategy consisting of belligerent attempts to win a war by wearing down the enemy to the point of collapse through continuous losses in personnel and materiel. The word ''attrition'' comes from the Latin root , m ...

against any enemy fleet approaching Japan. ''Jingei'' was intended to serve as a

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for the Submarine Division Commander and as a depot ship for the nine submarines in a submarine division. Initially, ''Jingei'' was planned as a 14,500-ton vessel; however, her specifications were scaled down to 8,500-tons due to restrictions imposed by the

Washington Naval Treaty The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty signed during 1922 among the major Allies of World War I, which agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction. It was negotiated at the Washington Nav ...

Design

''Jingei'' was built by Mitsubishi Yards in

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, and the contractor was given an unusually free hand in her design. In order to keep costs to a minimum, the basic design of her hull was adapted from that of a standard civilian merchant vessel, of which Mitsubishi had considerable experience in building. Her coal/oil-fired boilers were taken from the cancelled ''Tosa''-class battleship project. As Mitsubishi was also working on the s at the same time, many design innovations that had been developed by Mitsubishi engineers were shared between the two classes, and as a result, the ''Katori''-class cruisers came bear a superficial resemblance to the ''Jingei''-class submarine tenders.

Operational career

''Jingei'' was laid down on 16 February 1922, launched on 4 May 1923 and completed on 30 August 1923. Initially assigned to the

Yokosuka Naval District was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its h ...

, she replaced the aging . Following the ''Tomozuru'' Incident of 13 March 1934, all ships of the Japanese Navy were subject to inspection and renovation of design flaws that would put the ship in danger of capsizing. Renovations were begun on ''Jingei'' in November 1934 at the

Sasebo Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Sasebo Naval District was established at Sasebo, Nagasaki in 1886, as the third of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the ...

to equip the vessel with new ballast tanks and bilge pumps. As the ''Jingei''-class submarine tenders were unable to support the new s, they were reassigned to the Training Fleet around this time, and their duties as submarine tenders were taken up by the new s. After the

Marco Polo Bridge Incident The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident () or the July 7 Incident (), was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria ...

of 7 July 1937, ''Jingei'' was part of the escort for the convoys transporting the

IJA 10th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the . The ''10th Divisio''n was one of six new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War, 1 ...

to northern China, but took no further combat role in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

.IJN ''Jingei'': Tabular Record of Movement
/ref> On 15 November 1940, in preparation for the coming conflict with the United States, both ''Jingei''-class ships were returned to active combat status, replacing ''Takasaki'' and ''Tsuruguzaki'', which were then converted to

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s. ''Jingei'' was assigned as

of the 7th Submarine Squadron, IJN 4th Fleet, and was equipped with a

Kawanishi E7K The Kawanishi E7K was a Japanese three-seat reconnaissance seaplane mainly in use during the 1930s. It was allocated the reporting name Alf by the Allies of World War II. Design and development In 1932 the Imperial Japanese Navy requested the K ...

2 reconnaissance floatplane. Following the start of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, ''Jingei'' participated in the

Battle of Wake Island The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December ...

from 8–10 December 1941. On 29 December 1941, she went to the rescue of the submarine , which had run aground on a reef north of

Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

. The submarine was a total loss, but all of her crewmen were rescued. On 14 July 1942, ''Jingei'' was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet based in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

. She was relieved by 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 ...

, on 7 November 1943, and was withdrawn back to Japan, arriving at

Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama prefecture, Wakayam ...

by the end of the month. On 12 January 1943, ''Jingei'' was reassigned to Kure Naval District as a training vessel for the Kure Submarine Warfare School, where she remained for the remainder of the year. On 16 October 1943, she was sent to render assistance to the supply ship , which had been torpedoed off

Chichijima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

. In December, she towed Hull 300 from Kure to

for conversion in the aircraft carrier . ''Jingei'' returned to front-line combat status on 1 January 1944 as flagship of Submarine Squadron 41, based at Kure. In summer, her main guns were replaced with 18 Type 96 25-mm antiaircraft guns. She subsequently made three roundtrips to

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

as a transport for supplies and reinforcements from 11 August through 18 September 1944. On her fourth mission to Okinawa, on 19 September 1944, she was torpedoed 80 miles northwest of

Naha is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...

by . She was towed to Okinawa and beached northwest of Naha. On 10 October 1944, the immobile ''Jingei'' was attacked by Allied aircraft of

Task Force 38 The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet), was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through the end of the war in August 1945. The tas ...

launched from and sank in shallow waters at , with the loss of 100 crewmen. ''Jingei'' officially struck from the

navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 10 November 1944. In September 1952, she was refloated and towed to

Tobata-ku, Kitakyūshū is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the smallest ward of Kitakyūshū city at 16.66 km². The population was 64,330 as of the national census in 2000. History and Geography In 1899 Tobata-cho (Tobata town) was created, and i ...

, where her hulk was salvaged for scrap.

Gallery

Image: Two japanese Jingei-class submarine tenders.jpg, Image: Jingei in action.jpg, Image: Japanese submarine tender Jingei.jpg, Image: Japanese submarine tender Jingei 1937.jpg, Image: Sunken Japanese submarine tender Jingei in October 1944.jpg,

References

* * * * * ''Ships of the World special issue Vol.47, Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', , (Japan), March 1997 * ''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.29, Japanese submarine tenders w/ auxiliary submarine tenders'', (Japan), July 1979 * ''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.135, Japanese submarines IV'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), May 1988 * ''Shinshichirō Komamiya, The Wartime Convoy Histories'', , (Japan), October 1987,

External links

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jingei Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan World War II naval ships of Japan Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1923 ships Submarine tenders of the Imperial Japanese Navy Ships sunk by US aircraft Maritime incidents in September 1944 Maritime incidents in October 1944