The was a class of patrol boats of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. 2 vessels were converted from s in 1940.

Background

* In 1939, the IJN was liberated from

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, and the United States that was signed on 22 April 1930. Seeking to address is ...

, and they built many s. On the other hand, aging of the ''Minekaze''-class destroyers was serious. Their boilers were worn down very much because they were destroyers. Some ''Minekaze''s were not able to show 30 knots speed. The Navy General Staff made ''Confidential Document No.456'', an order to rebuild about four ''Minekaze''-class destroyers and six s into patrol boats. The IJN chose ''Shimakaze'' and ''Nadakaze'' among the ''Minekaze'' class.

Rebuilt

* ''Shimakaze'' and ''Nadakaze'' were sent to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for rebuilding. B turret, four torpedo tubes, and two boilers were removed in 1940. In this point in time, they left a feature of the destroyer. * Second half of 1941, the IJN rebuilt them once again for war preparations.About the time of their entering a dock, correct historical materials were not left. They were rebuilt to the landing craft carrier. They were removed Y turret and torpedo tubes, and the enclosed well deck. Furthermore, a slope for was installed at the stern. Well-deck ruins were able to accommodate 250 troops (for two companies of Navy Landing Force).

Service

* 8 December 1941: Sortie for invasion of Batanes Islands. (''No.1'' and ''No.2'') * 24 December 1941: Sortie for invasion of

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. (''No.1'' and ''No.2'') * 11 January 1942: Sortie for

Battle of Manado The Battle of Manado took place as part of the Japanese offensive to capture the Dutch East Indies. It occurred at Manado (also spelled Menado) on the Minahasa Peninsula on the northern part of Celebes Island (modern day Sulawesi in Indonesia) ...

. (''No.1'', ''No.2'' and ''No.34'') * 12 February 1942: Sortie for invasion of Makassar. (''No.1'' and ''No.2'') * 20 February 1942: Sortie for invasion of Kupang. (''No.1'', ''No.2'' and ''No.39'') * (after): The IJN which finished First Phase Operations allotted them to the convoy escort operations and ''No.1'' and ''No.2'' were sunk by Allied submarines.

Ships in class

Footnotes

Bibliography

*, ''History of Pacific War Vol.62, "Ships of the Imperial Japanese Forces"'',

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