The were a class of amphibious assault ships 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 ...

(IJN) and

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

(IJA), serving during and after

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 ...

. The ''No.101'' class ships were powered by diesel engines, while the similar were powered by a steam turbine engine. The IJN called them . The ''No.103'' class included the IJA's variant. This article handles them collectively.

Background

*In June 1943, after its defeat in the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in th ...

, the IJN realized it needed high-speed military transport vessels, and designed two classes of ship in response. One (the ) was to be the 1,500-ton mothership of the and Kō-hyōteki-class submarines, the other was to be a 900-ton amphibious assault ship, the No.101 class. *The IJA already had an amphibious assault ship, the . However, the SS craft were not suitable for mass-production, leading to IJA support for the new amphibious assault ships. *The IJN and IJA therefore cooperated on the production of the new amphibious assault ships with the IJN providing design and shipyards while the IJA offered mineral resources.

Design

*The IJN had obtained information regarding

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

from Germany, including some photographs and sketches of the LCT Mk.V. *In August 1943, the Navy Technical Department (Kampon) studied these and finished a basic design. It was a scaled-up model of the LCT. *In September 1943, the Kampon entrusted the detailed design to the

Kure Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy. History The Kure Naval District was established at Kure, Hiroshima in 1889, as the second of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the J ...

. The Kure Naval Arsenal completed this within two months, and the ''No.101'' was laid down in November 1943.

Construction

*The Kampon designed a new turbine engine for this class. However, it was not ready in time for the first 6 vessels. The Kampon therefore installed the wartime standard diesel engine in the first 6 vessels. The IJN called them ''No.101'' class or ''SB (D)''. Turbine engines were available in time for the remaining production, which the IJN designated the ''No.103'' class or SB (T). Completed vessels were split between the IJN and IJA. *The IJA received 32 vessels from the ''No.103'' class, however the IJA had difficulties with the steam turbines engine and returned 10 vessels The ''No.106'', ''No.107'', ''No.108'', ''No.110'', ''No.111'', ''No.112'', ''No.113'', ''No.114'', ''No.115'' and ''No.154''. to the IJN. *Several ''No.103'' and SB class vessels were converted to use coal-fired boilers in January 1945. Detailed construction records do not exist, but photographic evidence confirms the conversion of ''No.147'', ''SB No.101'' and ''SB No.108'' with the presence of a tall funnel.

Navy service

*Most of the Navy vessels took part in the

Battle of Leyte A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

, where 18 of them were lost. Most, however, succeeded in landing their tanks and troops. *Only 9 vessels survived the war.

Army service

* As of 2009 a detailed record of the vessels in the Army service is not known to exist in Japan. * The armaments were not standardized. * The IJA let ten SB craft participate in the Philippines Campaign. Their actions were limited to the

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

northern coast,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

. The IJA lost only one SB craft. *After the Philippines Campaign, the SB craft were used only in the Japanese mainland peripheral sea area.

Ships in classes

''No.101'' class

''No.103'' class

Photos

Image:IJN_No149_landing_ship_in_1944.jpg, ''No.149'' on 16 February 1944 at Yugeshima Island. Image:Ka-Chi1.jpg,

Type 3 Ka-Chi The was an amphibious medium tank developed by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The Type 3 Ka-Chi was based on an extensively modified Imperial Japanese Army Type 1 Chi-He medium tank (it had 2 more road-wheels and two more return rol ...

departure from ''No.149'' on 29 February 1944 at Nasakejima Island. Image:Type95 HaGo departure from landing ship No149.jpg, Type 95 Ha-Gō departure from ''No.149'' on 27 February 1944 at Nasakejima Island. Image:Four Japanese No101-class landing ships.jpg, (left to right) ''No.150'', ''No.101'', ''No.127'' and ''No.149'' on 13 March 1944 at

. Image:IJN_No151_Landing_Ship_1944.jpg, ''No.151'' on 20 April 1944 at Yugeshima Island. Image:Japanese landing ship LS-159 burning.jpg, ''No.159'' on 12 December 1944 at Ormoc Bay. Image:Japanese landing ship LS-147.jpg, ''No.147'' w/ coal-fired boilers on 16 December 1946 at Yokosuka Naval Base. Image:IJA_SB-101.jpg, IJA ''SB No. 101'' on 17 February 1947 at

Hiroshima Bay is a bay in the Inland Sea, Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Hiroshima Wan" in . Administratively, the bay is divided between Hiroshima and Yamaguchi Prefectures. The bay's shore is a Ria. Its surface area is about 1,000 km², ...

Footnotes

Bibliography

*', ''History of the Pacific War Vol. 51, "The truth histories of the Imperial Japanese Vessels Part.2"'',

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

(Japan), 2005, . *''Rekishi Gunzō'', ''History of the Pacific War Vol. 62, "Ships of the Imperial Japanese Forces"'',

(Japan), January 2008, *''The Maru Special'', ''Japanese Naval Vessels No. 50, "Japanese minesweepers and landing ships"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), 1981. *''Ships of the World'', ''Special issue Vol. 47, "Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy"'', , (Japan), 1997. *Shizuo Fukui, ''Japanese Naval Vessels Survived, "Their post-war activities and final disposition"'', Shuppan Kyodosha (Japan), 1961. *Shizuo Fukui, ''FUKUI SHIZUO COLLECTION "Japanese Naval Vessels 1869–1945"'', KK Bestsellers (Japan), 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:101-class landing ship Landing craft Amphibious warfare vessels of Japan World War II naval ships of Japan Ships of the Imperial Japanese Army