The Shohatsu (小発) or 10m landing craft was a small
landing craft
Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...
used by the
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 ...
during
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 ...
. It was used for landing personnel and stores. It was designated the "Type B" landing craft by the United States.
Design
The Shohatsu class were long, wide, and had a
draft of . The class had a maximum speed of , and a range of , assuming they were travelling at top speed. The ship could hold 35 men, or 3.5 tons of cargo. It was built of steel, and had a single bow with no landing ramp.
Service history
It was carried by destroyers and smaller vessels as a cargo boat. Japan ordered 20 of the Shohatsu class land crafts, but it is not known how many of them were actually finished and delivered.
References
Citations
Books
Websites
*
Further reading
*Jentschura, Hansgeorg; Jung, Dieter; and Mickel, Peter. Translated by Brown, J.D. 1977. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945. Naval Institute Press. .
*Military Monograph Series - Japanese Landing Craft of World War II. Merriam Press.
Landing craft
Military boats
Ships of the Imperial Japanese Army
Amphibious warfare vessels of Japan
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