The was a class of minelayers of the
Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during and after
World War II. The class consists of three subclasses, which this article handles collectively.
Background
*In 1937, the IJN planned this class as a replacement for the timeworn
''Natsushima'' and the
''Sokuten''-class auxiliary minelayer.
Ships in classes
''Sokuten'' class
*Project number H11. Original model of the ''Sokuten'' class. Five vessels were built in 1937–40 under the
Maru 3 Programme (Ship # 57–61).
''Hirashima'' class
*Project number H11B. Second production model of the ''Sokuten''-class. Nine vessels were built in 1939–43 under the
Maru 4 Programme (Ship # 170–178). They were equipped with a 76.2 mm anti-aircraft gun. The ''Nuwajima'' had its ballast tank replaced with a fuel tank for convoy escort operations. These nine vessels were classed in the ''Sokuten''-class in the IJN official documents.
''Ajiro'' class
*Project number H13 at first. The IJN hoped urgent building for her. The
Navy Technical Department revised the ''Hirashima'' drawings. Twenty-six vessels were planned under the
Maru Kyū Programme (Ship # 460–473, 14 vessels) and the
Kai-Maru 5 Programme (Ship # 5421–5432, 12 vessels), but only ''Ajiro'' was completed. The ''Ajiro''-class were classified separately from the ''Sokuten''-class in the IJN official documents.
Footnotes
Bibliography
* , History of 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), June 2002,
* Ships of the World special issue Vol.45, ''Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', , (Japan), February 1996
* Model Art Extra No.340, ''Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-1'', (Japan), October 1989
* The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.47, ''Japanese naval mine warfare crafts'', (Japan), January 1981
* Daiji Katagiri, ''Ship Name Chronicles of the Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet'', Kōjinsha (Japan), June 1988,
*
Senshi Sōsho
The , also called the , is the official military history of Imperial Japan's involvement in the Pacific War from 1937 to 1945. The task of compiling the official account of the Japanese involvement in World War II began in October 1955 with the ope ...
Vol.31, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941"'', Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969
* Senshi Sōsho Vol.88, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (2), "And after the outbreak of war"'', Asagumo Simbun (Japan), October 1975
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