JDS ''Wakaba'' (DE-261) was the former

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 surrend ...

ship ''Nashi'', an

escort destroyer An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE was a destroyer (DD) modified for and assigned to a fleet escort role after World War II. These destroyers retained their original hull numbers. Later, in March 1950, t ...

of the ''Tachibana'' sub-class of the built for the

during the final stages of

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 opposing ...

. ''Nashi'' was sunk in July 1945, but salvaged in 1954 and refitted to join the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

in 1956 as ''Wakaba'', later being utilised as a radar trials ship, but stricken in 1971 and scrapped in 1972-1973.

Design and description

The ''Tachibana'' sub-class was a simplified version of the preceding ''Matsu'' class to make them even more suited for mass production. The ships measured

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of .Sturton, p. 196 They displaced at

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

load and at deep load. The ships had two

Kampon The was the externally operating division of the Ministry of the Navy of Japan responsible for the administration of naval vessel construction. From 1923 onward, it took on the role of a research institution for the research and development of n ...

geared steam turbines, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

, using steam provided by two Kampon

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...

s. The turbines were rated at a total of for a speed of . They had a range of at .Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 153 The main armament of the ''Tachibana'' sub-class consisted of three Type 89

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

s in one twin-gun mount aft and one single mount forward of the superstructure. The single mount was partially protected against spray by a gun shield. They carried a total of 25 Type 96 anti-aircraft guns in 4 triple and 13 single mounts. The accuracy of the Type 89 guns was severely reduced against aircraft because no high-angle gunnery

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

was fitted. The ''Tachibana''s were equipped with Type 13 early-warning and Type 22 surface-

search radar This is a list of different types of radar. Detection and search radars Search radars scan great volumes of space with pulses of short radio waves. They typically scan the volume two to four times a minute. The waves are usually less than a meter ...

s.Stille, p. 41 The ships were also armed with a single rotating quadruple mount

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

for

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es. They could deliver their 60 depth charges via two stern racks and two throwers. Photos of her taken in drydock after her salvage showed that she had been equipped with a ramp at her stern designed to launch midget submarines.

Construction and career

''Nashi'' was launched by Kawasaki, Kobe, on 17 January 1945 and completed on 15 March. She was assigned to Desron 11, Combined Fleet, for training on 15 March 1945. In May 1945 she was assigned to Destroyer Division 52, Cruiser-Destroyer Squadron 31. ''Nashi'' escaped an attack on Kure harbour by B-29's on 22 June 1945, but on 28 July 1945 was sunk at Mitajirizaki, Kure () by aircraft from Halsey's

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 ...

. Commander Takeda and most of the crew survived. On 15 September 1945, ''Nashi'' was officially struck from the Navy list. The ship was refloated in 1954, and after repair at Kure recommissioned in the JMSDF as ''Wakaba'' on 31 May 1956. She was refitted in 1958 for use as a radar trials ship, and sonar was added in 1960. As such she was the only ship of the

to become part of the post-war Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and for some time was the biggest ship in the JMSDF. ''Wakaba'' was struck on 31 March 1971, and scrapped in 1972–1973. 'Nashi' is a type of pear. 'Wakaba' means "Young Leaves" in Japanese, suggesting the "green shoots" of recovery, a symbol of a new start after the war. Additionally, while the name 'Nashi' in the logographic Japanese

Kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

script unmistakably means: 'pear' (梨), in the phonetic Japanese script of

Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

, 'Nashi (なし)' can mean "Not exist". Therefore to avoid misunderstanding the term: "Not exist" (over radio or other communication) she was renamed.

Notes

References

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External links

Photographs of the salvage and refit of the ''Nashi''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakaba Frigates of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force 1945 ships Auxiliary ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Experimental ships Tachibana-class destroyers Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries

Design and description

Construction and career

Notes

References

Further reading

External links