Japanese Cruiser Tenryū

was the lead ship in the two-ship of light cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. ''Tenryū'' was named after the Tenryū River in Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures.

Background

The ''Tenryū''-class was designed to act as flagships for destroyer flotillas. The design represented an intermediate class between the light cruiser and the destroyer, which had few counterparts in other navies of the time, although it was inspired by a similar concept to the Royal Navy's and s.Gardner, ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921''; page 237 The Imperial Japanese Navy and Japanese shipbuilding industry were still closely associated with the British due to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, and were able to improve on the British experience.

Design

The ''Tenryū''-class vessels, termed "small-model" (or "3,500-Ton") cruisers, were designed as fast flotilla leaders for the Imperial Navy's new first- and second-class destroyers. With improvements in oil-fired turbine engine technology and the use of Brown Curtiss geared turbine engines, the ''Tenryū'' class had more than twice the horsepower of the previous , and were capable of the high speed of , which was deemed necessary in their role as flagships for destroyer squadrons. However, by the time of their completion, newer Japanese destroyers, such as the had a design speed of 39 knots, and newer American cruisers, such as the also exceeded it in firepower.Stille, '' Imperial Japanese Navy Light Cruisers 1941-45 '', pages 12-15;

However, in terms of weaponry, the ''Tenryū'' class was weaker than any other contemporary cruiser. The main battery consisted of four 14 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, which were also utilized as the secondary battery on the s. However, the guns were situated in single mounts on the centerline, with only a limited angle of fire, and could fire only one gun at a target immediately in front or aft of the vessel. A further weakness was the lack of room for anti-aircraft guns. Despite awareness increasing about the growing threat of aircraft to surface ships, the secondary battery of the ''Tenryū'' class consisted of only a single dual-purpose 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval guns, plus two 6.5 mm machine guns. The class also was the first to use triple torpedo launchers, with two centerline-mounted Type 6 21-inch launchers. No reloads were carried.

Service history

Early career

''Tenryū'' was completed on 20 November 1919, at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, and was assigned as flagship of the 2nd Destroyer Squadron based at Kure Naval District, under the IJN 2nd Fleet.

The following year, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to patrols of the east coast of Russia, providing support to Japanese troops in the Siberian Intervention against the Bolshevik Red Army. She was transferred to the reserves at Kure on 20 April, but was reactivated from 1 December 1921 - 1 December 1922, and again from 1 December 1923 – 1 December 1925, alternating active duty periods with her sister ship ''Tatsuta'' as flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron. From 5 February 1927, she was assigned to patrols of the mouth of the Yangtze River.
''Tenryu Tabular Record of Movement'';

After minor renovation in late 1927, ''Tenryū'' once again became flagship of the 1st Destroyer Squadron. From 1 December 1928, she was assigned back to Kure, serving as a training vessel for the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy and Submarine School. In 1930, she was given a tripod foremast.

On 9 October 1931, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to patrols of the Yangtze River in China as part of the IJN 3rd Fleet, and was thus in combat during the January 28 Incident at Shanghai in 1932. She returned to Japan in October 1933, and from November 1934 was again based at Kure. On 26 September 1935, during fleet maneuvers in a typhoon, ''Tatsuta'' (along with several other vessels) suffered hull damage in what later came to be known as the Fourth Fleet Incident. Repair work at Kure Naval Arsenal lasted until May 1936.

From November 1936, ''Tenryū'' was paired with her sister ship ''Tatsuta'' in the 10th Cruiser Squadron of the IJN 3rd Fleet, replacing the cruiser . As the situation between Japan and China deteriorated into the Second Sino-Japanese War, ''Tenryū'' supported the landings of the Imperial Japanese Army and Japanese naval forces in Shanghai, and the blockade of the Chinese coast. As a component of the IJN 5th Fleet, on 10 May 1938 she covered the landing of Japanese forces at Amoy and on 1 July 1938 supported operations in Guangzhou. ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' operated in Chinese waters until 14 December 1938, when they were withdrawn from front line service and assigned to the reserves. From 1 December 1939, ''Tenryū'' was based at Maizuru Naval District as a guard ship and training vessel for the Imperial Japanese Navy Engineering Academy.

However, from 15 November 1940, in preparation for the upcoming hostilities with the United States, ''Tenryū'' and ''Tatsuta'' were extensively modernized and renovated. Their coal/oil boilers were replaced with oil-fired boilers and a steel roof replaced the former canvas covering of the bridge. The two Type 93 AA machine guns (which had been added in 1937) were replaced with two twin-mount Type 96 25 mm AA guns.

Early Pacific War

From 12 September 1941, ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were redeployed to Truk, in the Caroline Islands, as CruDiv 18 of the Fourth Fleet. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, CruDiv 18 had deployed from Kwajalein as part of the Wake Island invasion force. ''Tenryū'' bombarded shore installations during the first Battle of Wake Island, and also participated in the second (successful) invasion attempt on Wake Island on 21 December.

On 20 January 1942, ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were assigned to cover troop transports during the invasion of Kavieng, New Ireland and Gasmata, New Britain from 3–9 February, and patrolled from Truk in late February.

During a refit at Truk on 23 February, two additional Type 96 twin-mount 25 mm AA guns were installed aft, as part of the heightened awareness of the threat posed by American aircraft.

Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns

From March, '' Tenryū'' with CruDiv 18 covered numerous troop landings throughout the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, including Lae and Salamaua, Buka, Bougainville, Rabaul, Shortland, and Kieta, and Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, and Tulagi returning to Truk on 10 April.

''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' were both assigned to the aborted "Operation Mo" (the occupation of Port Moresby, and covered the establishment of a seaplane base at Rekata Bay at Santa Isabel Island from 3–5 May. The operation was cancelled following the Battle of the Coral Sea, and ''Tatsuta'' was recalled to Maizuru Naval Arsenal in Japan for repairs on 24 May, remaining for a month. On 23 June, she returned to Truk. ''Tatsuta'' and ''Tenryū'' escorted a convoy to Guadalcanal on 6 July, which contained an engineering battalion assigned to build an airstrip.Lacroix and Wells, ''Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War''; p.18 and p.363-367

On 14 July 1942, in a major reorganization of the Japanese navy, CruDiv 18 under Rear Admiral Mitsuharu Matsuyama came under the newly created Eighth Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa and based at Rabaul. On 20 July, ''Tenryū'' was assigned to cover Japanese troop landings in the invasion of Buna, New Guinea ("Operation RI"). The invasion force was attacked by USAAF Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresss and Martin B-26 Marauder bombers on its return to Rabaul, but ''Tenryū'' was unharmed.

Battle of Savo Island

On 9 August 1942, ''Tenryū'' was in the Battle of Savo Island, together with the cruisers , , , , , and , and the destroyer , which attacked US Task Group 62.6 that was screening transports with Allied invasion forces for Guadalcanal. During nighttime gun and torpedo action, ''Tenryū'' sank the cruiser with two torpedoes. She also contributed to sinking the cruisers , , and . In addition, the cruiser and destroyers and were damaged. ''Tenryū'' was hit by ''Chicago'', with 23 crewmen killed. ''Tenryū'' remained based out of Rabaul through the end of August, escorting convoys of troops and supplies.,

On 25 August, ''Tenryū'' covered of the landing of 1,200 troops of the Kure No. 5 Special Naval Landing Force at Milne Bay, New Guinea ("Operation RE"), and on 6 September, was part of the force assigned to evacuate the surviving troops after their defeat, and in the process bombarded the Gili Gili wharves and sank the 3,199-ton British freighter ''Anshun''.

On 2 October, ''Tenryū'' was hit by a bomb dropped by a B-17 of the 19th Bomb Group, Fifth Air Force while at Rabaul. The bomb killed 30 crewmen, but the ship was not severely damaged. ''Tenryū'' was then tasked with Tokyo Express transport runs from Rabaul to Tassafaronga, Guadalcanal, through early November, evacuating 190 members of the Sasebo No.5 Special Night Operations Landing Force on 26 OctoberDull, ''A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy''; p.179 and narrowly escaping a torpedo launched by on 3 November off Santa Isabel Island. On 8 November, ''Tenryū'' was attacked by PT boats (''PT-37'', ''PT-39'', and ''PT-61'') off Cape Tassafaronga, but escaped without damage.

Naval Battles of Guadalcanal

On 13 November 1942, ''Tenryū'' departed Shortland for Guadalcanal as part of the Japanese task force for the bombardment of Henderson Field. The task force was attacked the next day by and Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo-bombers from and Guadalcanal. During the subsequent battle, ''Kinugasa'' was sunk and ''Chōkai'' was slightly damaged. A Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber crashed into the cruiser . ''Tenryū'' was undamaged and returned to Shortland.

On 16 December 1942, ''Tenryū'' departed for Madang, New Guinea, in an attack force with the destroyers , , , and and the armed merchant cruisers ''Aikoku Maru'' and '' Gokoku Maru'', successfully landing its forces on 18 December.

The following day, as ''Tenryū'' was departing, it was attacked by the submarine , which fired three torpedoes each at a transport and what it identified as a destroyer. The torpedoes missed the transport, but one hit ''Tenryū'' in the stern. ''Tenryū'' sank at 23:20 on 19 December 1942, at .Chesneau, p. 237. Twenty-three crewmen were lost, but ''Suzukaze'' rescued the survivors, including Captain Mitsuharu Ueda.

''Tenryū'' was struck from the navy list on 20 January 1943.

Gallery

File: IJN Tenryu in 1919 under construction.jpg,
File: IJN Tenryu in 1919 under trials.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Yokosuka 1919.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1921.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1920s.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1926 postcard.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1930.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Inland Sea 1930-32.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu 1930-31.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in Shanghai 1932.jpg,
File: IJN Tenryu in Shanghai Feb 1934.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu docked at Shanghai Feb 1934.jpg,
File: Japanese cruiser Tenryu in 1936.jpg,

References

Notes

Books

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External links

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US Navy Historical Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenryu
Tenryū-class cruisers
Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal
1918 ships
Second Sino-Japanese War cruisers of Japan
World War II cruisers of Japan
Maritime incidents in December 1942
Ships sunk by American submarines
Shipwrecks in the Bismarck Sea
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean