minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
(later converted to
survey ship
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...
) 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) serving during World War I and World War II, the only ship of her class. page 198 She was the first purpose-built ocean-minelayer in the Japanese Navy.
Background
In 1914, with the start of World War I, the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
joined the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
as part of its obligations under the
Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first was an alliance between Britain and Japan, signed in January 1902. The alliance was signed in London at Lansdowne House on 30 January 1902 by Lord Lansdowne, British Foreign Secretary, and Hayashi Tadasu, Japanese diplomat. A dip ...
. However, the Imperial Japanese Navy did not possess an ocean minelayer to protect its harbors from the threat of the
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
, only a number of small boats which had been remodeled to carry
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s. In 1915, a rush order was placed for a purpose-built ocean-minelayer, with the costs to be covered under the Eight-six Fleet program as part of the s. As there was not much time for the
Imperial Japanese Navy Technical Department
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 ...
to develop the design, the basic configuration of ''Katsuriki'' was based on that of a standard merchant ship, which was even reflected in her original name of .
''Katsuriki'' was laid down at
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 ...
on 15 May 1916, launched on 5 October 1916 and completed 15 January 1917.
Service history
World War I and Interwar period
''Katsuriki Maru'' was completed in time for the final stages of World War I, when the threat of German attack on Japanese harbors was negligible. She was retained around the
Japanese home islands
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...
for the duration of the war.
On 1 April 1920, she was classified to a utility vessel and renamed ''Katsuriki''. She served on occasion as a
guard ship
A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea.
Royal Navy
In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...
around various islands in Japan's recent acquired
South Pacific Mandate
The South Seas Mandate, officially the Mandate for the German Possessions in the Pacific Ocean Lying North of the Equator, was a League of Nations mandate in the " South Seas" given to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations following W ...
in the 1920s, and also functioned during the period on maritime surveying duties.
On 1 July 1935, the remaining minelaying equipment was removed, and surveying devices from the retired survey ship were installed, and she was officially reclassified as a survey vessel. During the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
from 1937, she undertook many survey missions along the coast of China. In 1938, she is known to have surveyed the
Spratly Islands
The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed o ...
, at the time claimed by
French Indochina
French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...
. She also was part of the
IJN 5th Fleet
The was a fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, active during the early portions of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and again in World War II, primarily in the Aleutian campaign, during which it was augmented and designated the Northern Area Force. ...
during the invasion of Hainan from 9–11 February 1939 . From October 1941, she was deployed to
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
in the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
, and surveyed the vicinity of
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
.
Pacific War
With the start of World War II, ''Katsuriki'' was re-designated as a “secret military vessel” on 20 July 1942, although her mission remained that of maritime surveying. She was sent to map the coasts of the
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...
, Indian Ocean,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and north coast of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
in support of Japanese troop landings and combat operations .
On 21 September 1944, she was hit by two torpedoes fired by southwest of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
and sank. Lookouts on the USS ''Haddo'' spotted about 40 survivors in the water, and attempted to rescue, but the Japanese drowned themselves. On 10 November 1944, ''Katsuriki'' was removed from the
Navy List
A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...
.
References
*
*
*
*
* Ships of the World special issue Vol.47 ''Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', Kaijinsha, (Japan), March 1997
* The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Vessels No.34, Japanese auxiliary vessels'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), December 1979
* The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Vessels No.42, Japanese minelayers'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), August 1980
*
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 op ...
Vol.31, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941"'', Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969