A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF JAPANESE ESCORTS | Forums

[klcarroll]

Since many of you have expressed the intention to buy SH4 as soon as possible, I thought that a quick overview of Japanese Escorts might be in order.

In researching these guys, the first thing that becomes apparent is that these were designed to be general purpose warships; .....in some cases, it even seems as though the ASW weapons were added as an afterthought. (The Shimakaze Class, for example, with it's standard complement of only 18 depth charges!)

The second thing that catches one's attention is how fast they tend to be! The majority of the DD classes had top speeds in excess of 34 knots, and the 3000 ton SHIMAKAZE class was able to do 39+!!!!

They tended to be heavily gunned, with both the main and secondary batteries intended to be AA capable. This did not work out as well as the designers had intended due to some generic flaws in the weapons: The 5" guns found on many of the classes were good pieces of artillery, but the turrets they were mounted in tended to have much too slow a transverse speed for anti-aircraft work. This left much the AA duties to the 25mm secondary weapons. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which side you were on) there were serious problems with those guns.

The 25mm/60 AA guns seem to be yet another example of the difficulties the Japanese had in producing serviceable automatic weapons: Based on a WWI French Hotchkiss design, it did nothing particularly well. It had slow transverse and elevation times, even in the power driven versions, and was hated by it's gunners for it's extreme vibration and excessive muzzle flash. ....And as if that wasn't enough, the ammo fed from fixed 15 round clips, which required a pause in firing to change; resulting in the gun's theoretical 260 rpm rate being cut in half!

Unfortunately for us, we are operating submarines, not aircraft, ....and the Japanese guns will work just fine for shooting up a sub on the surface.

The one really superb weapon system on the DDs is the one we will probably never have to deal with: .......Their torpedo capability.

The Japanese DDs carried the world's best torpedo: ....The famous 24 inch "Long Lance". It is this torpedo that made the Japanese destroyers such a feared adversary in surface night actions. This weapon was the result of intensive R&D before the war, during which the Japanese conducted extensive live fire tests (unlike their American counterparts), and when it went into actual combat, it was "right"!

One of the innovative things about this design was the use of pure oxygen instead of compressed air. This allowed for a fantastic boost in both range and speed, compared to other designs. On it's "Fast"� setting it had a 20,000 meter range at 48 knots! On the "Slow"� setting, it's range was extended to 40,000 meters, at a mere 36 knots! ........And just to make sure that the long trip was worth it, the Long Lance carried a 1080 pound explosive charge.

From the point of view of The Allies, there was nothing funny about that torpedo.

While we expect to have troubles with the DDs and DEs, the small Patrol Craft are something of an unpleasant surprise. These lightly armed 800 ton wonders promise to be "A Painful Rectal Itch"� with their standard load of 120 depth charges. Mercifully, they're not terribly fast.

There are some other factors that will tend to work in our favor: First, the Japanese sonar wasn't up to Allied Standards, and they never developed a "forward firing"� weapon system like Hedgehog; .....so their depth charge attacks will probably be much like the sort we have seen in the 1940 Atlantic war.

Secondly, In the initial phases of the war, radar was not common on escorts, and the Japanese were slow in correcting this.

A summary of the more common classes follows: Check it out, and start planning your evasive strategies!



AKATSUKI CLASS - DD



Displacement 1680 Tons
Length 371 Ft.
Max Speed 38 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x28) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 9 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36)



AKIZUKI CLASS - DD



Displacement 2700 Tons
Length 440 Ft.
Max Speed 33 Knots
Main Armament 3.9"�/65 DP (x8) Max range 21,300 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x51) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 4 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x72) 2 Racks, 4 Launchers



ASASHIO CLASS - DD



Displacement 2370 Tons
Length 388 Ft.
Max Speed 35 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x28) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 8 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 2 Racks



FUBUKI CLASS - DD



Displacement 2090 Tons
Length 378 Ft.
Max Speed 38 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x22) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 9 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 2 Launchers



HATSUHARA CLASS - DD



Displacement 1802 Tons
Length 359 Ft.
Max Speed 36 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x5) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x21) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 9 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 1 Rack, 2 Launchers




KAGERO CLASS - DD



Displacement 2490 Tons
Length 388 Ft.
Max Speed 35 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x28) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 8 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 2 Racks, 2 Launchers



MATSU CLASS - DE



Displacement 1530 Tons
Length 328 Ft.
Max Speed 28 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/40 DP (x3) Max range 16,075 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x29) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 4 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 2 Racks, 2 Launchers



MUTSUKI CLASS - DD



Displacement 1772 Tons
Length 338 Ft.
Max Speed 37 Knots
Main Armament 4.7"�/45 DP (x4) Max range 17,500 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x20) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 6 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x18) 2 Racks, 2 Launchers



SHIMAKAZE CLASS - DD



Displacement 3048 Tons
Length 413 Ft.
Max Speed 39 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x28) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 15 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x18)



SHIRATSUYU CLASS - DD



Displacement 1980 Tons
Length 352 Ft.
Max Speed 34 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x5) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x21) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 8 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x16) 1 Rack, 4 Launchers



TACHIBANA CLASS - DE



Displacement 1580 Tons
Length 328 Ft.
Max Speed 28 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/40 DP (x3) Max range 16,075 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x24) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 4 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x60) 2 Racks, 4 Launchers



YUGUMO CLASS - DD



Displacement 2520 Tons
Length 391 Ft.
Max Speed 35 Knots
Main Armament 5"�/50 DP (x6) Max range 20,100 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x28) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes 8 (24"�)
Depth Charges (x36) 2 Racks, 2 Launchers



TYPE C PATROL CRAFT



Displacement 810 Tons
Length 221 Ft.
Max Speed 16.5 Knots
Main Armament 4.7"�/45 DP (x2) Max range 17,500 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x6) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes None
Depth Charges (x120) 1 Racks, 12 Launchers



TYPE D PATROL CRAFT



Displacement 940 Tons
Length 228 Ft.
Max Speed 17.5 Knots
Main Armament 4.7"�/45 DP (x2) Max range 17,500 yards
Secondary Armament 25mm AA (x6) Max range 8,200 yards
Torpedo Tubes None
Depth Charges (x120) 1 Racks, 12 Launchers



*

[klcarroll]

Oh Well! ......It looks like Redterex and I were thinking along similar lines.

Sorry for the waste of space!

[RedTerex]

Not a waste of space at all klcarroll ! in fact this is another top quality post by yourself. excellent images and info !

You have made yet another informative thread that will help to expand peoples ideas on SH-IV and what we can expect to see.

The information about the Japanese destroyers may surprise most in that they were heavily armed, fast and well suited to the role they played.

A Japanese Destroyer coming down on players at 35+Knotts with guns and depth charges being fired like mad as the Japanese were accustomed to do, will add an extra edge to the Sim that SH II and III never quite had.

If people think that SH-IV will be a boring Sim against a weak enemy then I would ask them to re-evaluate their stance !
The IJN ( Imperial Japanese Navy ) was a real superpower and one of the largest Navies in the World at the time...manned by an intelligent and cunning crew who knew their stuff !

And in SH-IV you will all get to know some of the DD's as mentioned above...only too well !

[Celeon999]

It will take a while to learn all those class names

[tambor198]

Nice post, klcarrol. A few other things people might not know about the Imperial Japanese Navy was that they had one goal in mind when they started WW II. That goal was to defeat the US Navy in one big battle. Most of the major engagements in the Pacific between the Imperial Japanese Navy and the US Navy were built around that premise. Every Japanese warship was armed to the teeth. They were terrific night fighters, as shown by the early battles in the Solomons. It is a known fact that most Japanese destroyer captains thought it beneath their dignity to provide escort for merchantships. As RedTerex mentioned in some other posts of his, the Japanese did not think American submarines could go below 250 ft. It wasn't until mid or late 1943 that the Japanese started taking the US Submarine menace very seriously, and by then it was almost too late.



tambor198

[WilhelmSchulz.]

Id worry more about the patrol craft than the DD with there 120 Depthcharges they are more of a threat.

[RedTerex]

Originally posted by WilhelmSchulz.:
Id worry more about the patrol craft than the DD with there 120 Depthcharges they are more of a threat.

Patrol craft are deck gun fodder, a couple of good hits and they light up the sky at night ! They should be subseptible to machine gun fire too.

I am expecting that our sub's conning tower to be kitted with .50 cal machine guns as well.

[WilhelmSchulz.]

Originally posted by RedTerex:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by WilhelmSchulz.:
Id worry more about the patrol craft than the DD with there 120 Depthcharges they are more of a threat.

Patrol craft are deck gun fodder, a couple of good hits and they light up the sky at night ! They should be subseptible to machine gun fire too.

I am expecting that our sub's conning tower to be kitted with .50 cal machine guns as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thats in SHIII. but what about SH4?

[demigod151]

Wow that was a hell of an informative post klcarroll well done mate! Good reading was that.

[Mittelwaechter]

Great post!

Did you recognize the DDs seem to have only minor differences in appearing? It's a pain in the "eye" to identify them.