Japanese minesweeper Wa-1
Imperial Japanese Navy warship
Japanese minesweeper Wa-1
History
Empire of Japan
Name Wa-1
Builder Ōsaka Iron Works , Osaka
Laid down 30 June 1941
Launched 9 November 1941
Completed 31 January 1942
Commissioned 31 January 1942
Stricken 10 July 1942
Notes
General characteristics
Type Minesweeper
Displacement 215 long tons (218 t) standard
Length 33.00 m (108 ft 3 in) overall
Beam 5.92 m (19 ft 5 in)
Draught 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in)
Propulsion
1 × Akasaka Model diesel
single shaft, 300 bhp
Speed 9.5 knots (10.9 mph; 17.6 km/h)
Range 1,500 nmi (2,800 km) at 9.5 kn (10.9 mph; 17.6 km/h)
Complement 43
Armament
Wa-1 (Japanese: 第1号掃海特務艇) was the first No.1-class auxiliary minesweeper of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II .
History
Wa-1 was the first of 22 No.1-class auxiliary minesweepers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy .[1] Sources differ as to whether the class had wooden or steel hulls.[2] The design was based on that of a fishing trawler and readily convertible to a fishing vessel after the war. She was laid down on 30 June 1941[1] at the Ōsaka Iron Works shipyard in the Sakurajima district (jp:桜島 (大阪市) ) of Osaka .[3] [4] She was launched on 9 November 1941, and completed and commissioned on 31 January 1942.[1] She was assigned to the Yokosuka Naval District where she patrolled the entrance to Tokyo Bay .[1] On 23 April 1942, she was attached to the Port Moresby Operation (Operation MO ) tasked with the occupation of the Australian Territory of New Guinea in order to isolate Australia and New Zealand from the United States . The operation was also to seize the islands of Tulagi and Samarai , and the Deboyne Islands (where seaplane bases were to be established) as well as Nauru and Banaba Island (due to their valuable phosphate deposits). Wa-1 was assigned to the Tulagi invasion force commanded by Rear Admiral Kiyohide Shima and consisting of the flagship minelayer /cruiser Okinoshima , auxiliary minelayer Kōei Maru , 2 destroyers (Kikuzuki and Yūzuki ), 5 minesweepers (Wa-1 along with Wa-2 , Hagoromo Maru , Noshiro Maru No. 2 , and Tama Maru ), 2 subchasers (Toshi Maru No. 3 , Tama Maru No. 8 ), and 1 transport (Azumasan Maru ) carrying 400 men of the 3rd Kure Special Naval Landing Force .[5] The light carrier Shōhō provided air support accompanied by 4 cruisers (Aoba , Kako , Kinugasa , Furutaka ) and 1 destroyer (Sazanami ).[5] The force departed from Rabaul on 30 April 1942[6] and on 3 May 1942, landed on Tulagi unopposed.[7] Shōhō with its escorts left the area to support the main Port Moresby operation[8] leaving the task force without air cover. After completing their mine-sweeping activities at Tulagi, Wa-1 , Wa-2 and Tama Maru were en route to the Deboyne Islands when they were spotted by a squadron of Douglas TBD Devastators from USS Yorktown north of Savo Island .[1] Wa-1 was hit by a 1,000-pound bomb and destroyed. Wa-2 suffered the same fate while Tama Maru was significantly damaged and sank on 6 May 1942.[9] [10] She was struck from the Naval List on 10 July 1942.[1]
References
Bibliography
"Rekishi Gunzō" . , History of Pacific War Vol.51 The truth histories of the Japanese Naval Vessels Part-2 , Gakken (Japan), August 2005, ISBN 4-05-604083-4 .
Ships of the World special issue Vol.45, Escort Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy , "Kaijinsha" . , (Japan), 1996.
The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.50, Japanese minesweepers and landing ships , "Ushio Shobō" . (Japan), 1981.
External links
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in May 1942
Shipwrecks
1 May: Angarstroy , HMS Punjabi
2 May: USS Cythera , HMS Edinburgh , Hermann Schoemann , ORP Jastrząb , USS Mindanao , Mizuho , U-74
4 May: USS Pigeon , USS Tanager , Wa-1
5 May: Bévéziers , Kikuzuki , USS Genesee , Maryann
6 May: Alcoa Puritan , D'Entrecasteaux , Empire Buffalo , USS Luzon , USS Oahu , Tama Maru , USS Quail
7 May: Le Héros , Shōhō , USS Sims
8 May: USS Lexington , Monge , HMS Olympus
9 May: U-352
10 May: HMHS Ramb IV
11 May: HMT Bedfordshire , HMS Kipling , HMS Lively , USS Neosho
12 May: Empire Dell , HMS Jackal , Okinoshima
13 May: Norlantic
14 May: Dzerzhinsky , Potrero del Llano
15 May: HMS Trinidad
17 May: Challenger , I-28 , I-64
20 May: George Calvert
21 May: Faja de Oro , Elizabeth , Presidente Trujillo
23 May: Samuel Q. Brown
24 May: L-21
25 May: Asahi
26 May: SS Carrabulle
27 May: Alamar
28 May: Sylvan Arrow
29 May: Emanuele Pessagno , U-568
Other incidents