:Japanese destroyer Kaede (1944)
{{Short description|Imperial Japanese Navy's Matsu-class destroyer}}
{{Other ships|Japanese ship Kaede}}
{{good article}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Kaede after the surrender of Japan.jpg |Ship caption=Disarmed Kaede after the surrender of Japan }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Empire of Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Japan|naval}} |Ship name=Kaede |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Yokosuka Naval Arsenal |Ship laid down= 4 March 1944 |Ship launched=25 July 1944 |Ship completed=30 October 1944 |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= 5 October 1945 |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Transferred to the Republic of China Navy, 6 July 1947 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header=title |Ship country=Republic of China |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Republic of China|naval}} |Ship name=ROCS Heng Yang | Ship namesake = | Ship acquired = 6 July 1947 | Ship commissioned = | Ship reclassified =As a training ship, 1 October 1949 | Ship fate =Scrapped, 1962 | Ship struck =1960 | Ship honors = | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as built) |Ship class={{Sclass|Matsu|destroyer|0}} escort destroyer |Ship displacement={{cvt|1282|t|LT|lk=on}} (standard) |Ship length={{convert|100|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (o/a) |Ship beam={{convert|9.35|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|3.3|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship power=2 × water-tube boilers; {{cvt|19000|shp|lk=on}} |Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 × geared steam turbines |Ship speed={{convert|27.8|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|4680|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|16|kn}} |Ship complement=210 |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=*1 × twin, 1 × single 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval gun DP guns
|Ship notes= }} |
{{Nihongo|Kaede|楓||"maple"}} was one of 18 {{sclass|Matsu|destroyer}}s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the final stages of World War II. Completed in late 1944, the ship was assigned to convoy escort duties in January 1945. After escorting one convoy to southern China, she joined two other destroyers tasked to evacuate Japanese airmen from the Philippines. En route the ships were attacked by American bombers that badly damaged Kaede. The ship returned to Japan for repairs and was inactive for the rest of the war. She was surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war and used to repatriate Japanese troops until 1947. Mid-year the destroyer was turned over to the Republic of China; renamed Heng Yang she became a training ship and remained in service until the 1960s when she was scrapped.
Design and description
Designed for ease of production, the Matsu class was smaller, slower and more lightly armed than previous destroyers as the IJN intended them for second-line duties like escorting convoys, releasing the larger ships for missions with the fleet.Stille, p. 38 The ships measured {{convert|100|m|ftin|sp=us}} long overall, with a beam of {{convert|9.35|m|ftin|sp=us}} and a draft of {{convert|3.3|m|ftin|sp=us}}.Sturton, p. 196 Their crew numbered 210 officers and enlisted men.Stille, p. 45 They displaced {{convert|1282|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|1554|t|LT|sp=us}} at deep load.Whitley, p. 206 The ships had two Kampon geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were rated at a total of {{convert|19000|shp|lk=on}} for a speed of {{convert|27.8|kn|lk=in}}. The Matsus had a range of {{convert|4680|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|16|kn}}.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 151
The main armament of the Matsu-class ships consisted of three 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval gun dual-purpose guns 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. The accuracy of the Type 89 guns was severely reduced against aircraft because no high-angle gunnery director was fitted. The ships carried a total of twenty-five Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun anti-aircraft guns in 4 triple and 13 single mounts. The Matsus were equipped with Type 13 early-warning and Type 22 surface-search radars.Stille, p. 41 The ships were also armed with a single rotating quadruple mount amidships for {{convert|610|mm|in|adj=on|0|sp=us}} torpedoes. They could deliver their 36 depth charges via two stern rails and two throwers.
Construction and career
Authorized in the late 1942 Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Program,Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 152 Kaede (maple) was laid down on 4 March 1944 at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and launched on 25 July.Stille, p. 40 Upon her completion on 30 October, Kaede was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 11 of the Combined Fleet for training. At the completion of training on 20 January 1945, the ship was assigned to Destroyer Division 52, part of Escort Squadron 31. On 22–27 January, she escorted a convoy from Moji to Hong Kong and then sailed to Takao (modern Kaohsiung), Taiwan. There Kaede joined her sister {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Ume|1944|2}} and the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Shiokaze||2}} on a voyage to the Aparri area of the island of Luzon in the Philippines to evacuate stranded aircrew on 30 January. The following day the ships were attacked by North American B-25 bombers of the 822d Bombardment Squadron which damaged all three ships. Kaede was set on fire and badly damaged by a bomb hit that killed forty men and injured thirty. She returned to Takao for emergency repairs that were not finished until 21 February when she steamed to Kure for permanent repairs.NevittFutrell, p. 429
The ship was turned over to Allied forces at Kure at the time of the surrender of Japan on 2 September and was stricken from the navy list on 5 October. The destroyer was disarmed and used to repatriate Japanese personnel in 1945–1947 after repairs. Kaede was turned over to the Republic of China Navy on 6 July of the latter year and was renamed Heng Yang. Never rearmed or recommissioned, the ship was hulked and was classified as a training ship on 1 October 1949. She was stricken in 1960 and scrapped two years later.Dodson & Cant, pp. 237, 297
Notes
{{Reflist|30em}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |last2=Cant |first2=Serena |title=Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after Two World Wars |date=2020 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |location=Barnsley, UK |isbn=978-1-5267-4198-1|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book
| editor-last = Craven|chapter=Luzon|last=Futrell|first=Frank
| editor-first = Wesley
| editor2-last = Cate
| editor2-first = James|name-list-style=amp
| title = The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki: June 1944 to August 1945
| publisher = Office of Air Force History
| location = Washington, D.C.
| year = 1983
| series = The Army Air Forces in World War II
| url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/Nov/05/2001329890/-1/-1/0/AFD-101105-012.pdf
| oclc=314452548
| access-date=4 October 2020
}}
- {{cite book| last = Jentschura| first = Hansgeorg| first2 = Dieter |last2=Jung|first3=Peter |last3=Mickel| year = 1977| title = Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945| publisher = United States Naval Institute| location = Annapolis, Maryland| isbn = 0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite web |last1=Nevitt |first1=Allyn D. |title=IJN Kaede: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/kaede_t.htm |website=www.combinedfleet.com |access-date=21 September 2020 |date=1998}}
- {{cite book |last1=Stille |first1=Mark |title=Imperial Japanese Navy Destroyers 1919–45 (2): Asahio to Tachibana Classes |date=2013 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Botley, UK |isbn=978-1-84908-987-6}}
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7|chapter=Japan|author-first=Ian|author-last=Sturton}}
- {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1 |location=Annapolis, Maryland |author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}
{{Matsu class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaede (1944)}}
Category:Matsu-class destroyers
Category:Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal