:Japanese escort ship Okinawa
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image =IJN escort vessel UKU in 1944.jpg | Ship caption =An Ukuru class kaibōkan, the Uku, seen here in 1944. Okinawa looked very similar. }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country =Japan | Ship flag =File:Naval Ensign of Japan.svg | Ship name = | Ship owner = | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder =Nihon Kokan, Tsurumi (Japan) | Ship laid down =10 December 1943 | Ship launched =19 June 1944 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck =15 September 1945 | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate =Sunk by aircraft on 30 July 1945 | Ship notes =Refloated after the war and scrapped in September 1948 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship displacement =940 tons | Ship length =78,8 meters | Ship beam =9 meters | Ship draught =3 meters | Ship draft = | Ship propulsion =diesels, 4200 bhp | Ship speed =19,5 knots | Ship range = | Ship complement =150 | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament =*3 × 12 cm/45 10th Year Type naval gun
| Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
Okinawa was an escort ship ("Kaibōkan") of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Second World War. She belonged to the Ukuru class. The ship is most notable for its possible participation in the sinkings of two submarines.
Design and building
The Ukuru class escorts were very similar to the preceding Mikuru class. The main difference was a simplified hull form which enabled a shorter building time.Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 Okinawa was built by the Nihon Kokan shipyard at Tsurumi. The building started on 10 December 1943 and some 8 months later the ship was completed. She was named after the island of Okinawa.
In service
During her career Okinawa spent most of the time escorting various ships in convoys. In November 1944 she participated in the Japanese Operation TA, the reinforcement of Leyte, by escorting troop transports. In December of the same year, Okinawa escorted the carrier Kaiyo.{{cite web |website=Nihon Kaigun Long Lancers |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/taops1.htm |title=Operation TA}}
On 14 April 1945, Okinawa together with the escorts CD-8 and CD-32 attacked a submerged submarine with depth charges.{{cite web |website=Nihon Kaigun |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Okinawa_t.htm |title=Okinawa's Tabular Record of Movement}} Some sources mention the possibility that the submarine {{USS|Snook|SS-279|6}} was sunk in that attack, although the official cause for the loss of Snook remains unknown.{{cite web |website=DANFS |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-submarine-losses/snook-ss-279.html |title=Snook (SS 279) |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command}}
On 27 May 1945, Okinawa and the escort ship Aguni were attacked by American aircraft in the Korea Strait. Okinawa was not damaged but Aguni suffered heavy damage from a radar-guided glide bomb.{{cite web |website=Nihon Kaigun |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/Aguni_t.htm |title=Aguni's Tabular Record of Movement}} After that Okinawa returned to escort duties.
On 19 June 1945 the cargo ship Konzan Maru was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine {{USS|Bonefish|SS-223|6}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.calcoldwar.org/USS-Bonefish.php |title=USS Bonefish |website=The Cold War Museum - California |publisher=The California Cold War Museum & Memorial, Inc. |access-date=15 September 2010 |archive-date=26 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126061424/http://www.calcoldwar.org/USS-Bonefish.php |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |website=Hyperwar |url=http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Japan/IJN/JANAC-Losses/JANAC-Losses-6.html#bonefish |title=Japanese Naval and Merchant Vessels Sunk During World War II by United States Submarines}} Okinawa, the escorts CD-63 and CD-207 counter-attacked the submarine with numerous depth charges until wood chips and oil were observed. The submarine was sunk with all hands.{{cite web |website=U-uboat.net |url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2969.html |title=Bonefish (SS-223)}}{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/u/united-states-submarine-losses/bonefish-ss-223.html |title=Bonefish (SS 223) |website=DANFS |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command}}
On 30 July 1945 Okinawa was sunk by carrier aircraft near Maizuru, though which carrier is disputed: aircraft from {{USS|Independence|CVL-22|6}} and the British Pacific Fleet{{Cite book|title=Task Force 57|last=Smith|first=Peter|publisher=William Kimber & Co. Limited|year=1969|pages=182}}{{Cite book|title=The Forgotten Fleet|last=Winton|first=John|publisher=Michael Joseph LTD|year=1969|pages=329}}{{Cite book|title=The British Pacific Fleet|last=Hobbs|first=David|publisher=Seaforth Publishing|year=2011|pages=274}} claim the sinking.
References
{{reflist}}
{{July 1945 shipwrecks}}{{Ukuru-class escort ship}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Okinawa}}
Category:Ukuru-class escort ships
Category:Maritime incidents in July 1945