Japanese destroyer Fumizuki (1926)
{{short description| Mutsuki-class destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy sunk at Truk }}
{{other ships|Japanese destroyer Fumizuki}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Fumizuki II.jpg |Ship caption=Fumizuki in July 1926 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Empire of Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}} |Ship name=Fumizuki |Ship namesake=July |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Fujinagata Shipyards, Osaka |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=20 October 1924 as Destroyer No. 29 |Ship launched= 16 February 1926 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=3 July 1926 |Ship commissioned= |Ship renamed=As Fumizuki, 1 August 1928 |Ship struck= 31 March 1944 |Ship fate=Sunk by American aircraft, 18 February 1944 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= {{sclass|Mutsuki|destroyer}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1336|t|LT|abbr=on}} (normal)
|Ship length=*{{convert|97.54|m|ftin|abbr=on}} (pp)
|Ship beam={{convert|9.16|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|2.96|m|ftin|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|38500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 × Kampon geared steam turbines |Ship speed= {{convert|37.25|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|4000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}} |Ship complement=150 | Ship armament=*4 × Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun
}} {{Infobox service record |is_ship=yes |label= |partof=Destroyer Division 30 |codes= |commanders= |operations=*Battle of the Philippines |victories= |awards= }} |
{{nihongo|Fumizuki|文月|”July”}} was one of twelve {{sclass|Mutsuki|destroyer}}s, built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1920s. During the Pacific War, she participated in the Philippines Campaign in December 1941 and the Dutch East Indies Campaign in early 1942. In March, she was assigned to convoy escort duties in and around Malaya and the Dutch East Indies until she was transferred to Rabaul in early 1943 to ferry troops around New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Design and description
The Mutsuki class was an improved version of the {{sclass|Kamikaze|destroyer|||1922}}s and was the first with triple {{convert|61|cm|adj=on|sp=us}} torpedo tubes. The ships had an overall length of {{convert|102.4|m|ftin|sp=us}}Watts & Gordon, pp. 265–266 and were {{convert|94.54|m|ftin|sp=us}} between perpendiculars. They had a beam of {{convert|9.16|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a mean draft of {{convert|2.96|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The Mutsuki-class ships displaced {{convert|1336|t|LT|sp=us|0}} at standard load and {{convert|1800|t|LT|sp=us|0}} at deep load.Whitley, p. 191 They were powered by two Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four Kampon water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|38500|shp|kW|lk=in}}, which would propel the ships at {{convert|37.25|kn|lk=in}}. The ships carried {{convert|420|t|LT|0|sp=us}} of fuel oil which gave them a range of {{convert|4000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. Their crew consisted of 150 officers and crewmen.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 143
The main armament of the Mutsuki-class ships consisted of four Type 3 120 mm 45 caliber naval gun in single mounts; one gun forward of the superstructure, one between the two funnels and the last pair back to back atop the aft superstructure. The guns were numbered '1' to '4' from front to rear. The ships carried two above-water triple sets of 61-centimeter torpedo tubes; one mount was between the forward superstructure and the forward gun and the other was between the aft funnel and aft superstructure. Four reload torpedoes were provided for the tubes. They carried 18 depth charges and could also carry 16 mines. They could also fitted with minesweeping gear.
Fumizuki was one of six Mutsuki-class ships reconstructed in 1935–36, with their hulls strengthened, raked caps fitted to the funnels and shields to the torpedo mounts. In 1941–42, most of those ships were converted into fast transports with No. 2 and No. 3 guns removed. In addition, ten license-built Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun light AA guns and at least two Hotchkiss M1929 machine gun anti-aircraft machineguns were installed. The minesweeping gear was replaced by four depth charge throwers and the ships now carried a total of 36 depth charges. These changes reduced their speed to {{convert|34|kn}} and increased their displacement to {{convert|1913|LT|t|sp=us|0|disp=flip}} at normal load. Three more 25 mm guns were added in 1942–43.Watts & Gordon, p. 267
Construction and career
=Pacific War=
At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Minazuki was assigned to Destroyer Division 22 under Destroyer Squadron 5 of the 3rd Fleet. She sortied from the Mako Guard District in the Pescadores as part of the Japanese invasion force for Operation M (the invasion of the Philippines), during which time the destroyer helped screen landings of Japanese forces at Lingayen Gulf and at Aparri.Nevitt
In early 1942, Fumizuki was assigned to escorting troop convoys from French Indochina for Operation E (the invasion of Malaya) and Operation J (the invasion of Java, Netherlands East Indies), in February. From 10 March 1942 Fumizuki and Destroyer Division 5 were reassigned to the Southwest Area Fleet and escorted troop convoy from Singapore to Penang, and Rangoon. She returned to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for repairs on 17 June, and returned to Mako in early September.
On 16 September, Fumizuki sustained heavy damage after a collision with the transport Kachidoki Maru in Formosa Strait, forcing a return to Sasebo for repairs until early 1943.
At the end of January 1943, Fumizuki escorted the seaplane tender {{ship|Japanese seaplane tender|Kamikawa Maru||2}} from Sasebo via Truk and Rabaul to Shortlands, and remained throughout February to cover Operation KE (troop evacuations from Guadalcanal). On 25 February, Fumizuki was reassigned to the IJN 8th Fleet. The destroyer participated in several Tokyo Express troop transport missions throughout the Solomon Islands through the end of April, suffering damage from strafing attacks at Finschhafen in March and at Kavieng in April.
Fumizuki returned to Yokosuka Naval Arsenal for repairs on 4 May. The ship departed Yokosuka on August 20 escorting convoys via Sasebo to Saipan, Truk and Rabaul. From September through January 1944, the destroyer made numerous “Tokyo Express” runs to evacuate troops from Kolombangara and Vella Lavella and to land troops at Buka, Bougainville and various areas in New Guinea. On 2 November, Fumizuki was strafed during an air raid by United States Navy aircraft while at Rabaul, with six crewmen killed and four injured. The vessel was again damaged in an air raid near Kavieng on the night of 4 January 1944.
While at Truk on 17 February 1944, Fumizuki received a near miss bomb from a Grumman TBF Avengers during Operation Hailstone, when carrier-based US Navy aircraft attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy fleet anchorage.Lindemann The near miss to port amidships disabled her only usable turbine and caused gradual flooding, which the crew could not control, and Fumizuki sank on 18 February at {{coord|07|24|N|151|44|E|display=inline,title}}, with 29 crewmen killed. Fumizuki was struck from the Navy List on 31 March 1944.
In media
- "Graveyard of the Atlantic...Graveyard of the Pacific," a 1991 episode of the PBS television series Return to the Sea, includes footage of a dive on the wreck of Fumizuki.
Notes
{{reflist|30em}}
References
- {{cite book | last = Bailey | first = Dan E. | year = 1992 | title = World War II: Wrecks of the Kwajalein and Truk Lagoons| publisher = North Valley Diver Publications | isbn = 0-911615-05-9}}
- {{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|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
- {{cite book
| last = Howarth
| first = Stephen
| year = 1983
| title = The Fighting Ships of the Rising Sun: The Drama of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1895–1945
| publisher = Atheneum
| isbn = 0-689-11402-8
}}
- {{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 book | last = Lindemann | first = Klaus | year = 2005| title = Hailstorm Over Truk Lagoon: Operations Against Truk by Carrier Task Force 58, and the Shipwrecks of World War II | publisher = Resource Publications | location = Oregon, USA | isbn = 1-59752-347-X}}
- {{cite web
| url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/fumizu_t.htm
| title= IJN Fumizuki: Tabular Record of Movement
| last= Nevitt | first= Allyn D.
| year= 1998|access-date=10 November 2015| work= Long Lancers | publisher= Combinedfleet.com}}
- {{cite book|last1=Watts|first1=Anthony J.|title=The Imperial Japanese Navy|date=1971|publisher=Doubleday|location=Garden City, New York|isbn= 0385012683|last2=Gordon|first2=Brian G.|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Destroyers of World War Two|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1988|isbn=0-87021-326-1|location=Annapolis, Maryland}}
External links
- [https://vimeo.com/showcase/6307674/video/357619502 Return to the Sea Episode 105 "Graveyard of the Atlantic...Graveyard of the Pacific" at OceanArchives] (Fair use policy for video at [https://oceanarchives.com/ OceanArchives])
{{Mutsuki class destroyer}}
{{February 1944 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fumizuki}}
Category:Mutsuki-class destroyers
Category:World War II destroyers of Japan
Category:Destroyers sunk by aircraft
Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft
Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Category:Shipwrecks of Truk Lagoon
Category:Maritime incidents in February 1944