Japanese destroyer Kiri (1944)

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.

Authorized in the late 1942 Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Program,Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 152 Kiri (Paulownia) was laid down on 1 February 1944 at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal and launched on 27 May.Stille, p. 40 Upon her completion on 14 August, the ship was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 11 of the Combined Fleet for training. The ship was assigned to Destroyer Division 43, Escort Squadron 31 of the Combined Fleet on 30 September and participated in the Battle off Cape Engaño on 25 October as part of Vice-Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa's Northern Force. Kiri was part of the escort force for the hybrid aircraft carrier/battleships {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hyūga||2}} and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Ise||2}} from Kure to Manila, the Philippines in early November, but she was diverted to the Spratly Islands instead. From 16 to 20 November, the ship escorted the 2nd Fleet from occupied Brunei to Mako (now Magong) in the Pescadore Islands.Nevitt

Escort Squadron 31 was transferred to the 5th Fleet on 20 November and the destroyer was slightly damaged the following day. Kiri helped to escort a convoy from Japanese Formosa to Manila, where she arrived on 8 December. She escorted a troop convoy from Manila to Ormoc and back on 9–13 December. The ship was moderately damaged by strafing American aircraft on 12 December and she rescued 214 survivors from the destroyer {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Yūzuki||2}}. Kiri escorted convoys from Manila to Moji, Kyūshū, via Formosa from 14 December to 8 January 1945. The ship arrived at Kure for repairs two days later. She escorted Convoy MOTA-33 from Moji to Keelung, Formosa, beginning on 22 January and later ended up in Shanghai, China. The squadron was assigned to the 2nd Fleet from 15 March to 20 April and then rejoined the Combined Fleet. 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.Rohwer, pp. 367, 376 The destroyer was disarmed and used to repatriate Japanese personnel in 1945–1947. Kiri was turned over to the Soviet Union on 29 July of the latter year at Nakhodka.Dodson & Cant, p. 297

The ship was commissioned into the Soviet Navy's Fifth Fleet and renamed Vozrozhdionny. She was disarmed, converted into a target ship and renamed TsL-25 on 17 June 1949. The ship was transferred to the Pacific Fleet on 23 April 1953. TsL-25 was hulked and converted into a floating workshop on 16 September 1957. The ship was renamed PM-65 on 3 October, stricken from the navy list on 20 December 1969, and ordered to be scrapped.Berezhnoy, p. 22

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|url=http://militera.lib.ru/enc/berezhnoy_ss01/index.html|title=Трофеи и репарации ВМФ СССР|last=Berezhnoy |first=Sergey|publisher=Sakhapoligrafizdat|year=1994 |location=Yakutsk |language=Russian|trans-title=Trophies and Reparations of the Soviet Navy|oclc=33334505}}
• {{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| 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 Kiri: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/kiri_t.htm |website=www.combinedfleet.com |access-date=21 September 2020 |date=16 January 2012}}
• {{cite book|last=Rohwer|first=Jürgen|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=2005|edition=Third Revised|isbn=1-59114-119-2|author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{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:Kiri (Type D)}}

Category:Matsu-class destroyers

Category:Ships built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal

Category:World War II destroyers of Japan

Category:1944 ships

Category:Destroyers of the Soviet Navy