Japanese destroyer Shii
{{short description|WWII-era Japanese escort destroyer}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Japanese destroyer Nire 1945.jpg |Ship caption=Sister ship Nire in January or February 1945 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Empire of Japan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}} |Ship name=Shii |Ship ordered=1944 |Ship laid down=18 September 1944 |Ship launched=13 January 1945 |Ship completed=13 March 1945 |Ship namesake=Castanopsis |Ship commissioned= |Ship builder=Maizuru Naval Arsenal |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck=5 October 1945 |Ship reinstated= |Ship honours= |Ship fate=Turned over to the Soviet Navy, 5 July 1947 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header=title | Ship country=Soviet Union | Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} | Ship name=Shii | Ship renamed = *Volny ({{lang|ru|Вольный}} (Free)), 22 July 1947
|Ship commissioned=7 July 1947 |Ship reclassified=Target ship, 17 June 1949 | Ship acquired=5 July 1947 |Ship struck=18 November 1959 | Ship fate=Scrapped after 8 August 1960 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Tachibana sub-class of the {{sclass|Matsu|destroyer|0}} escort destroyer |Ship displacement={{cvt|1309|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|3.37|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= |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=*1 × twin, 1 × single 12.7 cm/40 Type 89 naval gun DP guns
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{{nihongo|Shii|椎||"Castanopsis"}} was one of 23 escort destroyers of the Tachibana sub-class of the {{sclass|Matsu|destroyer|4}} built for the Imperial Japanese Navy during the final stages of World War II. Completed in March 1945, she struck a mine in June, but was only lightly damaged. The ship was used to repatriate Japanese personnel after the war until 1947. Mid-year the destroyer was turned over to the Soviet Union, renamed Volny and was commissioned that same year. She was renamed TsL-24 and converted into a target ship two years later; the ship was ordered to be scrapped in 1960.
Design and description
The Tachibana sub-class was a simplified version of the preceding {{sclass|Matsu|destroyer|4}} to make them even more suited for mass production. 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|3.37|m|ftin|sp=us}}.Sturton, p. 196 They displaced {{convert|1309|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on}} at standard load and {{convert|1554|t|LT|sp=us}} at deep load.Whitley, p. 208 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 Tachibanas had a range of {{convert|4680|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|16|kn}}.Jentschura, Jung & Mickel, p. 153
The main armament of the Tachibana sub-class 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 25 Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun anti-aircraft guns in 4 triple and 13 single mounts. The Tachibanas 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 60 depth charges via two stern rails and two throwers.
Construction and service
File:TsL-24-1958H87946.jpg, 3 September 1958, while serving as a torpedo retriever in an exercise]]
Shii Nevitt was ordered in Fiscal Year 1944 under the Wartime Naval Armaments Supplement Program and she was laid down at Maizuru Naval Arsenal on 18 September 1944. The ship was launched on 13 January 1945 and completed on 13 March.Stille, p. 40 Shii was assigned that day to Destroyer Squadron 11 under the Combined Fleet for working up, and was briefly attached to the Second Fleet on 1–20 April. On 20 May, she became part of Destroyer Division 43 together with {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Take|1944|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Maki|1944|2}}, {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Tsuta|1944|2}} and {{ship|Japanese destroyer|Kiri|1944|2}} which was assigned to Escort Squadron 31 of the Combined Fleet. On 5 June Shii struck a mine in the Bungo Strait and was lightly damaged, although two men were killed and eleven wounded. 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. Shii was turned over to the Soviet Union on 5 July of the latter year.
She was commissioned two days later and assigned to the 5th Fleet. The ship was renamed Volny ({{lang|ru|Вольный}} (Free)) on 22 July. The destroyer was placed in reserve on 14 February 1949 and was converted into a target ship on 17 June with the name of TsL-24. She was renamed as OT-4 on 18 November 1959 and was ordered to be scrapped on 8 August 1960.Berezhnoy, p. 23
Notes
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Bibliography
- {{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| 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 Shii: Tabular Record of Movement |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/shii_t.htm |website=www.combinedfleet.com |access-date=22 June 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 |authorlink=Michael J. Whitley}}
{{Tachibana-class destroyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shii, Japanese destroyer}}
Category:Tachibana-class destroyers
Category:Ships built by Maizuru Naval Arsenal