© 2007-2008 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
16 October 1920:
Kobe. Laid down as a MOMI-class destroyer at Kawasaki Heavy Industries shipyard.
9 May 1921:
Launched and named TSUTA.
30 June 1921:
Completed.
1 June 1923:
LtCdr (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Takeshita Shigeri (35) assumes command with joint duty as an instructor at the naval torpedo school.
15 October 1923:
LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Sakura Takeo (37) assumes command.
10 May 1924:
LtCdr (Vice Admiral, posthumously) Goto Aritomo (38) assumes command.
1 December 1925:
LtCdr (later Vice Admiral) Tada Takeo (40) assumes command.
20 April 1926:
An unknown officer assumes command.
1 December 1930:
LtCdr (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Murakami Chonosuke (44) assumes command.
2 November 1931:
An unknown officer assumes command.
1939:
One of three Kampon boilers is removed reducing speed to 18 knots. Additionally, her torpedo tubes, aft 4.7-inch/45 cal main gun and minesweeping gear are removed. 25mm AA guns and depth charge racks and throwers are fitted. Extra ballast is added to compensate for the loss of topside weight and to increase stability. The changes increase her displacement to 935-tons.
1 April 1940:
Reclassified as a patrol boat and renumbered 35.
1941:
PB-35 undergoes reconstruction. Her aft funnel is removed and the stem is cut down to form a ramp. She is fitted to carry and launch two 46-ft Daihatsu landing craft. Her forward interior spaces are modified to accommodate up to 150 troops. Her 25mm AA suite is increased.
8 December 1941:
P-35 is in Vice Admiral Takahashi Ibo’s (35)(former CO of YAMASHIRO) Third Fleet assigned to Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Irifune Naosaburo’s (39)(former CO of MIKUMA) Special Base Force 32 in Captain Nishikawa Hayami's Motor Torpedo Boat Div 1 with PB-1, PB-2, PB-32, PB-33, PB-34, PB-36, PB-37, PB-38 and PB-39.
18 February 1942: Operation “J” - The Invasion of Java, Netherlands East Indies:
Camranh Bay. PB-35 is in the Third Fleet's Netherlands East Indies Force. She provides distant cover for Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo’s Western Java Seizure Force with light cruisers NATORI and YURA and seaplane tenders SANYO and KAMIKAWA MARUs. She helps cover 46 troop transports carrying the IJA’s 2nd Infantry Division for the invasions of Bantam Bay and Merak, Java.
16 April 1942:
At 1215, PB-35 departs Singapore with kaibokan SHIMUSHU, torpedo boats OTORI and HIYODORI and auxiliary gunboat DAIGEN MARU No. 7 escorting a convoy transporting the 3rd Tank Corps to Darien, Manchuria. The convoy consists of MYOKO, ATLAS, TSUYAMA, MOMOYAMA, FRANCE, HEIAN, RYUNAN, GLASGOW, TOKIWA, HAVRE and SANKO MARUs. The escorts protect the convoy up to
latitude 16N, from where the convoy is escorted by units of the IJN's North China Area Fleet.
19 April 1942:
The convoy is joined by SYDNEY, GENKAI and CALCUTTA MARUs from Bangkok. PB-35 probably is detached.
15 May 1942:
PB-35 and PB-34 depart Kure for Guam escorting transports
ARGENTINA, BRAZIL and KIYOSUMI MARUs.
18 May 1942:
Arrives at Guam, then departs for Saipan.
20 May 1942:
Arrives at Saipan.
28 May–6 June 1942: Operation “MI” - The Battle of Midway:
PB-35 departs Saipan with Rear Admiral Fujita's 11th Seaplane Tender Division’s CHITOSE and KAMIKAWA MARU and destroyer HAYASHIO in Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Kondo Nobutake's Midway Invasion Force. PB-35 carries troops.
5 June 1942:
At 0255, the Combined Fleet's Commander-in-Chief Admiral (Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Yamamoto Isoroku (former CO of AKAGI), aboard his flagship YAMATO, orders Operation MI cancelled.
13 or 16 June 1942:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Kondo Nobutake's (former CO of KONGO) Midway Invasion Force's Transport Group arrives at Guam and disembarks LtCol Ichiki Kiyonao's detachment.
7 August 1942: American Operation "Watchtower" - The Invasion of Guadalcanal, British Solomons:
Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Richmond K. Turner's (former CO of ASTORIA, CA-34), Amphibious Task Force 62, covered by Vice Admiral (MOH/later Admiral) Frank J. Fletcher's (former CO of VERMONT, BB-20) Task Force 61 and Rear Admiral (later Admiral) John S. McCain's (former CO of RANGER, CV-4) Task Force 63's land-based aircraft, lands MajGen (later General/MOH/Commandant) Alexander A. Vandegrift's 1st Marine Division on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo and Guadalcanal opening the campaign to retake the islands.
16 August 1942:
Truk. At 0500, DesDiv 4's ARASHI and HAGIKAZE, DesDiv 15's KAGERO and DesDiv 17's HAMAKAZE, TANIKAZE and URAKAZE depart Truk for Guadalcanal as the first echelon of a reinforcement convoy carrying 917 men of LtCol Ichiki's 28th Infantry Regiment.
PB-35 and PB-34 depart Truk with light cruiser JINTSU escorting the second echelon of the reinforcement convoy consisting of BOSTON and DAIFUKU MARUs carrying 1,100 men of Ichiki's Regiment. Rear Admiral Tanaka in JINTSU is in command of the convoy. The third echelon follows consisting of fast transport (ex-AMC) KINRYU MARU carrying about 1,000 troops of the Yokosuka No. 5 SNLF escorted by PB-1 and PB-2.
18 August 1942:
About noon, DesDiv 24's KAWAKAZE, SUZUKAZE and UMIKAZE join the second and third echelons still enroute to Guadalcanal.
19 August 1942:
Cape Taivu, E of Lunga Point, Guadalcanal. At 0100, the first echelon lands LtCol Ichiki's troops.
20 August 1942:
At midnight, Ikki's troops storm Guadalcanal's "Henderson Field" to retake the airfield, but almost all of Ichiki's men are cut down by U. S. Marines. Ichiki commits suicide.
21 August 1942:
That evening, Tanaka receives a signal from Headquarters, Eighth Fleet that Vice Admiral Kondo's Second Fleet and Vice Admiral Nagumo's Third Fleet will support Tanaka's reinforcement convoy consisting of the second and third echelons.
24 August 1942: The Battle of the Eastern Solomons.
At 1230, Tanaka's force sights light carrier RYUJO, covered by CruDiv 8's TONE and DesDiv 16's AMATSUKAZE and TOKITSUKAZE. Later, RYUJO launches two strikes against Henderson Field. At 1357, RYUJO is attacked by aircraft from Vice Admiral Fletcher's Task Force 61's USS SARATOGA (CV-3). RYUJO is hit by four bombs and a torpedo hit that floods her starboard engine room. At 1800, RYUJO capsizes and sinks.
CarDiv 1's SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU launch aircraft that find and damage ENTERPRISE (CV-6). That evening, aircraft from SARATOGA damage seaplane carrier CHITOSE. The same night, DesDiv 15's KAGERO, DesDiv 17's ISOKAZE, DesDiv 24's KAWAKAZE and DesDiv 30's MUTSUKI and YAYOI shell Henderson Field, then race northward to join Tanaka's convoy.
25 August 1942:
150 miles N of Guadalcanal. At 0600, six USMC Douglas SBD "Dauntless" dive-bombers attack the convoy. KINRYU MARU is hit and begins to sink. Her embarked troops are evacuated by DesDiv 30's MUTSUKI and YAYOI and PB-1 and PB-2.
BOSTON MARU is damaged by a near-miss by the SBDs. A bomb hits JINTSU's forecastle and starts fires causing her forward magazines to be flooded. Rear Admiral Tanaka is injured. He shifts his flag to KAGERO. B-17 "Flying Fortresses" arrive and sink MUTSUKI still evacuating troops from sinking KINRYU MARU.
25 August 1942:
The convoy returns to Shortland, Bougainville that night.
2 September 1942:
Rear Admiral Jojima Takatsugu’s (former CO of SHOKAKU) "R" Area Air Force based at seaplane bases around the Shortland Islands plans to establish a new permanent base at Rekata Bay off Santa Isabel Island, 135 miles NW of Lunga Point on Guadalcanal. PB-35 departs Shortland transporting the base staff of auxiliary seaplane tender SANYO MARU to Rekata Bay.
At 1100, that same day, PB-35 is attacked by an 11th Bomb Group Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress” 20 miles NW of the tip of Santa Isabel Island at 07-16S, 158-03 E. Hit by bombs or near-misses, PB-35 goes dead in the water. Fifty-two of her passengers and crew aboard PB-35 survive, but 92 other men are killed. [1]
10 February 1943:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors’ Notes:
[1] Sources conflict on the loss of PB-35: Japanese sources indicate PB-35 was by sunk by aircraft on 2 Sep 1942. Author Richard Frank cites COMSOPAC 032231 Sep 42, in COMSOPAC War Diary 3 Sep 1942, that indicates that an 11th Bomb Group B-17 hit a tanker or seaplane carrier on 2 September and left it stopped in the water. Other western sources indicate USS GREENLING (SS-213) torpedoed and sank or damaged PB-35 on 22 Dec 1942, but the location given is nowhere near Santa Isabel Island, seemingly ruling out GREENLING's involvement.
Thanks go to J-aircraft.com contributors Mssrs. Mark Gurdy, Gengoro Toda and Jim Broshot for helping to sort out confusion about PB-35's sinking.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
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