© 2008-2010 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 4
1917:
A MOMI-class destroyer is ordered from Kure Navy Yard.
24 Janauary 1918:
The destroyer is designated KURI.
5 December 1919:
Kure. Laid down.
19 March 1920:
Launched.
30 April 1920:
Completed and registered in the Sasebo Naval District.
Assigned to DesRon 26. An unknown officer is the CO.
1 December 1920:
LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Narita Jiro (36) assumes command.
20 September 1922:
An unknown officer assumes command.
15 November 1933:
Assigned to the 11th Sentai. Performs security missions along coastal China.
7 July 1937: The Marco Polo Bridge (The"First China Incident") Incident:
Hun River, Lukuokiao, China. Japanese troops fire blank cartridges during night maneuvers at the bridge. Chinese troops fire back, but cause no injuries. Later, the Japanese discover a soldier missing and demand entry to the Peking (Beijing) suburb of Wanping to look for him. The Chinese refuse, so the Japanese shell the city. An
undeclared war on China begins.
12 November 1937:
Shanghai is captured.
13 June 1938 - The Battle of Wuhan:
Midway up the Yangtze River. KURI is in Rear Admiral Kondo Eijiro’s 11th Sentai with destroyers TSUGA and HASU. The Japanese begin the Battle of Wuhan to annihilate the Chinese Army and force them to surrender. The Japanese make a naval landing at Anqing supported by 100 vessels, including more than 40 destroyers, mine sweepers, naval and river gunboats and blockade boats. The landing force totals about 12,000 men and 80 to 90 guns. The battle rages over four months and ends in a stalemate.
10 February 1941:
LtCdr (later Cdr) Terauchi Masamichi (55) assumes command.
November 1941:
KURI is in Vice Admiral (Fleet Admiral, postumously) Koga Mineichi’s (34)(former CO of ISE) China Area Fleet in Vice Admiral Makita Kakusaburo's (38)(former CO of KIRISHIMA) Shanghai Area Base Force with HASU and TSUGA.
January 1942:
Philippines. KURI assists with the escort of shipping in Philippine waters and joins the blockade of Manila and Corregidor.
1942:
KURI’s midships 4.7 mount is landed and replaced with two triple 25mm Type 96 AA mounts.
6 February 1942:
Escorts KASAGISAN MARU and prize-ships HALLDOR and ARGUS up the central China Coast.
August 1942:
Escorts convoys between Shanghai and Mako, Pescadores.
15 September 1942:
Lt Yonei Tsuneo (60) assumes command.
21 December 1942: No. 6 Go Transportation Operation:
Convoy No. 35 assembles at Shanghai to transport the IJA’s 6th Infantry Division via Truk to Guadalcanal (after the decision is made to evacuate Guadalcanal, the convoy’s destination is changed to New Guinea).
The convoy consists of troop convoy Parts A, B and C. Part A consists of TEIYO, MYOHO MARUs and SHINSEI MARU No. 1; Part B consists of OIGAWA, KENKON, KYOKUSEI and PANAMA MARUs and Part C consists of MEIU, SOMEDOMO, SURABAYA and SHINAI MARUs. Second-class destroyer HASU departs Shanghai for New Guinea escorting Part A and KURI departs escorting Part B.
25 December 1942:
Part C departs Shanghai consisting of MEIU, SOMEDONO, SURABAYA and SHINAI MARUs escorted by second-class destroyer TSUGA.
5 January 1943:
Parts A and B arrive at Mako, Pescadores. The old China Area Fleet second-class destroyers are detached and replaced by the Southwest Area Fleet’s destroyers HOKAZE and NAGATSUKI tasked to escort the convoy to 136 degrees E longitude. The escort is further augmented by destroyer SHIRAYUKI, subchasers CH-2 and CH-11 and auxiliary gunboat CHOAN MARU No. 2.
24 June 1943:
KURI runs aground off Nanchishan Is.
25 June 1943:
Auxiliary gunboat SHINKO MARU No. 1 GO arrives and tows the destroyer to Chikou Sea (near Yuet Ching Bay).
28 June 1943:
Salvage Tug KASASHIMA arrives and the tow of KURI is handed over by auxiliary gunboat SHINKO MARU No. 1 GO to the salvage tug, which tows the destroyer to Shihpu, arriving later that day.
15 January 1944:
At 1930, departs Naha for Takao with kaibokan KARUKAYA and minesweeper W-27 escorting convoy No. 127 consisting of NIKKI, HOKOKU, KINREI, ROKKO and IKUTAGAWA MARUs.
18 January 1944:
At 1455, arrives Takao.
22 February 1944:
At 0300, KURI departs Takao with patrol PB-38 escorting convoy TAMO-12 consisting of HAKOZAKI, FUSO, KUROGANE, YOZAN, SEATTLE, CLYDE, CHINZEI, SHINYO, MISAKI, SHINKOKU (cargo), KAIKO, TSUKUBA, SAINEI, SHONAN and YAMAHAGI MARUs. [1]
23 February 1944:
KAMO MARU and an unidentified ship joins from Keelung and KAIKO MARU and six other unidentified ships split away from the convoy and depart escorted by KURI.
1 March 1944:
Reserve Lt Takane Kineji assumes command.
21 April 1944:
Departs Tungchiaoshan (near Shanghai ) in the "Take" convoy carrying troops of the IJA's 32nd and 35th divisions from China to New Guinea via Manila. The convoy consists of KAZUURA, MITSUKI, BRAZIL, TENSHINZAN, TAJIMA, ADEN, YOZAN, MANSHU, FUKUYO, KANAN, TEIKAI, UNKAI and TEIKO MARUs, YOSHIDA MARU No. 1 and two unidentified ships escorted by destroyers ASAKAZE, SHIRATSUYU and FUJINAMI, kaibokan KURAHASHI, CD-20 and CD-22, minelayer SHIRATAKA (F), minesweeper W-22, subchasers CH-37, CH-38, gunboats UJI, ATAKA and auxiliary minesweeper TAMA MARU No. 7.
E 25 April 1944:
Arrives at Takao.
26 April 1944:
Departs Takao.
26 April 1944:
At about 0600, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Thomas M. Dykers' USS JACK (SS-259) makes a radar-assisted surface attack on the convoy. Dykers torpedoes and sinks YOSHIDA MARU No. 1 at 18-06N, 119-40E. She takes down about 2,700 troops of the IJA's 210th Infantry Regiment of the 3800 men on board.
E 28 April 1944:
KURAHASHI and CD-20 are detached from the Take convoy and proceed to Takao.
28 April 1944:
Arrives at Manila and is detached from the Take convoy. KURI, KURAHASHI and CD-20 depart Manila, the latter two to join the escort of convoy HI-59 then in the South China Sea.
4 May 1944:
KURI departs Manila with kaibokan KURAHASHI, CD-20, minesweeper W-17 and auxiliary subchaser TAKUNAN MARU No. 3 escorting convoy MATA-19 consisting of TETSUYO MARU and eight unidentified merchant ships.
9 May 1944:
Arrives at Takao.
11 May 1944:
Departs Takao escorting convoy TAMO-19 consisting of eight unidentified merchant ships escorted minesweeper W-17 and auxiliary subchaser TAKUNAN MARU No. 3.
20 May 1944:
Arrives at Moji.
26 June 1944:
KURI departs Shanghai for Hong Kong with torpedo boat HATSUKARI escorting convoy No. 91 consisting of
GYOYU, GYOUN and NITTO MARUs and KYODO MARU No. 28. All were carrying troops of the IJA's 22nd Division bound for Saigon, Indochina.
3 July 1944:
SE of Hong Kong. About midnight, LtCdr (later Captain) Slade D. Cutter's USS SEAHORSE (SS-304) attacks the convoy at 20-18N, 115-02E. Cutter torpedoes and sinks GYOYU and NITTO MARUs.
4 July 1944:
SE of Hong Kong. SEAHORSE attacks the convoy again. Cutter torpedoes and sinks KYODO MARU No. 28 at 20-20N, 114-54E. The escorts drop five depth charges, but SEAHORSE evades and escapes.
E 5 July 1944:
Arrives at Hong Kong.
25 October 1944:
While attacking a convoy, Cdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret/MOH) Richard H. O’Kane’s USS TANG (SS-306) is sunk in shallow water by a circular run of his last Mark-18 torpedo. O'Kane and eight crewmen are captured and made POWS. Later, they are transported to Formosa and then to Japan. After TANG's sinking, secret Secretariat Order No. 021619 is issued to execute an expedition consisting of KURI and salvage ships KASUGA and NABARI MARUs to find and explore TANG. [2]
15 November 1944:
KURI locates TANG’s wreck at 25-02-06N, 119-15E.
28 November 1944:
Divers examine the outside of the wreck, but do not enter it. Bad weather and American aircraft activity force the operation to be called off. TANG's bow is marked with a buoy.
23 March 1945:
Mouth of the Yangtze River. KURI is damaged by mine.
April 1945:
Undergoes repairs, probably at Shanghai.
25 June 1945:
Arrives at Tsingtao (now Qingdao), China.
15 August 1945:
Tsingtao. KURI is intact. Lt Takane notifies his crew of the end of hostilities.
16 September 1945:
Tsingtao. KURI is surrendered.
8 October 1945:
Off Pusan, South Korea. KURI is conducting minesweeping duties when she hits a mine and sinks.
25 October 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
Author's Notes:
[1] No data were found detailing KURI's movements during Feb-Dec '43. Readers with access to such data are requested to post the information on the Discussion
and Questions board or j-aircraft.org's IJN Ship Message Board
[2] After almost three years at war, and the debacle of the Mark-14 torpedo, seemingly with impunity BuOrd and its contractors were still sending defective and inadequately tested torpedoes to the fleet, in this case, the Mark-18.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
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